{"id":1697,"date":"2014-03-04T18:55:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T00:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwpowerswi.com\/?p=1697"},"modified":"2015-04-01T12:53:01","modified_gmt":"2015-04-01T17:53:01","slug":"uw-stevens-point-graduates-turn-internships-into-jobs-at-skyward","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-stevens-point-graduates-turn-internships-into-jobs-at-skyward\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Stevens Point graduates turn internships into jobs at Skyward"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a common paradox for college graduates \u2013 getting a job requires experience, but how do you get experience without a job? Thanks to a partnership with Skyward, Inc., students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point are gaining both.<\/p>\n

An educational software company based in Stevens Point, Skyward currently employs more than 400 people, 145 of which are UW-Stevens Point alumni. But while Skyward has long recruited interns from computer information systems, it recently began collaborating with the School of Business and Economics to offer students paid internships in customer service.<\/p>\n

Based on their intern experience, most of the 13 students in this program continued with the company on a full-time basis after graduation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ability to bring in students, train them and have them stay on full-time has been a very valuable pipeline for us,\u201d said Jon Oliver, vice president of operations at Skyward. \u201cSome internships last a few weeks. Here it is a year-round position, which helps fund their education. It also builds into a career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Abbott, a business administration and economics major from Stevens Point, was one of five December graduates who accepted a full-time job after interning for more than a year. These five students had the experience of having their new boss, Skyward CEO Cliff King, as their commencement speaker.<\/p>\n

\"Recent<\/a>
Recent graduate Jessie Fecteau gained the experience she needed for her career at Skyward with a paid internship at the company part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSkyward is truly a family-run business,\u201d said Abbott. \u201cEveryone is incredibly knowledgeable and brings different dynamics and fresh ideas to the table. It\u2019s an exciting place to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship between Skyward and the School of Business and Economics began as a personal one. As a member of the school\u2019s Business Advisory Committee, King worked closely with faculty and saw the potential to increase the company\u2019s internship program with UW-Stevens Point beyond information technology majors.<\/p>\n

King worked with Business Professor Barb Mihm to promote the customer service positions. Several students majoring in business administration were hired. The students worked part time during the school year and full time during the summer, and had the opportunity to travel with the company to train customers in Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly recommend the internship experience at Skyward,\u201d said Jessie Fecteau, a business administration-marketing and economics major from Richfield, Wis. \u201cIt\u2019s a small company, and you can get the experience you need without feeling intimidated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of the program, the interns did presentations on their Skyward internships to their peers in School of Business and Economics,\u201d Mihm said. \u201cIt was clear the experience gave them respect and confidence. It was a real sales pitch for Skyward, and we have a lot more students interested in the internships.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s great news for Andy Lind, vice president of customer service at Skyward, who plans to hire about 10 interns next fall with the intention that these interns also will continue with the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been impressed with what we have seen coming from UW-Stevens Point,\u201d Lind said. \u201cThey come here in learning mode, with a good background and good working knowledge to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

An alumnus himself, Lind helps interns see the opportunity for a career in Stevens Point.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people feel the need to go to a big city, but there\u2019s career growth right here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe promote people from within the company, and within five years we are looking to double in size. I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll continue to hire UW-Stevens Point graduates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>
Skyward Grads: UW-Stevens Point December 2013 graduates (from left) Molly Przybylski, Adam Seibel, Jessie Fecteau, Ian Dart and Ben Abbott interned with the Stevens Point-based software company, Skyward, Inc., and turned their experiences into full-time jobs with the company.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a common paradox for college graduates \u2013 getting a job requires experience, but how do you get experience without a job? Thanks to a partnership with Skyward, Inc., students at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point are gaining both. An educational software company based in Stevens Point, Skyward currently employs more than 400 people, 145 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":2219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[95],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-1697","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-stevens-point"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/1697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=1697"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=1697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}