Developing future business leaders

As a responsible corporate citizen, JSJ strives to give back to the community in many ways, including as a source of employment for college interns and graduates. “JSJ is a great company to work for, especially for students who want to live and work in the West Michigan area,” says JSJ Chairman Lynne Sherwood. “Our goal is to offer challenging, meaningful careers with competitive pay and benefits, including tuition reimbursement. It’s important that young people who appreciate the quality of life in West Michigan have a solid reason to stay here.”

In the past, JSJ and its businesses offered informal internships or occasional co-op programs. This year, JSJ formalized its program with its first class of 12 college student interns. Although most returned to school this semester, several are still interning with the company while earning college credits.

One student had a different opportunity. Grand Valley State University graduate and Greenville, Mich., native Jeremy Aldrich accepted a position with JSJ after his internship in foreign currency management under CFO and Treasurer Mike Metzger.

“It was an awesome experience; I was ecstatic when they hired me,” says Jeremy, who majored in finance and economics and starts part-time at Cooley Law School next semester. “This was a really hands-on experience. I had the autonomy and responsibility to pick up the phone and call people for the information I needed.”

His advice to future interns?

  • Don’t expect to find a solution and turn in your answer, like in the classroom. You might be asked to find four different ways to solve a problem.
  • Don’t get discouraged if something’s not working out. You have to be flexible. 
  • You might feel sometimes that people aren’t making you a priority. You have to remember that you’re working on a special project. They are probably working on 10 or 15 projects at the same time.

The JSJ internship program has three goals:

  1. Provide value-added work that JSJ businesses otherwise wouldn’t be able to accomplish
  2. Provide a valuable experience for the intern 
  3. Create a talent pool of future leaders at JSJ.

The first two goals go hand in hand. “We don’t want students watching us work,” says Kim Bremer, organizational development manager and program organizer. “They need experience for their resumes, and to achieve something significant that made a difference. It also helps us both evaluate if a student would be a good long-term fit for our organization. Even if we don’t have a position or it’s not the right fit, maybe there’s an opportunity three to five years later after they’ve worked somewhere else. You never know.”

At the end of the term, the business sponsors and interns meet for the formal presentation of each intern’s project to JSJ’s company business presidents and officers.

For questions about JSJ internships, contact Kim Bremer at bremerk@jsjcorp.com