By Dylan Guest, Director, Communications
The Texas Internship Challenge is a partnership between the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Education Agency, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Through its online platform, the challenge incentivizes employers to provide paid or for-credit internships by facilitating access to a diverse and motivated local talent pool free of charge while streamlining the process for students to discover and apply for available opportunities.
Why should companies participate in the Texas Internship Challenge?
Employers who participate in the challenge and utilize the platform gain access to a local talent pool by directly listing their internships on the Texas Internship Challenge platform for free. This also allows a company to address their staffing needs while demonstrating their commitment to supporting talent development and fostering growth within their community.
Additionally, a highlight of the platform is the Virtual Recruiter tool, which allows employers to create specified search alerts for qualified candidates, match their internship listing and skill requirements with the candidates, and instantly review any resumes they match with or find.
The challenge’s platform provides a diverse range of readily available local labor market insights, including facts and summaries on specific areas, industries, occupations, and educational fields. This empowers users with comprehensive data for informed decision-making and strategic planning regarding hiring. Employers can also seamlessly integrate their internship listings into their hiring sites and social media accounts.
To get started, head to the website and click the ‘Sign In/Register’ button located at the top right corner. Next, scroll down to option three to create a user account for an employer. Once you’ve selected this option, fill out your information, and you’re all set to begin!
Why should companies offer paid internships?
Providing paid internships not only benefits companies in the short term but also creates a strong foundation for the future success of a company and its region.
For employers, internships create a valuable avenue to scout talent, train candidates for full-time roles, and create career-ready assets for the company. The emphasis on career readiness, a core priority of the Dallas Regional Chamber (DRC) and Dallas Thrives, significantly enhances a region’s talent pipeline, benefiting both the workforce and companies.
Providing compensation to interns not only attracts top applicants but also boosts their motivation and instills in them a sense of ownership and responsibility, driving them to make meaningful contributions. With proper guidance and support, paid interns can become career-ready and have the potential to become invaluable contributors.
Hiring interns can also alleviate future recruiting challenges for companies, with 70% of interns being retained by the same company where they completed their internship, according to career planning site Zippia. A company’s stability and growth is directly related to employee’s qualifications and retention, topics covered in the DRC’s 2023 State of the Workforce event.
Internships can help prevent unfilled jobs from impacting the regional economy by equipping students with essential workplace skills, professional experience, and industry knowledge, ultimately readying them for a smooth transition into full-time employment upon graduation.
Through its strategic focus on Education, Talent & Workforce, the DRC fosters collaboration between the local business community and educational institutions to meet regional industry needs. Learn more about the DRC’s work in Education and Workforce on our website.