De-risking Your Internship Program: A Semiconductor Manufacturer's Guide to Employer-Funded Financial Aid

The Challenge: A “Red Ocean” Competitive Landscape for Engineering Talent

The semiconductor industry is a cornerstone of technological innovation, and securing top engineering talent is paramount to its continued growth. However, attracting and retaining top engineering students is predicted to become one of the greatest hurdles for the industry to thrive.  According to recent research, a talent shortage currently constrains projected growth, “Deloitte predicts that more than one million additional skilled workers will be needed by 2030, equating to more than 100,000 annually. For context, there are fewer than 100,000 graduate students enrolled in electrical engineering and computer science in the United States annually.” What’s more, “the number of students in semiconductor-focused programs (for example, undergraduates in semiconductor design and fabrication) has dwindled.”

All of this adds up to the fact that the hiring decision within semiconductors is now more important than ever. Heads of talent know that competition for the limited pool of engineering and semi-conductor students is fierce and extends beyond the industry. To address this challenge, many semiconductor manufacturers have robust internship programs designed to identify and cultivate future talent. Although effective, these programs can be costly, time-consuming, and are subject to disconcertingly high levels of reneges before day one, and voluntary turnover after day one.

The Solution: Employer-Funded Financial Aid (EFFA)

Employer-Funded Financial Aid (EFFA) offers a transformative approach to de-risking the collegiate talent internship process through a novel type of scholarship – the milestone-based scholarship, which is a business expense to employers, just like other recruitment costs. EFFA enables employers to provide financial aid incentives to students for completing specific milestones, such as assessments, onboarding tools and content, mentorship/job shadowing, and last mile training, that give talent and HR professionals an earlier, strategic view into the talent they wish to hire, while they are still in school, thus solving a two-way communication problem between the employer and talent.

Here's how a Head of Talent at a semiconductor manufacturer can leverage EFFA to optimize their internship program:

1. Vetting via Milestone-Based Scholarship:

• Assess Core Engineering Principles: Use skills-based assessments to ensure interns have a strong foundation in fundamental engineering concepts, such as circuit design, semiconductor device physics, and digital systems.

• Assess Work Styles: Use cultural fit assessment tools to learn about interns' communication, problem-solving, and teamwork styles, which are essential for success in collaborative engineering environments.

2. Prepare via Milestone-Based Scholarships

• Pre-Onboarding: Enable interns to experience your company’s onboarding content prior to day one, to show them how their personal sense of purpose can align with the company’s mission and vision.

• Mentoring or Job Shadowing: Encourage interns to meet in-person with current employees so that they can visualize themselves within the organization, doing the work alongside other professionals.

• Learning-based Technical Project Completion: Incentivize interns to complete challenging engineering projects, such as designing a new circuit or optimizing a manufacturing process.

• Train with Industry-Specific Knowledge: Expose interns to the latest trends and technologies in the semiconductor industry, including advanced manufacturing processes, AI, and machine learning.

3. Enhance Your Company’s Comprehensive Internship Experience

• Meaningful Projects: Assign better vetted and prepared interns to projects that have a real impact on the company's business objectives.

• Professional Development Opportunities: Offer workshops and training sessions on topics that complement the last mile training, such as technical writing, presentation skills, and leadership development.

• Social and Cultural Activities: Organize team-building activities and social events to foster a strong sense of community among interns who are already prepared through earlier exposure to onboarding, creating a “sticky,” context that reinforces their relationship with the company itself.

The Benefits of EFFA for Semiconductor Manufacturers

• Enhanced Talent Acquisition: Use milestone-based scholarships in job announcements and recruitment marketing to attract top engineering students who are passionate about the semiconductor industry and eager to gain hands-on experience.

• Improved Retention Rates: Increase the likelihood of interns accepting full-time offers by investing in their development and fostering a strong employer-employee relationship.

• Increased Productivity: Equip interns with the skills and knowledge they need to contribute meaningfully to projects from day one, whether internship or direct hire.

• Stronger Employer Brand: Position your company, and candidate experience as an attractive employer for top engineering talent by offering innovative and rewarding internship programs.

By implementing EFFA, semiconductor manufacturers can manage the risk associated with their pipeline of talent for internship programs, better vet and prepare top talent so that they can be even more productive within the internship, and build a pipeline of future leaders.