Cracking the Egg: High School internships as the solution to solve the experience gap for undergrads

It's no secret that prior relevant experience is a primary factor in hiring decisions. But the common early career dilemma has persisted: without experience, you're unlikely to be hired - but how can you be hired if you don't land that first experience?

Since 2016, Code2College has been preparing and placing high school students (as young as 14 years old) into paid, technical Summer internships with companies like Atlassian, Indeed and YETI. These high school interns have worked alongside full-time employees implementing projects that have realized real business impact, enhanced team collaboration and engendered a culture of mentorship. With a 96% college matriculation rate, 92% intern return offer rate and over 80% of hiring managers consistently reporting that Code2College high school interns perform at or above the level of undergraduate interns on their team. Code2College alumni consistently land undergraduate internship opportunities and full-time roles because their prior experience started in high school.

In this session, you'll hear several case studies as well as empirical data related to the efficacy of high school internships and how Code2College is preparing to significantly scale this early ID intervention.