What business owner wouldn’t feel blessed to have 20 ready-to-work-for-you 20-somethings lining up for face time? That was the premise of an event I attended on Monday night at BeSpoke restaurant in New Haven–an elegant venue with excellent service.
Brilliantly organized by the founders of Super Interns, Julie Braun and Michelle Demers, the FastMatch™ night was exactly that. As you can see in the photo, employers sat on the banquette side of the tables and the soon-to-be interns rotated around the chairs on the inside of the room. Each match lasted 8 minutes. Scripts were provided with questions to ask of each other. Clearly, the young men and women who showed up had been primed to come with resumes, dress professionally and have a cheerful attitude. They all did.
Julie and Michelle were assisted by their own interns who took our names and information at the door and guided us to the location, handed out goodie bags at the end, took photos (exhibit A above) and generally helped the flow of the evening. The two women managed the time efficiently and explained what they were all about as well. Near the end of the event, they put out an offer to the employers to learn more about working with interns.
I attend a LOT of events. Very few (341 Studios immediately come to mind) are as well managed as this. I say this in my blog, because I value your time and would only recommend attending programs of high value. This was one.
I met about ten candidates, many of whom I would gladly find opportunities for. One has already followed up with me. I’m waiting for his references. I have a specific research project in mind for him.
Great to see you on Monday night at this phenomenal event.
I too found an intern and she will be starting for me next week. I am speaking to another intern for the summer and next fall as well.
I think the real plus for me was meeting a group of 10 potential interns in one place face to face. Not all were a perfect match but several were and certainly one would have been enough. Being a highly visual and a high “touch” person, the sea of emailed resumes has been nothing more than virtual pieces of paper to me. The event allowed me to make immediate decisions about which person I thought would be a good fit for my office. SuperInterns took all of the difficulty out of the hiring process for me and all for a nominal amount of money and a pleasant evening in a (nicely designed) restaurant.
@Catherine
It was so much fun ‘bumping’ into you there. Sounds like it worked out really well for you. I’m envious. I had some interest, but no perfect fit.