Picente Urges Oneida County-Based Students, Employers To Apply Now for College Corps Summer Internships

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr., today announced that the Oneida County College Corps Internship Program is accepting applications from potential interns and employers.

Applications for college students who want to be hired as interns are available on line at www.ocgov.net, on the Web Page for the Office of Workforce Development. Applications are also available on line for employers who want to participate in the program and hire an enthusiastic intern for the summer of 2012. Employers with questions about the program should call Oneida County Workforce Development Director David Mathis at 798-5908.

“Developing the workforce of the future means showing young people what this area has to offer, as well as providing them the opportunity to hone their skills through internships,” Picente said. “The Oneida County College Internship Program provides employers with outstanding, talented interns and increases students’ awareness of potential employers in their fields. Through these internships, students learn about our region, they learn about their careers, and we make some employer-intern connections that can help both students and employers in the future.”

Picente said that during 2011, about 125 interns worked for local employers such as Black River Systems Co., PAR Government / Rome Research, the Neighborhood Center and Upstate Cerebral Palsy. Students are matched to employers based upon an employer’s needs and an intern’s interests and abilities.

Students are paid $9 an hour and usually work 200 hours over the summer. The program targets college juniors and seniors. Employers split the cost of the internships with County Government. Staff from the Oneida County Office of Workforce Development provides pre-screening for interns and does all of the paperwork.

“Any time you bring enthusiastic, energetic young people into the workplace, it helps everyone,” said Picente. “Employers get the services of a bright, young intern who wants to undertake challenging projects; interns gain experience and learn about the career field they want to enter while they learn about local opportunities in their field.”

 The Internship Program was begun in 1998 by the Oneida County Board of Legislators to connect top-flight students and area employers. 

“Ending our region’s brain drain is a long-term process,” Picente said. “This program plants the seed that no matter where Oneida County students go to school, this is a region of opportunity they will want to consider when they look for jobs after graduation.”