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Breakout Session #606 Steve Grumbach, Director, Procurement

Battelle Memorial Institute

April 15, 2008

3:20 – 4:20 pm

College Internships in Corporate Procurement and Contracts

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Agenda

• Internships Defined• Benefits:

– To the Company– To the Staff– To the Intern

• How does it work?• Lessons learned• Information sources• Q&A

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Internships…“Preparing for success through experiential learning”

• Also referred to as “co-op” – terminology varies• Full-time (40+ hours/week); also part-time during school• Paid position, “pre-professional”

– 86 % of surveyed schools reported paid positions*

• Typically 3 to 6 months• Best if run longer:

– One or more sequential Quarters– Semester plus Summer– Interns return for more than one term

* 2002 Cooperative Education & Internship Association Survey

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Benefits to the Employer…

• Pipeline of energetic, developing talent

• Cost effective means for recruiting

– 46% of students accepted a full-time position*

• Energize your established workforce with enthusiastic and talented young people eager to learn and apply.

• Frees current employees to take on special projects – get that “neat idea” off the back burner

• Identify and develop your future managers

* 2002 CEIA survey

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Benefits to the Staff

• Develop your leaders• Workload balance• Off-load repetitive/low level complex tasks• Gets validation/input on process with

“unvarnished eyes”

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Benefits to the Intern…

• Develop professional skills• Adapt to the workplace environment• Meet valuable contacts• Validate (or explore) alternative career

choices• Bring work experience back to the classroom• Prepare to effectively compete for choice jobs

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What We Look For

• Juniors and Early Seniors• Supply Chain Management (Production and

Procurement)• Finance (or General Business) Majors• Maintain +3.0 GPA• Prior pre-professional experience a plus

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What We Are Looking For…

• “Self starter”• Aptitude• Attitude• Flexible• Confident• Demonstrated willingness to work effectively

with others• Maturity and skill builds with experience

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Co-op Cycle

Orientation

Activity / TaskingReflection

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Orientation

• High structure (to start)

• New employee orientation:– Company and function overview

– Work rules and hours

– Dress code and conduct

– Facility and work space

– Systems and tools

– Procedures and Practices

• Co-worker and Management introductions

• Other related functions

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Tasking

• Obtain quotes

• Analyze prices

• Place simple orders and modifications

• Prepare correspondence

• Gather information on Supplier performance or qualification

• Contract close-out

• Ad hoc reports (and analysis)

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Reflection• Assess what they have learned:

– Academic subject area– Industry or job category– About themselves

• Understand how the job fit into their course of study• Assess their choice of professional and academic

goals• Develop an after graduation “game plan”• Provide feedback to the employer about the job

experience• Feedback may be formal or informal (written report,

presentation, 1-on-1 meeting, etc.)

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What Works Well

• Provide position information to the School

• Have position information available in the interview, “What will I do?”

• Structured (and repetitive) tasks to start

• Guidance and mentorship with a “technical lead”

• Tasking and complexity that can be expanded commensurate with experience

• Individual tasking and accountability

• Frequent feed-back

• Repetitive terms (5 to 7 month duration)

• More than one Intern at a time

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Lessons Learned

• Maintain an on-going relationship with both Career Services and Faculty

• Interview in person• Get there early• Follow-up quickly with offers• Provide feedback to the School on your candidates

and selections• Mentor the intern• Monitor the leads• Development is often fast-paced. Recognize when

the Intern is capable of more.• Maturity often occurs quickly

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Schools to Consider

• Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio

• Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

• Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

• University of San Diego,San Diego, California

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Sources of Information

• Cooperative Education & Internship Association: http://www.ceiainc.org/

• National Commission for Cooperative Education: http://www.co-op.edu/

• Northeastern University: www.northeastern.edu

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Questions

Contact:Steve GrumbachDirector, ProcurementBattelleColumbus, OhioGrumbachRS@Battelle.org Office: 614-424-4977