Many college students rely on internships to supplement their college coursework and to gain real-world experience while also networking with colleagues. Companies often use internship programs as a pipeline for new talent. However, the coronavirus pandemic has upended the traditional internship experience for many.
But Lowe’s was determined to find ways to make its internships a rich and rewarding experience for all this year. Not only have company leaders figured out how to pivot and make their internships accessible, they were reminded how important true connections are when it comes to servicing customers and being part of a larger team while working toward the same goals.
Winter Internships
This summer, nearly 55 percent of employers introduced a virtual program to their internships, according to internal research conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Lowe’s was among the employers that adjusted its traditional in-office internship experiences this summer. Of the 12,000 undergraduate and graduate-level students who applied for one of the 227 internship opportunities, 128 were able to complete their store support center internships virtually through a summer internship. Roles that needed to be in-person were delayed to a winter internship, which Lowe’s calls a winternship, according to Lowe’s University Recruiting Manager Toria Weltz.
“We made the decision that we would make our store support center internships virtual this summer and move our field internships, which are in-store and on-site at our Regional Distribution Centers and require face-to-face interaction, to the winter,” noted Weltz.
To accommodate the academic calendar schedule, she and her team reduced the program from 10 weeks to five, taking place from December 7 through January 8. Winternships were offered for roles in both stores and regional distribution centers, and placed students who are majoring in everything from industrial engineering, business, finance, retail management and supply chain management in 15 different regions. Students who are part of the winternship represent 64 universities throughout the country.
The executive speaker series, an important piece of the professional development portion of the internship program, was reduced to accommodate the shorter schedule. Among the speakers are Marvin Ellison, president and chief executive officer of Lowe’s and Janice Dupre Little, the company’s executive vice president, human resources.
Winternships Offer Real-World Experience
Pooja Solanki, who is expected to graduate from Rutgers University in May with a degree in Supply Chain Management, was surprised to see how inter-connected the supply chain is and how many different terminologies and phrases Lowe’s team members use to reference things around the distribution center. She’s completing her winternship in supply chain as a regional distribution center operations intern.
According to Solanki, every day presents different issues to resolve.
“I have been learning how to track each item, inbound, outbound and exploring different areas within the supply chain,” Solanki noted. “There are many different types of labels that indicate where items should be located.”
As part of her winternship experience, Solanki is able to follow the supply chain management process, from how products come from various vendors to the regional distribution center and then finally delivered to customers.
Barbarita Vega, who is expected to graduate with a degree in Business Management from University of Memphis next year, learned of the different ways Lowe’s goes out of their way to satisfy a customer’s delivery during her time in the back-end as an assistant store manager intern. She also had the opportunity to shadow her assistant store manager on a store manager conference call and through that experience, “I was able to understand how important is to drive different metrics on a daily basis,” Vega said.
These real-world experiences are invaluable to both the interns and Lowe’s. Whether virtual or in-person, the internships foster a feeling of connection and community that are integral to the experience among the interns and to the continued success of the company overall.
All of the interns are paid and Weltz considers the internship program an important pipeline for talent. “We look at making 75% of an intern class offers and hopefully get a 65% conversion,” Weltz noted.
Learn more about Lowe’s internship opportunities.