Companies sponsor GET Immersion Experience internships to achieve business objectives

An important component of the GET curriculum is the GET Immersion Experience internship, from January through August, that provides both students and their sponsoring companies the opportunity to achieve meaningful business objectives while learning from each other. The extended time provides a unique opportunity to engage students deeply into projects that can truly assist the sponsor institution in some positive, strategic way. Meanwhile, the student learns how to function as a contributing member of a technical project team where he or she can hone the skills necessary for professional success in a global enterprise.

There are three key components that are essential for a company that wishes to sponsor a GET intern:

• Type of work: A company must be able to offer students roles that will expose them to large systems within a global context. Responsibilities can be varied, but roles might include application development, project management, or business analysis within a global technology-focused unit within the company.
• Internship supervision: Each intern must have an immediate supervisor to guide the student through the work assignment. In addition, to provide additional guidance and feedback, it is recommended that an internship mentor be assigned to each intern.
• Evaluation of the Intern's Performance: The intern's manager is expected to share the intern's tasks and performance evaluation with the assigned faculty advisor. The sharing of this information typically takes place via a 30-minute discussion that would occur at least once during each internship period. This information is kept confidential, but is invaluable in helping the intern learn, and improves the quality of the intern's education.

Toward the conclusion of their internship, student teams prepare a formal presentation to senior management on insights gained during their experience, such as:

• Aspects of the experience that were positive,
• Aspects of the experience that could be improved
• Lessons learned and/or valuable experiences that helped them understand the workings of business better
• Opportunities for technology improvement to help solve business challenges

It is expected that senior technologist(s) from the sponsoring corporation will review the presentation and offer constructive feedback. The presentation provides the company with knowledge about the extended internship experience from the student's perspective and can help the company identify aspects of their own programs that are particularly good or that need improvement. Often a student's fresh eye can trigger a new look at technologies that can have impact on the organization.

Sponsor a GET intern and help shape your future technology leaders!

Related Links:

• About the GET Internship

Participating Companies:

• JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• IBM
• General Electric
• Cisco

Participating Universities:

• Syracuse University
• University of Delaware