InterConnect Wiring hit the jackpot this summer with a surprisingly large number of Falcon interns, especially during a global pandemic! We hired 18 interns for all types of work at our aircraft electrical wiring and cockpit panel manufacturing company. We had the privilege to help “bulk up” high school and college students’ resumes by hiring them to help us with almost all departments at our company including electrical wiring harness Production, Quality continuous improvement, F-16 cockpit panel Planning, Sales, Inspection, Expansion of Facilities, and HR. Due to our great success this year with our interns, I decided to share with you the fact that it is possible to hire interns during a pandemic, and how you can go about doing so. Find below the Top Five Ways to Find Incredible Interns.
- Utilize customer recommendations. One of our main customers is Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas. Lockheed does a wonderful job supporting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the Hispanic community with their group, SHPE, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Ask your customers if they have any individuals who are in their STEM programs, robotics, or societies, and ask for referrals. We have received many terrific referrals over the years from Lockheed Martin’s SHPE.
- Ask your employees. Many times, your own employees have high school or college students at home during the summer. Inform your employees that you are hiring temporary Summer or Christmastime interns, and you will be shocked how many great interns come out of your own Falcon Family. (InterConnect Wiring’s mascot is the Falcon, hence, the referral to “Falcon Family.”)
- Ask your family and friends if they know someone who might be interested in aerospace. Again, referrals often bring in amazing interns. When I was in high school and college, and home for the summer, I was able to get wonderful internships because Mom or Papa knew someone who could use some help at their business. I worked at Continental Grain, keying numbers into an adding machine one long summer, and McDannel and Associations, typing up and producing fliers for this non-profit. These were both experiences I will never forget.
- Post it on your website and social media. Students these days are so much more computer savvy than ever before. They will find you! Be sure to use keywords such as “Summer Intern” or “Temporary Intern Position” for those students in your hometown to be able to find your business.
- Before school ends, contact the local High Schools and Colleges. Universities and high schools generally have a good list of students who are interested in various industries. For InterConnect, we found an extraordinary number of students interested in the aviation field. And, even if a student didn’t yet know his field of expertise, we gladly hired him to fly to our nest and take the leap into the electrical wiring aerospace industry.
If you cannot tell, I am profoundly pleased with the aptitude, diligence, and tenacity of our 18 incredible interns this past summer. Not only did they receive experience from us, but they helped improve InterConnect Wiring tremendously. We were so appreciative and sorry to see these interns go, so we had our first Intern Appreciation Day. See photos here. Each intern received a thank you parting gift, and a “Most Likely To” award. Here are a few received: 1) Most Likely to Start Her Own Company, 2) Most Likely to Automate, 3) Most Likely to Know Everyone at InterConnect Wiring, 4) Most Likely to “School” Everyone in Excel, and 5) Most Likely to Never Forget to Send a “Joke of the Day”.
I was really intrigued when I read this site written by Jeanne Rossomme regarding the “Five P’s” when hiring interns, so I thought I would share it with you. If you know of someone who might want to be an InterConnect Wiring intern this Christmas, have them apply here. The aerospace and defense industry, and especially the electrical wiring harnesses and circuit breaker panel aspect of it, is fascinating. I know they will love being an intern and a Falcon, here at InterConnect Wiring.
