Interns Step In During Economic Struggles
Photo/Edd Cote
Leigh Ann Corey, left, a recent grad from St. Francis University in Pennsylvania, Michael Sjogren, center, an intern from Assumption College in Worcester and Jessica O'Neill, right, a recent grad from McGill University in Montreal, at work at the local accounting firm of Alexander Aronson Finning. The firm is one of many that relies on interns.
In challenging and unpredictable economic times, what employer wouldn’t want a steady source of free labor?
In a certain sense, that’s what college interns are. As the country and the region’s economic woes become still more woeful, businesses are ramping up efforts to bring on interns. And likewise, students see the economic writing on the wall and are seeking out internships as a way to have some job security before actually having a job.
According to the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, which as of Oct. 6 oversaw 1,100 student interns with 230 area employers, there’s been an increase in interest from both sides in just the last couple of months.
“It has accelerated,” said David Kowalczyk, co-director of career services at Assumption College in Worcester. “In difficult economic times, students realize that employers see it as a meaningful way to gain expertise and gauge performance.”
And although Kowalczyk hasn’t yet noticed a significant increase in the number of employees Assumption is providing, he has noticed that employers, too, “are looking at internships as a way to gauge performance,” and make better informed hiring decisions that are more likely to result in successful, long-term employment.
A Young Person’s Game
Employers, especially accountants, Kowalczyk said, have also realized that they don’t have to concentrate only on seniors when bringing interns aboard. “Increasingly, that industry is beginning to look at juniors…for tax season. And a lot of firms are wanting to know about sophomores, and they’re being invited in to see if they’re going to be major league.”
In Assumption’s Class of 2008, there were 23 students who had participated in internships at area accounting firms in the summer of 2007. Of the 23, 21 were offered jobs and 20 accepted those jobs. This year, 16 Assumption interns out of 19 brought on by accounting firms have been offered or have accepted jobs.
David McManus, vice president at accounting firm Alexander Aronson Finning, said the firm, which has offices in Worcester, Westborough, Wellesley and Boston, typically takes on between 10 and 15 interns every June and has a close relationship with Assumption.
He said that while it’s interesting to think of interns as cheap labor in a down economy, the firm sees the program first and foremost as a recruiting tool that helps to keep the cost of hiring full-time employees low.
“If we had 10 interns, we’d probably give job offers to eight out of 10,” McManus said, “and we’d probably get maybe one that would not accept the offer.” Once in the door, “they’re first year staff accountants. They’re not coming in to do clerical stuff,” McManus said.
McManus said turnover among the intern-to-full-timers is low and most stay with the firm for four or five years.
The same is true at Carlin Charron & Rosen, a Westborough-based accounting firm with offices in Boston, Providence and Glastonbury, Conn. Bill Tarzia, the firm’s partner in charge of recruiting, said bringing on interns isn’t completely free for firms. “We dedicate a significant amount of resources to our internship program,” he said, mostly by attending 15-20 career fair-type events yearly and forging relationship with colleges across Southern New England.
As a result, CCR can claim that between 60 and 70 percent of its first-year accountants were interns there beforehand.
Tarzia said students may have recognized which states have the healthiest job markets. “We’ve seen a significant uptick in people going to school in one state and wanting to do an internship in another.” Most, he said, are students attending the University of Connecticut who wish to do their internships in Westborough.
“It’s the best way to recruit,” McManus said. The firm gets new hires they can be confident in and the interns get “experience and exposure to what the industry is all about.”
Gary DeAngelis, associate director of interdisciplinary and special studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, said that while “business interest has always been pretty consistent, we have had increased interest on the part of students in this job market. It’s a great asset for students, especially when the economy is tight.”
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