THE SILICON SLOPES INTERN PROGRAM: WHY WE STARTED IT, HOW IT WORKS AHD WHO BENEFITS.

AuthorClark, Garrett
PositionSILICON SLOPES

Raise your hand if you have ever been an intern. Was it an unpaid internship? Paid internship? Was it fun? Did it result in a job at the company? Or was it more a daily hazing that resulted in bitter defeat and resentment?

There is no shortage of opinion on whether internships (in particular, unpaid internships) are good for people, companies, the economy as a whole, the world in general or the galaxy at large. I'm no hot take artist--the pros and cons will not be talked about here. Rather, the focus will be on specifics of the Silicon Slopes internship program: why we started it, how it works and who it benefits.

WHY WE STARTED IT

We enjoy working with all the wonderful companies and people of Silicon Slopes--we want to give that opportunity to others. Playing a role in helping the Utah tech and business community is a great opportunity for a college student as they prepare for their careers. We are a small team and having fresh ideas (and different perspectives) is important as we continue to build Silicon Slopes the best way we can.

HOW IT WORKS

A few times a year, a tweet or blog post will go out announcing the need for interns to help with the day-to-day operations of Silicon Slopes. Folks are instructed to send their resumes and a follow-up phone call is scheduled for a short interview. Based on how the phone interview goes, an invite will be extended to visit HQ and meet the team. If everyone gets along and both parties agree, a start date is set--time to get things rolling.

Unlike most internship programs, ours is very unstructured with a lot of audibles called each day. Intern projects vary from the usual drudgery (to keep everyone humble, of course) to meeting...

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