Apply by March 15 for some 43 positions at 33 companies.
KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University students have a chance to earn a minimum of $8,000 in wages, scholarship funds and other compensation by participating in the 2012 Monroe-Brown Internship Program.
The program provides career experience for a select group of full-time college students at several Michigan schools, as well as funding support for their studies. This year, some 43 positions are available at 33 Kalamazoo-area companies. After graduating, a number of previous interns have been hired full time by their participating employers.
The deadline to apply for an internship is March 15, but the starting and ending date for positions varies depending on the employer. Each participating company chooses their interns using their own hiring methods and criteria.
Lynn Kelly-Albertson, executive director of WMU's Career and Student Employment Services, notes that all of this year's internships are posted online in BroncoJOBS.
"But what we really want students to know is that they can come to our office and have their resumes reviewed before they apply for a Monroe-Brown internship," Kelly-Albertson says. "These positions are highly competitive. The better the resume, the better the chance of landing an interview and an internship."
The Monroe-Brown Foundation launched its internship program in 2006 in partnership with Southwest Michigan First and several area companies as a way of helping to keep the region's most talented students in Kalamazoo after graduation.
Internships are offered by local companies to currently enrolled college students, and are paid for and supported by the southwest Michigan business community. This year's positions encompass such areas as engineering, the health sciences, information technology, construction management, human resources, marketing, sales, financial management, environmental management and geographic information software.
To be eligible for an internship, applicants must be incoming juniors, seniors and graduate students at WMU, Kalamazoo College, the Kalamazoo campus of Davenport University, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and second-year students at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Students attending MSU and UM must have attended high school in the greater Kalamazoo area.
Interns work 400 hours, usually between April 15 and Sept. 1. This is typically full time for 10 weeks. Throughout the internship, students receive hourly wages, valuable networking opportunities and applied career experience.
Upon successful completion of the internship, as decided by the employing company and the Monroe-Brown Foundation, interns also receive a $500 bonus from their employers and a $500 bonus from the foundation. The foundation also provides two $2,500 scholarship payments, one each at the end of the first and second semester following the internship. For tax purposes, all payments from the foundation are made directly to the school and applied to the students' accounts.
Employers offering internships for 2012
- American Village Builders Inc.
- LVM Capital Management
- BASIC
- Miller-Davis Co.
- Borgess Healthcare
- Mol-Son Inc.
- Bronson Healthcare
- NanoVir
- Consumers Credit Union
- Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
- CRB Consulting Engineers
- Parker Hannifin
- CSM Group
- Proteos Inc.
- Dimplex Thermal Solutions
- Schupan & Son Inc.
- Eaton Corp.
- Southwest Michigan First
- Envirologic Technologies Inc.
- Southwest Michigan Innovation Center
- Fabri-Kal
- Skanska USA Building
- Harold Zeigler Auto Group
- TEKNA
- Humphrey Products
- Terra Contracting
- Imperial Beverage
- Treystar Holdings Inc.
- Jasper Clinical Research & Development
- Wolverine Pipe Line Co.
- Landscape Forms
- Workforce Strategies Inc.
- LKF Marketing
For more information about Monroe-Brown internships or to apply for one, log in to BroncoJOBS, or visit the internship website at southwestmichiganfirst.com.
WMU students may direct their questions to Lynn Kelly-Albertson in Career and Student Employment Services at lynn.kelly-albertson@wmich.edu or (269) 387-2745. For career advice and employment services, visit wmich.edu/career.