It's More Than Making Coffee: Interns - How to Grow Your Team From the Ground Up

Speakers: Chris Sulzbach, Greg Foertsch

Track: Business and Management

Format: Lecture

Experience Level: All

Description: As development costs sky rocket, studios are looking for other alternative ways to deliver great products in a timely manner, without breaking the bank. Internships are a very realistic option that are frequently overlooked or missed.

This lecture discusses developing and maintaining successful internship programs from both the developer's perspective and the student's perspective of getting in the door and then making the most of it. Once you've decided to integrate interns to your team how do you ensure a successful experience for both them and the project? In order to be successful, an internship program must meet both the needs of the developer and the students. The key areas that should be considered in creating successful internships are having a structured plan with progressively increasing responsibilities, and finding motivated participants.

This lecture is presented by a lead artist who has coordinated internships for more than eight years and a recent graduate who successfully transitioned from an intern to a key member of the Firaxis art staff. It addresses the internship process from the establishment of a relationship with a feeder school, to assessing and selecting interns, to transitioning interns to full time employees.

Idea Takeaway: Participants should come away with an understanding of how to establish internship programs, the best possible ways to ensure your intern/internship makes successful contributions to the project, and how to become a valuable asset to the studio as an intern.

Intended Audience: This Lecture is best suited for developers who are looking bolster their teams by integrating interns to their staff, and students who looking to get practical experience in a real world environment. Additionally attendees should include any educators that are looking to establish relationships to provide input from production environments to help improve course work and better prepare students for the job market.