Jayco’s internship program began the same way as many others. Initially more of an informal program, internships were viewed as a way to positively impact students in Jayco’s community. After growing beyond the traditional college internship offerings through a formal partnership with Northridge High School, the company reinforced their internships, and crafted them into a proactive talent strategy.
The current iteration of Jayco’s high school internship program began during the 2020-2021 school year. While internships are typically thought of as opportunities for college students, Jayco’s program expanded to include high schoolers – predominantly juniors and seniors. It was created to “explore another talent pipeline – specifically more in our production areas,” says Ashley Newcomer, Jayco’s employee relations manager. “It focuses on students who potentially don’t see themselves going to college after high school, and want to jump right into the workforce.”
Creating Opportunities
Taking place during the school year, high school internships have two main focus areas: production and office. Production positions may cover part/product assembly, maintaining production areas, assisting in final/quality areas and overall exposure to how the production line works and operates. Office positions include HR and safety duties like assisting with forklift training and safety walks, engineering tasks such as designing new prints in AutoCAD or research and development, or marketing responsibilities like content creation and event coordination.
For production positions, the target outcome is to hire students full time after they graduate high school and get them on the production line. Many interns in office roles leave for college, but Jayco aims for them to return and start in their desired field after obtaining their degree. With an increasing number of high school students seeking learning paths outside higher education, Jayco’s partnership with Northridge High School provides students with a clear-cut career path and an immediate start date.
Challenges and Support
The successful program isn’t without its challenges. Finding students to start production work at 5 a.m. can be difficult, especially while they’re still in school. The company also has limited openings and can’t always accommodate all interested students. “A good problem to have,” notes Newcomer.
Jayco has multiple avenues of support bolstering their high school internships. The partnership with Northridge High School provides a steady stream of students and increases credibility as educators routinely evaluate the organization. While the program is self-funded, Jayco takes advantage of high school EARN Indiana funding when available, which offers a 50% wage reimbursement for eligible candidates.
For employers interested in starting their own internship programs, Newcomer emphasizes the need for a dedicated individual or HR team to manage implementation. “From partnership(s) with the school, facilitating interviews and following up to ensure success is important. Also, having executive leadership who encourage, value and support it.” She also credits the company’s management for their contribution to the program’s success. “Managers who are willing to mentor and coach students to success and make the [work-based learning] experience successful are huge factors.”
Despite only starting a few years ago, Jayco’s high school program boasts an impressive 33 participants. Of the 33, 15 interns were hired full time after graduation. High school internships are a concept many employers are just now starting to consider, but Jayco offers a proven, scalable model that could benefit other Indiana organizations looking to start a talent pipeline of their own.
For Employers Ready to Get Started
Work and Learn Indiana offers several resources to support employers as they get started with work-based learning. The free Resource Hub provides information on connecting with work-based learning coordinators and candidates and to help users understand Department of Labor laws and regulations. The Indiana Employer’s Guide to Internships offers helpful insights for building an internship job description, work plan templates and intern evaluations. Lastly, don’t forget to utilize EARN Indiana funding for your internship!
