Marcel Gani Internship Program - Host Company Information

Overview | Host Information | Traditional Internship | Student-Initiated Internship | Self-Hosted Internship

Benefits of Hiring a Ross MBA Summer Intern:

A Ross MBA intern gives a start-up company the extra resources that will help it establish operations, strategize for growth, and secure funding. Over the summer, interns have full access to the valuable business information maintained by the Kresge Business Administration Library to help them succeed at their internships. Students are also assigned a reference librarian who provides assistance tailored to the specific needs of the specific internship. Whatever information that an intern needs to identify new markets, survey the competitive landscape, and uncover information that will improve current business planning, they will find it with these resources.

Host Company Requirements:

Eligible entrepreneurial companies should be in the early growth phase of business development, preferably with less than 50 employees and secure financial backing through outside funding or internally generated cash flow. A venture capital firm that invests in early stage companies may also serve as a host company, though students should perform work for the firm itself and not for the portfolio company.

A start-up company should create a 12-week internship that is based on the company's development goals and the projects that a student could work on to achieve those goals. Ideally the student would work directly with the entrepreneur or other senior decision-makers within the host company and attends key company events such as board meetings, venture capital presentations, strategy sessions, etc.

A venture capital firm should create a 12-week internship that provides the student with an investor's perspective of entrepreneurship. This includes assisting portfolio companies by company valuation analysis and exits, participating in due diligence on new investments, targeting next-round funders, and market research.

The only prohibition from the Marcel Gani Internship Program is against sales or cold-calling. Students should receive a first-hand account of business development during the summer.

Hiring process:

Fill out the internship form for a start-up company or a venture capital firm.

The first part of these forms asks questions about the company's financial situation and entrepreneurial history to ensure that the company is a good partner with the Marcel Gani Internship Program.

The second part of the form will be uploaded to the job database for students to review. Instead of asking for the specific job duties that students will work on, the form focuses on the near-term goals of the host company and the general work that should be performed to achieve those goals. In this manner, students will have an idea of the kinds of projects they will be responsible for but host companies are not pressured to anticipate the details of them months in advance.

Internship forms should be submitted to zlicontact@umich.edu as soon as possible in order to be among the first set of companies to garner student interest. The deadline for applications is January 17. Applications received by this date will be invited to a reception in January for representatives from host companies to meet students and discuss the internship without pressure to hire or interview them. Companies that submit applications after this deadline will be invited to the reception, space permitting, and will be notified of a subsidy on a funds-available basis starting in April. Companies can continue submitting applications until our funding runs out.

After submitting the interest form, and after approval the Zell Lurie Institute will provide full access to the student resume database at no charge, a service that normally costs $350. The person in charge of hiring can use key words to search this database and identify the best student for the company to come in for an interview.

Companies may hire any eligible business student they like without waiting for approval. Specific company-intern pairings will be funded only once, i.e. no repeat funding in subsequent years for the same students. Start and end dates are set by the company and the intern depending on the best schedule for each.

After a student is hired, the Institute provides a 50% reimbursement (maximum of $7,200 for the entire summer) to the company to defray the cost of hiring an intern; the salary reimbursement will not be provided for days that the student works during the academic year. The recommended total weekly salary for an intern is $1,200 though students and host companies may negotiate the appropriate compensation.

Companies entering the process will receive more detailed information and guidance on interviewing, hiring, required documentation, deadlines, etc.

For further information, contact zlicontact@umich.edu.