The JobDUN intern scheme, previously known as Sexy Summer Jobs, was established in 2009, and was designed to match up businesses in need of skilled staff with students seeking work experience.
Successful students receive paid fixed-term internships, and many go on to full-time work after the completion of their internships.
CloudCannon co-founder George Phillips said it gave his business first access to ‘‘really talented people’’.
He knows what he is talking about when it comes to the programme, having experienced both sides of the scheme.
He had been an intern when he was studying, which led to a full-time job.
Then he went on to found online content management company CloudCannon with a fellow former intern.
When the time came to expand their company, they knew where to turn.
‘‘Going back to find students from a programme that we trusted from going through it was one of the obvious choices.’’
They had taken on eight interns over the past three years, and went on to offer full-time work to all who had finished their studies at the time of the internship.
Mr Phillips said the scheme took away a lot of the risk that came from hiring an untested employee.
Interns were hired for a set timeframe and a specific project, protecting the business if an intern proved unsuitable.
The programme also provided businesses with a grant of $1000 towards the wages of interns, which helped defray the financial risks.
CloudCannon developer Ryan Collins was one of the first interns hired by the company, and said the scheme allowed him to gain industry experience to go with his studies.
‘‘I got the opportunity to come in and learn a bunch more stuff in kind of a low-pressure environment.’’
Figures released by the JobDUN programme showed that in 2020-21 41 interns were placed by the programme.
Of these, 23 received permanent employment after their internship, and 13 new roles were created.
The programme attracted 22 businesses to take part and 13 of them took on more than one intern.
