A solid academic foundation is crucial, but new grads become professional powerhouses as they do hands-on work. Internships are often the first professional experiences workers have. These relationships are designed to be mutually beneficial: students gain real-world experience while companies fill important gaps and gain fresh perspectives.
One of the challenges both students and businesses face is making the right connections. Students can find it hard to know exactly what opportunities are available, while businesses remain in the dark about the tremendous talent available to them.
At RBTC, we’re in the business of making connections. Matching regional companies with top-notch talent is one of our missions, and we’re rolling out an initiative that will do just that.
Building a Regional Internship Ecosystem
RBTC is taking the guesswork out of internships by surveying all intern programs within our membership. The data we collect will allow us to match talent more effectively with need. To build our opportunity map, we’ve created a short survey for companies to report their existing internship programs and get the word out about their available opportunities.
The initiative is spearheaded by RBTC Technology Talent Strategist, Katie Conner: “The survey will allow member companies to gain more visibility for their existing internship programs through strengthened awareness by the top talent coming out of our region’s post-secondary institutions.”
Creating Valuable Connections
The survey pulls triple-duty. First, it will help remove the advertising burden from companies by serving as a prime resource for talent acquisition. Second, students will benefit from having a comprehensive inventory of available opportunities. Lastly, the regional ecosystem will grow now and into the future as we nurture and retain new local talent.
“There are so many opportunities in the region, and they are growing by the day,” Conner said. “The data from this survey is going to strengthen our innovation ecosystem by giving us a robust sense of firsthand experiences that support professional and personal growth and will allow us to capitalize on and retain talent through enhanced strategies.”
Take the Survey Today
Get the word out about opportunities at your company and connect with bright new talent. The survey is brief — it takes only about 3 minutes to complete. Your contribution is an important part of building valuable connections in the Roanoke-Blacksburg technology community.
