The first Quinterns of 2012 give our new paid internship program high marks for delivering what we promise – paid, hands-on, real-world experience.  As one Quintern put it, “Quincy has truly created one of the best internship programs in the nation. I was not running errands or doing pointless activities. I was in the field and getting a real hands on experience.“  We’re pleased about that but what’s more – we know we can make our program even better for the next wave of best and brightest students.

As part of our curriculum, we ask all of our Quinterns to fill out exit surveys just before their internships end. The questions are designed to help us fine tune what works and eliminate what doesn’t. When asked to rate their satisfaction with the overall experience from one (poor) to five (excellent),  our first Quinterns rated their satisfaction as 4.8, excellent. The survey results confirm the importance we place on assigning a mentor to each Quintern and on following a well-defined curriculum. Our first Quinterns gave the program a perfect 5.0 rating for the variety and quality of skills they learned. As one Quintern said, “This internship really brought me out of my shell as a journalist and required more fast-paced movement than classes offer. I utilized skills with unfamiliar equipment that I am now very comfortable with and hope to integrate these tools for my ideal position as a multimedia journalist.”

Our goal in hiring Quinterns and in growing the inventory between their ears, is to hire the best of them after they graduate and to help all of our Quinterns to land great jobs. Our first Quinterns rated the value of their experience in helping them to find employment at  4.8 out of 5. And 100% of our Quinterns want to be considered for employment in the Quincy family of companies when they graduate.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

The Quinternship program works because of  the hard-working men and women in our television stations, newspapers and radio stations. The students praised their knowledge, their patience and their passion for our business.  If you’re interested in becoming a Quintern, take the first step by filling out our online application here. Your information will be routed to the Quincy location(s) you choose and you will be kept up to date on your application status.

Across our company people are now engaged in reviewing online applications submitted for our paid internship or “Quinternship” programs. They’re also spreading the word about the program to internship coordinators at local schools. We wouldn’t be surprised if you spotted one of our posters in a school near you.

Funding for our Quinternship program starts January 1, 2012 so if you’re interested, now is the time to apply. You can start by filling out the online application, which you’ll find by hovering over the “Internship” navigation element at the top of nearly every page.

To make things easier, here’s another way to get to important links:

Click here for a Quinternship Program description. Beyond that, Quinterns can expect to be paired with a mentor and to have a detailed curriculum of learning experiences, including doing real work.

Click here for the online Quinternship application. A word of advice about that. We’ll be asking for contact information for your advisor as well as references. You’ll get through the form faster if you have that information handy. Completed applications will be sent to the Quincy television, radio and newspaper company locations you’ve chosen as first choice and alternate choices, for their review. They’ll choose the leading candidates for the next step, which includes looking at your resume, work samples and an in-person interview. Candidates chosen to become Quinterns will then go through our hiring process because you’ll become an employee of the company while you intern with us. When we say you’ll get a real-world experience, we mean it!

If you have a question, click here to reach our Quinternship Coordinators at each location. If you have a technical issue or a suggestion while navigating the survey or the careersatquincy.com website, we would love to hear from you so we can make the experience even better. Send your comments Quincy’s Senior Internet Director, Jon Okerstrom.

We’re excited by what’s about to happen in 2012. We hope you are too.