Do Internships Still Make Sense in a Remote-First World? Rebuilding Our Internship Program for a New Era of Work

Value Stream Consulting
Jul 30
3 min read

Adapting in an ever-changing landscape of technology and human needs

Before the pandemic, our internship program created lasting value, for students and for us. We partnered with a local university, brought in applied computer science seniors, and gave them real consulting experience. Four of them stayed after graduation and became full-time consultants. One, Jessica, has been with us for more than a decade and is now our Director of Professional Services.

However, we paused the program during COVID, like many small firms navigating the shift to remote work. Now, we’re actively exploring what a modern internship could look like, one that reflects how much the nature of work, learning, and technology has changed.

A New Generation, A New Workplace Gap

Today’s graduates have spent a large part of their education isolated behind screens. While they’ve mastered digital tools and self-directed learning, many have missed out on something essential: the experience of working collaboratively.

They haven’t had the chance to read a room in a meeting, brainstorm with teammates around a whiteboard, or build professional relationships in person. That’s a problem, not just for them, but for the future of our sector.

We believe internships can help close that gap. Not just by offering students exposure to work, but by offering them exposure to working with people.

Why It’s Easier Now to Get Started

In the past, interns in our sector needed considerable time and technical training before they could contribute meaningfully to projects. Working in Salesforce, for example, meant months of onboarding before real productivity began.

That’s changed. Today, we design and deliver several of our solutions using no-code and low-code platforms like Monday, Softr, and Make. These tools are faster to learn and highly intuitive, which makes them ideal entry points for student interns.

With the right mindset and support, interns can start building real solutions in weeks, not months. They gain exposure to process mapping, requirements gathering, data modeling, and client collaboration, all within a hybrid work model that emphasizes communication and adaptability.

A Smarter Pathway: No-Code to Full Stack

The program we’re considering isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s a staged path that begins with accessible tools and grows with the intern:

1. Entry through no-code platforms: Interns start with monday.com and Softr, learning how to structure workflows, connect data, and design tools that solve problems for our grantmaking clients.

2. Advancement based on interest and aptitude: Those who thrive and want to go further can begin working with more complex systems like Salesforce or GivingData, shadowing implementations, supporting documentation, testing configurations, and gradually growing into deeper technical roles.

This structure helps interns discover their strengths while allowing us to invest in those most aligned with our long-term work.

Where We Are Now

We haven’t formally relaunched the internship program yet. But we’re in conversations with a local university and our internal team to co-design something that’s hybrid, structured, and sustainable.

Our goal is to create a win-win: a meaningful learning experience for students and a healthy talent pipeline for us.

Why This Matters to Our Clients

To our current and future clients, this isn’t just about intern development. It’s about ensuring that the consulting team supporting your mission is constantly learning, growing, and engaging with new perspectives.

It’s also about reflecting the kind of culture we want to be known for, one that builds capacity, gives back to the sector, and stays adaptable in an ever-changing landscape of technology and human needs.

And with AI now accelerating every part of our work, it’s more important than ever to help new professionals learn how to use these tools in thoughtful, human-centered ways.

Join the Conversation, add your Comments

As we continue designing this next chapter, we’d love your input. If you’ve built or participated in a successful consulting internship program, let us know what worked, or what you’d do differently.

If you're a student or educator, we’d love to hear what would make a program like this meaningful and valuable from your perspective.

And if you’d like to follow our progress, including lessons from this journey and insights from our work with grantmakers and impact tech, subscribe to our newsletter here. We’ll keep you in the loop with stories, strategies, and opportunities to connect.