Summer Internship Program Sees Another Record Year

Another casualty of the battered economy this year was paid summer internships for college students. Company cutbacks in many sectors reduced the number of “real world” opportunities nationwide, and especially in New York City.

Many Holy Cross students, however, got a helping hand this year from the Leadership Council of New York, a group of alumni and parents who work together to raise the profile of the College among business leaders in the New York metropolitan area, primarily through internships.

The council dipped into their “rainy day” funds to support 31 percent of paid internships through the Summer Internship Program this summer. The council typically funds 19 percent.

“The leadership council thought that if ever there was a rainy day, this was it,” says Amy Murphy, director of the Summer Internship Program.

The highly competitive program is developed through the network of Holy Cross alumni, parents, and friends throughout the country and earmarked and designed specifically for Holy Cross students. This summer’s opportunities range from performing business duties for the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation to learning the ins and outs of the fashion industry at Marc Jacobs to working with the quality control research team at Pfizer.

Continuing a trend that started since its founding in the late ’90s, the Summer Internship Program is seeing another record year: 148 students are doing internships at 101 sites. Last year, 135 students interned at 88 sites.

In addition to their financial support, members of the Leadership Council of New York help cultivate new opportunities for internships. This year, for example, Mary Quinlan ’76 established a new advertising internship for two students at her employer, Cosmopolitan magazine, and David Jordan ’01 established a sales & trading internship at his employer, J.P. Morgan.

“The council has tried to develop strong relationships with host sites and high levels of expectations for students,” says Larry Doyle ’83, chair of the council, who worked on Wall Street for 23 years and is founder of SenseonCents.com. “We want this to become an extension of the Holy Cross experience.”

Typically about 60 percent of internships are paid through the host site. This year, the number fell to 48, which is why the leadership council’s contributions were especially important. In addition, 9 percent of internships are funded by the General Alumni Association Summer Fellowship Program. The remainder is supported by Holy Cross permanent funding of the Lilly Grant, the Atchinson Family Fund, and the J.D. Power Worcester Internship Fund.

There are two reasons for the spike in student interest this year, says Murphy. Students realize that doing an internship is an essential part of building a good resume, and media coverage of the sour job market has motivated students to seek out internship experience.

Related Information:

* Summer Internship Program

* Read a blog by Alice Simcoe-Matthews ’10 who is interning at Autism Speaks * In Their Own Words: My Summer as an Autism Speaks Intern" by Simcoe Matthews (AutismSpeaks.com) * Read a blog by Christine Giamattei ’10 who is interning at Brooklyn Industries