Building Skills and Confidence to Ensure Interns Are Career-ready

The American Heart Association’s approach to its internship program is to create intentionally designed experiences rather than a collection of activities.

Kathy Young, the American Heart Association’s director of university relations, explains that intentional programming starts with defining what success looks like and aligning the experience to both organizational goals and early career readiness.

“We use the NACE Career Readiness Competencies as a shared framework to guide that process, helping us focus on how interns are developing skills that translate beyond the internship,” Young says.

“From there, we design the experience by connecting those competencies to real work. Development is built into projects, interactions, and professional development opportunities so that learning is reinforced in context, rather than taught separately.”

Young and her team also prioritize clarity and consistency, noting that meaningful projects, clear expectations, and aligned support structures ensure that the experience is cohesive for interns and manageable for managers.

“Impact,” she says, “comes from how intentionally the experience is designed, not the volume of programming.”

A Natural Alignment

Since the American Heart Association has long used competencies as part of its internal performance standards, there has always been a natural alignment between how its develops staff and how it thinks about developing interns.

“When we became more familiar with the NACE career competencies, it gave us an opportunity to be more intentional in how we approached early career development,” Young says.

“We reviewed our existing competencies alongside the NACE framework to understand where they aligned and where we could strengthen our focus on career readiness. It was important for us to maintain our internal language throughout this process. That consistency supports manager and leader buy-in and allows the internship program to integrate into how the organization already operates.

“The value of the NACE competencies is that they provide a common reference point, ensuring we are developing skills that matter broadly, while still staying grounded in our own systems and expectations.”

While the foundation of the program has remained consistent, the way it is delivered has evolved. Young says that as the needs of interns, managers, and the organization shift, the university relations team adjusts how it supports skill development and how those competencies show up in the program.

“For example, the professional development we deliver today is different from what we offered several years ago in terms of format and focus. However, the core competencies remain consistent because they continue to represent what early career success requires,” Young describes.

“This approach allows us to stay relevant without losing focus. Instead of reinventing the model each cycle, we refine how we bring it to life based on feedback and changing expectations.”

Keeping the Program Valuable for Interns and the Organization

One of the primary challenges with this approach is ensuring that programming stays aligned to the intern’s day‑to‑day experience.

“We are intentional about not pulling interns too far away from the work their managers and teams need them to focus on,” Young stresses.

“To address this, we design development opportunities that directly support the skills interns are using in their roles. This alignment reinforces learning while still allowing interns to contribute meaningfully to their teams.”

She adds that engagement is another important consideration, pointing out that even well-designed programming can fall flat if interns do not clearly see how it connects to their own goals.

“We regularly assess what is resonating and make adjustments to content, delivery, or how we communicate the value of the experience,” Young says.

“Overall, the focus is on balance. We ensure the programming is aligned, relevant, and purposeful, while remaining flexible enough to evolve based on what we learn from each cohort.”

Heather Daneker, recruiter, says that another challenge was shifting the perception of coaching from reactive support to a proactive, universal resource.

“We addressed this by embedding coaching early and consistently, making it a normalized part of the internship experience,” Daneker explains.

“Another challenge was encouraging interns to move beyond task completion. We introduced simple, structured reflection practices that help them make meaning of their work without adding complexity.”

Daneker provides several tips for incorporating coaching and intentional programming into an internship program, such as:

• Integrating coaching into the flow of work rather than layering it on top;
• Prioritizing intentional reflection as a driver of development;
• Normalizing coaching and feedback from the outset; and
• Focusing on consistency and simplicity to ensure scalability.

Young offers that one of the most important shifts organizations can make is to think about intentional programming as a design decision rather than a list of activities.

“The focus should be on what skills matter most for early career success and how those skills are introduced, reinforced, and applied through real work in a way that aligns the needs of interns, managers, and the organization,” she says.

“From there, it is important to regularly evaluate what is resonating and where adjustments may be needed. Small refinements over time can make a meaningful difference in keeping the experience relevant and engaging.”

Young also emphasizes the importance of helping interns recognize and articulate their growth.

“Interns often gain meaningful experience through their work, but without structure, they may struggle to connect those experiences to their development or communicate their impact,” she explains.

“Being intentional about reflection and reinforcement helps interns leave the program not just with skills, but with the ability to describe what they learned and how they contributed. That clarity supports confidence, readiness, and stronger decision‑making as they move into early career roles.”

Adds Daneker: “At its core, this approach is about helping interns translate experience into growth—building not just skills, but the confidence and awareness needed for long-term success.”

Kathy Young and Heather Daneker will present “Coaching + Programming: A Dual Approach to Building Career-Ready Interns” during NACE26.