Inside Successful Port Internship Programs

In the eternal search for talent, internship programs offer an invaluable way for ports to educate young people weighing their career choices about the industry and about the vast array of job opportunities that it offers.

In this way, Jonathan Atwood, chief of staff and external affairs for the South Jersey Port Corporation, said internships enable ports to incubate a potential future employee and make careers in the industry seem more accessible and viable.

“Most people don’t understand what happens at a port beyond what they hear in the news or see on ‘The Wire,’” Atwood said. “Getting that hands-on experience in a unique industry gives that individual a leg up in pursuing a career in the maritime industry, but that also makes them a stronger future applicant.”

In the best internship programs, interns, staff members, and the ports themselves all benefit as young workers find their professional footing, staff members receive valuable help and serve as mentors, and the ports recruit promising potential team members. As Michael Meekins, executive director of the Port of Palm Beach District, said, “An internship program is a true investment in the future workforce.”

“It gives the staff the chance to shape and develop these young minds and truly make them a part of our team during their time here,” Meekins said. “It allows the students to experience firsthand how creating a positive working environment can be a key to overall success. I believe it drives them to naturally want to participate and hopefully create this environment themselves in the future.”

Derek Bender, SHRM-CP and manager, Talent Connections at the Port of Seattle, said the mission of his port’s internship program is to develop diverse pathways for talent into careers at the port.

“This includes engaging and involving students in port operations and values, interesting them in careers in public service, providing opportunities for them to further their education through meaningful work experiences creating the potential for them to return as full-time employees of the port in the future and developing them as well-rounded individuals,” Bender said.

Matt Davis, chief public engagement officer for the Port of Oakland, said his port sees the internship program as a crucial part of its broad emphasis on workforce development, helping it to build the next generation of port leaders.

“It’s gratifying when we do find opportunities to have them actually come back and work at the port directly, but more than that it’s an overall benefit,” Davis said.

Finding the Right Scope

Port internships vary in scope and approach, depending on a number of factors. For instance, the South Jersey Port Corporation can take on only a couple of interns each summer because of its smaller size and the restrictions from union contracts on the scope of work interns can perform. Still, even with a smaller program, “We believe the program offers tremendous experience value for individual interns as they advance in their careers,” Atwood said.

Within its limits, an area that has been especially successful for the South Jersey Port Corporation is in its engineering department, while an interdisciplinary internship allows for the port to expose individuals to multiple departments, including marketing, business development, finance and legal — giving interns broad exposure to the maritime business.

The Port of Seattle hires around 20 high school interns each winter and 40 each summer. The winter program runs for 12 weeks in partnership with industry-aligned high schools and features a project completed under the supervision of stakeholders, while the summer program runs for eight weeks and combines department placements with tours, workshops and professional development events. The Port of Seattle also offers college and graduate internships throughout the year that allow students to work in a field aligned with their academic and career goals.

The Port of Oakland’s internship program has become highly competitive with more than 600 applicants seeking 22 spots this year.

“Our port is not just the seaport, but we also run an airport, and then we have a commercial real estate division and utility division, so it gives us a great opportunity to market the organization widely to a very broad and diverse group of academic interests and certainly professional interests,” Davis said.

Creating Meaningful Experiences

Atwood said it is vital to identify the right work for interns to take on. “The internship should be an immersive experience,” he said.

“We find the key to a successful internship is proper advanced planning,” Atwood said. “Our human resources department meets with the applicable supervisors in advance of the internship to establish a work plan for that individual. Of course, changes are made as needed throughout the internship, but at least this way, they have a framework from which to operate.”

Yaremi Farinas, public information officer for the Port of Palm Beach, said her port uses a project-based structure to give interns ownership of real-world assignments that contribute to the port’s goals, helping to build problem-solving skills and encourage creativity while leading to a sense of accomplishment.

Farinas said the port also plans a variety of events and activities for the interns to attend, including “Port Activity Days” designed to show different aspects of the port operations.

“These experiences broaden their understanding of the port and help them see what goes on beyond the administrative offices,” Farinas said. “We also incorporate real-life skill-building sessions such as a finance class, a resume workshop and training opportunities including cybersecurity training, human trafficking prevention training and how to escape a sinking vehicle.”

Davis said interns can provide important boosts to new and existing projects.

“We really don’t want to have idle interns sitting around doing filing or copying,” Davis said. “Every intern is going to bring a different skill set, a different level of experience, and seeing them professionally grow and substantively add to the port’s output is really exciting.”

Securing Staff Support

Davis said strong buy-in from hosting departments and intern supervisors is important, and the port ensures there is a vetted work plan for each intern.

“We know that we provide value to the students and to the interns that come in, in terms of them gaining professional work experience and exposure to the port and airport environment, but we really want to make sure that there’s a return on investment for those departments that are hosting them,” Davis said. “We make sure that they’re part of a team in developing whatever project that department really wants to focus on for this concentrated period.”

Davis said no supervisors at the Port of Oakland are required to oversee interns. The result is that those who gravitate toward that role are those, “who really want to nurture and mentor and be a partner for our students. We really find the supervisors who want to impart as much as they can to the next generation of potential colleagues.”

Farinas said her port puts an emphasis on creating, “a friendly, welcoming culture where mentors are genuinely invested in helping them learn and grow.” One challenge of an internship program is getting department directors aligned on the goals and structure of the program, she said.

“To tackle this, we decided to actively involve them in the planning process, which helps build a sense of ownership and strengthens their commitment to the program’s success,” Farinas said.

Measuring Success

Farinas said the Port of Palm Beach measures success primarily through intern feedback gathered from a questionnaire they answered at the end of their program. The port also seeks feedback from the supervisors and considers their insights.

Delis Silva Lopes, a tenant relations intern at the port last year, said the most valuable part of the internship was seeing how the port and its employees work.

“It was good to see that everyone was willing to help each other and ask for help whenever help was needed,” Silva Lopes said. “I felt like being a part of the team instead of just on the sidelines. I like that we were included and thought of. I know that the port staff was thinking of us and our future careers.”

Atwood said the South Jersey Port Corporation measures its internship program’s success through its work product and the feedback gathered from interns and supervisors. That feedback has helped lead to tweaks to improve the experience for everyone involved, such as broadening what was originally a marketing internship into a multidisciplinary internship that spanned multiple departments.

The Port of Seattle measures success through impact surveys and the conversion rates of interns who attain employment at the port after the internships are over. In a notable sign of the program’s benefits, 20 former interns have started regular full-time roles at the Port of Seattle since 2020, while 21 other former interns converted into short-term temporary roles to gain more experience and support projects.

“Through the use of pre- and postimpact surveys, we measure the growth of participants in a variety of skill-based competencies and career awareness,” Bender said. “Historically, we have seen significant intern growth in all of the measured areas at the conclusion of the program.”

In addition, the port has built a large network of participant alumni who stay connected with the port through its LinkedIn intern alumni network.

“This allows the port and former interns to stay connected on job opportunities and allows port staff to celebrate the career achievements of those whose internships launched their career trajectory,” Bender said.

The competition for interns can be stiff, and ports must be able to adapt and offer internships that meet the shifting needs and expectations of the workforce.

“We are building internships that, we hope, will increase certainty in an uncertain market, improving the glide path for interns to enter employment,” Bender said. “We are a large public sector employer competing with large firms in Seattle for talent. But we also have a good story to tell about our reach and partnership in the community and the depth of our public education work. If those values are driving your internship search, the port can be a powerful pathway for future good-paying opportunities and meaningful impact on the region.”