Hormel Foods, a global branded food company (NYSE: HRL), has once again stepped up to continue its award-winning summer internship program, accommodating a record 83 college students who represent nearly 50 colleges and universities throughout the United States. Last year, Hormel Foods offered students one of only a handful of virtual internships available nationwide. Despite the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, summer interns are once again hard at work, gaining real-life experience and contributing to the company’s key results virtually, in hybrid situations and in person.
“We are excited to welcome the largest class of interns in our company’s history,” said Amy Sheehan, director of talent acquisition at Hormel Foods. “We learned how to best navigate the virtual space after gaining insightful feedback from last year’s intern class, and now for this year’s class, we’ve incorporated those learnings together with in-person experiences later this summer. It’s exciting to see how every year we are able to build on this program and continue to elevate the experience for our intern classes.
Throughout the duration of the 10-week program, interns experience real business scenarios, either in person or remotely. Each Hormel Foods summer internship is paid, with interns working an average of 40 hours per week. The program, which officially kicked off June 1, will run through Aug. 6.
In addition to having an 85 percent conversion rate of interns becoming full-time employees in 2020, Vault recognized Hormel Foods for having one of the nation’s best internship programs in the retail and consumer products category. The company was ranked No. 38 on the 2021 ranking of 100 Best Internships. In addition, Hormel Foods made Vault’s 2021 Best Internships for Employment Prospects list (coming in at No. 18), the 2021 Best Internships for Sales & Marketing list (coming in at No. 4), and the Best Retail & Consumer Products Internships list (coming in at No. 4).
Sheehan and her team have created a hands-on approach for these students to provide them with the opportunity to work with all levels of management. New this year, the Hormel Foods family of companies came together to create one cohesive internship program across the organization. This change provides a consistent experience and allows the interns to see the many different career paths across the entire organization. The summer interns can be found working at the corporate headquarters, in regional sales offices throughout the country, and with various Hormel Foods production facilities and farms.
“Our interns deserve a best-in-class experience, and we have worked hard to continually improve our program,” said Sheehan. “Whether they are with us in person or contributing virtually, we are providing these young professionals with the experience they need and expect from us as a company. We are honored to work with this talented team and look forward to their contributions to the important work we do every day.”
