Tempe will cover intern pay for participating businesses in summer program
Some Tempe businesses could get extra help this summer at no out-of-pocket cost. Tempe is looking for employers to offer student internships with the city covering their compensation.
Thanks to initial seed funding approved by the City Council, private donations and grants secured by the Tempe Chamber of Commerce Foundation, high school students will be paid $13 per hour to work about 15 hours per week during June and July.
It’s part of a program called Career Ready Tempe that Mary Mezey with the city’s human services department helped launch two years ago.
“In addition to growing their technical skills, students are just as importantly able to grow their development of their soft skills: you know, things such as time management, email and phone etiquette, how to dress properly in the workplace, how to communicate effectively with your supervisors,” she said.
Mezey said 17 students participated in the pilot program and three were hired part-time after completing internships. Tempe hopes to get 25 businesses to apply through the city’s website by March 15.
“We do have a few key industry areas of focus because we are hoping to connect students with those industries that are in demand here in Tempe. So, our focus areas currently are advanced business services, bioscience and manufacturing, but we do welcome any business that has a Tempe location to apply,” Mezey said.
High school students who will be juniors and seniors this fall have until April 1 to apply. Interns will be paired with advisers from the city’s College Connect program.
“Those advisers help students update their resumes to be reflective of the impact of their internship experience and then also complete the important steps of college and career planning,” Mezey said. “So those key activities such as completing college applications, completing a scholarship search, filling out those financial aid applications.”
