SkyVu’s high school interns (from left): Okina Tran from Millard South, Katie Nguyen of Burke, and Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson both of Westside. The interns are working on an undisclosed special project for SkyVu.
It’s a sunny afternoon in Omaha—a great day for teens on summer break to be outside.
But high schoolers Okina Tran of Millard South High School and Katie Nguyen of Burke High School are working inside the darkened Aksarben offices of game developer, SkyVu Entertainment.
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And they’re excited about it.
Okina is into computer graphics. After she was introduced to SkyVu and their games, she was intrigued and accepted an internship, one of the growing number of summer tech positions for high schoolers in Nebraska.
“I was into that, but game development is something that I’ve never thought of, but when it was introduced to me I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d like to try it out and see,’” she said.
Recognizing that the demand for tech talent oftentimes outpaces the availability of skilled workers in the state, a number of companies, institutions and nonprofits are beginning to invest in the future by creating internship programs for local high school students.
“While the job field grows in IT, many students are electing to not go into IT because of misconceptions about the field and lack of exposure to what these jobs really look like,” said Hesham Ali (right), Dean of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Information Science and Technology.
Ali’s department at UNO is in its second year of offering a tech-focused high school internship program that he says is “designed to offer innovative and hands-on research and development experiences to qualified high school students.”
Around the state, other organizations are looking to internships as a way to foster future STEM talent, too.
Gallup’s internship program is in it’s inaugural year and is the brainchild of IT Manager, Jim Collison. So far his team is having a lot of fun building the program from scratch, he said
“We absolutely have recruiting in mind when we’re doing this, at the same time you’re not going to recruit these kids tomorrow,” Collison (pictured above, far left) said.
Gallup is playing a long game, he says, by trying to develop a talent pipeline for the future. They’ve developed an extensive mentoring and internship program consisting of six Saturdays in the fall, six Saturdays in the spring and a winter project that interns have seven weeks to complete.
More than 40 students applied with 17 selected for the program. Seven are participating in the summer session.
UNO saw a similar number of applicants.
Internships prove beneficial for students and companies
SkyVu’s founder and CEO, Ben Vu sees a more immediate return on his investment. He sees an advantage to having high school interns because they’re closer in age to the company’s pre-teen target demographic.
“We validated that fact with our past high school interns from last year,” said Vu, whose company is in its second year of working with paid high school interns. “They made a significant impact on products that actually went out to the market and they did a stellar job in a very short amount of time.
“So, with that experience in hand we’re confident that this group will have an immediate impact on our upcoming games and marketing.”
In fact, the mobile gaming company’s latest title, Battle Bears Ultimate, was released this week.
SkyVu interns Nguyen and Tran are joined by social media sensations, Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson of Westside High School. Currently the pair have more than three million followers on Vine.
The four SkyVu interns were preceded by Rob Morrissey, a 2014 Creighton Prep graduate. Morrissey started as a unpaid intern and is now a paid hourly employee of the company.
His dad, Roger, sees a great benefit in the program.
“First of all, he gets to apply some of the learning and technology he’s picked up through classes and he can apply it in an actual work environment,” Roger Morrissey said. “On the job training is invaluable.”
Rob will be a freshman at UNO in the fall. It was the only university that he wanted to consider, largely because of the reputation of the Peter Kiewit Institute.
The Lincoln branch of AIM, a nonprofit organization focused on connecting people through technology, also is in it’s second year of conducting a high school internship program.
AIM’s vice president of strategic partnerships Rod Armstrong says his organization is collaborating with Lincoln Human Resources Management Association, the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and the Greater Lincoln Workforce Investment Board for the program.
Over the last two years they’ve placed almost 30 Lincoln area high school students in internships.
“All of the internships are IT-related and some pay as much as $15.81 per hour,” Armstrong (right) said.
A big draw for high school students is the high pay relative to typical summer jobs as well as the experience and resume building opportunities, he said.
“In my opinion, probably the most important [part of the internship] is probably the contacts you make,” Roger Morrissey agreed.
More than a classroom experience
Gallup’s team believes that through their summer internship, students will have a renewed focus when they head back to school in the fall.
“It’s not enough time to get them coding. The real goal we wanted them to achieve was to see what it was like to work inside an enterprise,” Collison said.
“We do know that several students commented that their level of excitement grew as a result of the program,” AIM’s Armstrong said. “In some cases, the program helped students focus more precisely on what aspect of IT held the greatest interest for them.”
UNO sees direct results as about 25 percent of its inaugural internship cohort elected to attend the University’s College of Information Science and Technology when they graduate while other seniors elected go into other STEM fields.
Along with potential for an increased interest in STEM fields, SkyVu’s founder says he’s always believed the region has an immense wealth of talent, both in technology and in art.
“But to develop it futher, I think reaching that talent at a younger age with relevant work experience that involves teamwork, that involved real work marketing that involves real world business economics only yields a strong work force in the future that we can recruit from,” Vu said.
Katie Tran, one of Sky Vu’s interns, said she takes marketing classes in school, but by the end of the summer, she thinks she’ll have a better shot at a job in the future.
“I’ll be more advanced in it so I can take it as a career later on.”
A roundup of Nebraska-based high school internships
Know a Nebraska high schooler interested in scoring an internship with one of these organizations? Find out how the each program lasts, what interns will be paid and how to apply.
Gallup
How to apply: Go to careers.gallup.com and search “internships.” Applications open up in August.
Duration: Six Saturdays in the fall, six Saturdays in the spring, a winter project and full-time in the summer.
Pay: Interns are paid $10 an hour for the six weeks of full-time work they do in the summer.
What they do: During the school year, interns spend Saturdays learning about the different uses for technology in business and being exposed to a wide variety of potential careers. The program is focused on teaching and mentoring. This year the interns worked on an independent, Android-based project over the winter session. Those remaining in the program through the summer will be paid and work on projects that fit their skillset.
SkyVu
How to apply: Contact SkyVu through their careers page and follow the company on Twitter for updates.
Duration: Summer program, hours vary
Pay: Yes
What they do: The interns will initially be exposed to all aspects of game development. Eventually they will specialize in areas such a programming, art, design or social media/marketing, and will work side-by-side with other employees.
AIM
How to apply: The application form is available online. Recruitment for next summer’s program begins early next year. Schedules and other details are continuously updated on the project’s Facebook page.
Duration: Summer. Hours vary.
Pay: Rates vary.
What they do: Interns work for different employers across Lincoln. They gain real-world experience and are often paid rates much greater than minimum wage. High School students are not required to have programming or technology experience to apply.
UNO
How to apply: Applications will open in April 2015 on its website.
Duration: 8 weeks
Pay: $1,200 stipend to work in a number of research labs
What they do: Students will learn the fun and excitement of scientific research and development activities as well as explore potential careers in IT related disciplines, andhave the opportunity to learn new concepts, tools and skills alongside professors, graduate students and undergraduate students. High school students interested in math, science, performing arts and/or computer science from participating school districts are eligible to apply.
Credits: Photos courtesy of SkyVu Entertainment and Gallup.
