Building a Palm Beach Tech Intern Program
Recap on the 2018 Palm Beach Tech Association Intern Forum
On September 28, 2018, the education committee of Palm Beach Tech Association held the Internship Forum, alongside four South Florida Universities; Lynn University, Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, and Palm Beach State College.
Led by Michael Fowler (FP&L), Cathy Miron (eSilo) & Barbara Cambia (Lynn University), the effort included over 50 executives and educators from throughout South Florida.
Palm Beach Tech Intern Forum
Planning meeting with PBA, PBSC, & Lynn
The overarching theme of this forum was to bring together executives, educators, interns, and everyone in between to focus on three major goals; building academic partnerships, identifying the intern program best practices, and developing a Palm Beach Tech Intern Program.
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Through two breakout sessions, participants were able to come to several conclusions on the definition of success regarding intern programs. Most notable of all, participants found that interns were most successful when they learned both hard and soft skills prior to their careers.
A major piece of discussion was the proposal to begin a Palm Beach Tech Intern program serving at least 50 students and 15 companies.
Palm Beach Tech Intern Program
Palm Beach Tech at FAU’s Fall Career Fair
Palm Beach Tech is researching the launch of an intern program in Summer 2019.
We plan to work with higher education institutions throughout Florida to connect students with companies seeking interns who meet the following criteria:
- Are a Palm Beach Tech Member
- Provide Paid Internship(s)
- Have Physical Presence in South Florida
The program areas we’re researching include mentorship programs, cross-training, and team-building, but will most certainly include:
- Week-long Intern Bootcamp | Five full days of instruction on coding languages, project management, entrepreneurship, and soft skills.
- Development Events | After work events with accomplished executives and professionals allowing rare opportunities to learn from those who’ve been there.
This program would incapsulate access to local talent and potential hires to prospective employers. We’re also working with tech council partners throughout the country to further develop this concept.
More information will be released in January 2019, and we hope that our effort to build a community of impassioned technologists will continue to build an educational pipeline for tech jobs throughout South Florida.
If you’re interested in being apart or learning more, click here to email us