InternMatch: Matching the Smartest Student Interns With the Hottest Tech Startups

InternMatch: Matching the Smartest Student Interns With the Hottest Tech Startups
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In a tight job market, even the best college students are finding that landing a good job after graduation requires more than just a degree. It requires work experience. That makes an internship an increasingly important bridge between school and career.

There are many programs that match students with internship opportunities at large, established companies, including of course the traditional campus job fair. But it can be a challenge for students to find internship positions for small companies, non-profits and startups, and likewise, difficult for these organizations to find qualified interns.

InternMatch, a startup itself, is tackling this problem by -- as its name suggests -- matching students with internships outside Fortune 500 companies. To boost these opportunities for students, InternMatch is announcing two new partnerships that will help bring talented students to work at innovative technology and startup companies in Silicon Valley.

The Morehead-Cain scholarship program will partner with InternMatch to place its merit scholars at startups this summer. The Morehead-Cain Foundation fully funds its scholars for all four years of their undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and during students' final summer, places them in an internship with a private company. The foundation says it has seen an increased demand amongst students to find work at tech companies.

Diane Dorney, director of enrichment and advising for the Morehead-Cain Foundation, says "In working with InternMatch, we are able to place students at companies that are changing the way we interact with the world and each other every day. This partnership helps provide our scholars with internship experiences we believe can impact a student's life and career perspective in incredible ways."

In addition to working with the Morehead program to bring students to Silicon Valley, InternMatch has partnered with StepOne, an internship program out of Spain which is run by Google's VP of Emerging Products.

The StepOne program is a highly competitive program where Spain's top engineering students apply to get a fully-paid and visa-approved internship in the Bay Area.

Nathan Parcells, Internmatch's co-founder says, "It is exciting to help top engineers from Spain explore what it is like to work for a tech company in Silicon Valley. Bringing exceptional foreign students into our internship programs will give students and employers a more diverse and valuable experience."

The best engineering students from Spain and the best students from the Morehead-Cain program may represent two very different backgrounds. But both programs are seeking ways to help their students gain a unique experience and work at companies that are doing groundbreaking work.

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