LANSING, MI — Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced the launch of a new website to help students find internships in the State of Michigan. Internships help students find the skills they need to land a full-time job and give businesses a cost-effective way of finding talented workers. The new website, MiInternship, can be found at www.michigan.gov/miintern.
"For students, an internship today, leads to a job tomorrow. For businesses, an internship allows companies to try out potential employees at a minimal cost. And for the state, it means keeping more young knowledge-workers with jobs here in Michigan," Granholm said. "Now critical information to help Michigan students and businesses find each other is just a click away at the MiInternship website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."
MiInternship, powered by the Michigan Talent Bank, offers valuable tips for students, employers and educators. The site features a search engine that allows students to review more than 400 internship opportunities by employer/organization name or location. Students will also find an Internship Tool Kit with information on getting the important first job, resume and cover letter writing, and job interviewing.
"We encourage businesses of all sizes to visit the website to add their information to the internship and job database. Employers will also find valuable tips on recruiting, choosing and supervising an intern," said David C. Hollister, director of the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth. "We’re one of only a few states to offer this type of innovative website and we expect it to be a big hit with Michigan students, businesses, and educators as more people learn about it."
In her 2005 State of the State Address, Governor Granholm announced a comprehensive plan to fuel Michigan’s 21st century economy and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. Granholm’s Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow plan outlines a strategy to create jobs immediately and diversify and grow Michigan’s future economy. One of the priorities is to give children in school and adults in the workforce greater access to higher education and to the skills they need to fill both the jobs of the future and job vacancies
that exist in Michigan today. The MiInternship initiative is just one example of how Granholm is helping students jump-start their careers early.
"This is just the first phase of the MiInternship website. There are plans to make the site even more robust but it was important to get something up and running in time for students seeking summer 2005 internships," said Teri Takai, director of the Michigan Department of Information Technology which created the site in partnership with the Department of Labor & Economic Growth.
Crain’s Detroit Business, which partnered with DLEG in its Hire Education report, says an internship is key to launching a career and even trumps computer skills, course work and GPA. Crain’s reported that Southfield-based American Society of Employers showed 48 percent of companies placed internship and work experience above all else, followed by related course work, computer skills, the type of academic degree and leadership experience. Dead last in the rankings was grade-point average.
"An internship used to mean making copies and getting coffee. Those days are gone. Today the experience of an internship is considered practically a pre-requisite for a full-time job. Some companies say they will consider interns as early as high-school graduation so the sooner students get started with their internship, the better," added Hollister, who is a former educator. "The iInternship website provides a one-stop shop for students to jump-start their careers and businesses to find the talented workers they are looking for the future."
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