The Dunedin ICT Internship Programme was launched last year by the Dunedin ICT Business Cluster in conjunction with the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic.
The cluster was a partnership between the Dunedin City Council and the city's 160 information and communication technology (ICT) companies, and the internship programme - supported by a $45,000 grant from the council's industry project fund - aimed to help ICT companies find and retain talented staff.
Council business development adviser Graham Strong said the programme had been an "outstanding" success in its inaugural year.
Thirty-two students had been matched with companies across Dunedin and offered summer internships, after being selected from a group of 80 students at a speed dating-style recruitment event at the University of Otago late last year.
The placements included 24 paid positions - 19 of them supported by the industry project fund - and eight unpaid positions, and led to 17 interns being offered jobs at the end of their placements, he said.
The jobs included four permanent full-time positions, six permanent part-time jobs and seven short-term contracts.
It was estimated the jobs would add $805,000 to the city's GDP, he said.
One student had started a business after completing the internship, and one company reported their interns had together created more than $24,000 in revenue during their placements.
Among the interns was Sean Squires (21), of Invercargill, who landed a two-month placement at Dunedin company Enabling in December last year, just after graduating with a bachelor of information technology degree from Otago Polytechnic.
The internship involved several weeks of on-the-job training, followed by work developing software and meeting clients, and had helped him to develop a host of practical skills, Mr Squires said.
"I think it's definitely a good experience."
The placement had also kept him in the city over summer, when he might otherwise have moved north in search of work, and had since led to a full-time job with the company's Dunedin office, he said.
Enabling services director Brendan Sparrow said his company took on three interns and eventually offered two permanent positions, including to Mr Squires.
The internship programme offered "absolutely essential" experience for students, he said. "That process I think is invaluable."
Mr Strong said the programme's success had earned the trust of ICT companies, and 18 companies had committed to its second year.
Together, they wanted 43 interns, but the cluster had decided to cap the number at 40 to "ensure a good-quality service" for companies, students and the tertiary institutions, he said.
Each student was paid at least $4000 pro-rata, with the cost shared between the internship fund and employers, he said.
"It's a good remuneration for a student over a summer period," he said.
The cluster was seeking a further $73,600 from the council to fund the growing interest in the programme, which would resume later this year following the same format, he said.
A decision was expected at next week's council meeting.
