Aug 29, 2019·4 min read
TYE Alumni representing TiE Boston at a local startup expo!
Can you believe that 60% of employers stress the importance of students focusing on their careers in high school?
Pre-collegiate internships are becoming increasingly important for professional experience and success. 90% agreed that internships can greatly assist with this, stating that it would offer students a competitive advantage when seeking future internships and full-time jobs. 70% of companies claimed that such an internship would “very likely” or “completely likely” land the individual a college internship, and 45% claimed that it would “very likely” or “completely likely” turn into a full-time job.
TYE Students Pitching to Investors
The TiE Young Entrepreneurs program brings innovative and accomplished high school students from across Massachusetts to go through the challenges and rewards of building a startup while also developing their professional acumen. At the end of the program, teams pitch their ideas to a panel of venture capitalists for a chance to win up to $5K in seed funding. In the course of a curriculum focused on ideation, design thinking, marketing, prototyping, finance, business law, sales, and public speaking — special attention is given to professional writing, networking, time management and collaborating as part of a team.
Knowing the talent of our TYE graduates, TiE Boston continued to bring on two talented and motivated interns this summer — Jyoti Bhardwaj and Vikram Kaushik helping them learn, grow, and explore various aspects of a business. See what they had to say about their internship experience and impact.
Jyoti Bhardwaj: TYE (2018–2019)
Jyoti Bhardwaj
“During my experience at the TYE program, I learned how to build a business step by step and understand which business ideas are worth pursuing. Additionally, it was a great honor to be part of TIE Boston 2019 and win the second prize of $2000 in the TYE Boston competition. Stadium Ways, the company that my team and I designed, is passionate about advancing the product to the next level and bringing the idea to nearby stadiums. During the summer of 2019, I received the opportunity to come back to THE for a summer internship. At the internship, I worked on web development for the TYE website and business research. From this experience, I have learned the importance of collaborating and sharing ideas with others. I am passionate about computer science, and I have experience in HTML, CSS, Java, and Python. Furthermore, in a future internship, I would love to do computer programming and machine learning research or development.”
Vikram Kaushik: (TYE 2017–2018)
Vikram Kaushik
“Interning at TiE Boston part-time this summer was an experience that I will never forget because I learned many invaluable skills. How an office runs, the process of marketing and outreach, and how to communicate are just some of the amazing things I learned. Being a TYE alumnus, this was the perfect segue from an entrepreneurship experience into a behind-the-scenes business environment that is real. My long term goals are to try to pursue something in business, even if it is not the center of my career. Learning these important skills and gaining firsthand experience is something I have just begun to do. Just because I might not become an entrepreneur does not mean that any of my prior ventures are of no value — in fact, it only bolstered my people skills that are vital no matter what field you enter. That is what I love about business, that it helps everybody. That is the mentality I have with this internship, and why I am going to continue to stay involved with TiE Boston and pursue business as much as I can. A huge thanks to Katie for being my coach through this whole process and teaching me things I never would have thought otherwise!”
TYE Deep Dive on Identifying Additional Revenue Streams
We are living in a time where high school students are building companies and developing technology at a rapid pace. It’s hard to believe that many high school students can be prepared to contribute to the needs of an established company at such an early age but our TYE students are.
As Robin D. Richards, chairman and CEO of Internships.com, shares “High school internships are a win-win for both employers and students. For students, work experience is the key to ensure they make a good career decision and build their professional network. By employing students, companies get exposure to talent early in their career journey and help support the well-being of the local community.”
Help grow and support the next generation of innovators and host a TYE Intern at your company in Summer 2020. To learn more, contact TYE Program Director, Katie Quigley Mellor, at katie@boston.tie.org.