College students know that quality internship opportunities are highly competitive. A good internship program can offer a peek inside the window of a company that’s hiring young innovators, and build a skill set that can significantly impact the success of finding and winning the next job.
Ipsen’s commitment to providing a top-notch program to the class of 2024 interns has ensured that this year’s participants had an extraordinary experience.
“The real-world experience has been the best part. Everyone here wants to get you involved as much as they can to see the different sides of how (Ipsen) operations work.”
Mason, Sales Intern
Six interns from universities across the U.S. came to Cherry Valley, Illinois to gain experience in controls engineering, mechanical engineering, human resources, sales, and technical service. Each were given a project to work on in their department that would fully immerse them in applying their education and developing new skills in a real-world environment with real-time demands.
Beyond the individual projects, each intern had the opportunity to spend time with department heads, internal leaders, and Ipsen USA’s President and CEO Patrick McKenna. Interns were paired with mentors who would guide their Ipsen experience, assign tasks, and provide insight about the career path each intern was seeking to experience.
“I learned a saying that will stick with me forever from (President and CEO) Patrick McKenna, ‘You can sit back and let your career come to you, or you can go out and make your own career.’ By taking steps to learn about a role and by showing interest, if the opportunity comes open, your name is more likely to come up.”
Drake, Mechanical Engineering Intern
Lunch and Learn programs were designed to give interns a chance to learn about Ipsen products and services, preparing for job interviews, comparing compensation packages, and delivering presentations to an audience of their peers and internal leaders. Speakers included Ipsen CSO John Dykstra, Technical Director Jim Grann, and HR & Benefits Manager Lydia Nieuwenhuis, among others.
“Ipsen’s mentoring program makes this internship a more personal and customizable experience. Working with a mentor, the two of you can tailor your time at Ipsen to cover all the areas you want to learn about, further explore and/or improve in so you can get the most out of your experience and ensure you don’t walk away with any regrets or feelings of missed opportunity.”
Olivia, Mechanical Engineering Intern
In mid-August, each intern delivered their final presentation on the projects that they took on over the course of the summer. Projects included building documentation for a comprehensive safety data sheet directory, building and executing a sales plan alongside Ipsen’s retrofits department, reviewing and altering the design of digital controls with new components ranging from temperature sensors to ethernet-ready digital control modules, building a more robust database of vendor costs, and looking at new designs for chamber door breaking solutions.
Interns delivered their findings and talked about their experiences in front of a room filled with leaders from across Ipsen, handling questions about their findings and showing not just how much they learned, but how much of an impact they had on the company over the summer. One intern compared his experience at Ipsen with a previous internship experience, explaining how important it was to apply their education to the challenges at Ipsen. “Not only did we appreciate being involved in the work and seeing how to apply what we’ve learned, but the lunch and learns, the mentorship, and the one-on-one conversations with (President and CEO) Patrick McKenna were invaluable.”
McKenna acknowledged the team of departing interns, thanking them for their time and their contributions, saying “We’ve been impressed by your work, and we know you’ll go far. I pledge to help each of you along your career journey.” He continued “The success of this summer internship program has me committed to continue the growth of the program, looking for ways to do even more with our interns in the future.”
The 2024 Ipsen Internship Program represents a big step in developing the next generation of professionals for the future in our industry. We look forward to meeting the class of 2025.
If you are interested in internship opportunities with Ipsen, watch for our internship program application announcement in the spring of 2025.