Some of the Twin Cities' largest companies pulled out the stops at U.S. Bank Stadium on Wednesday to dazzle and impress some special guests — hundreds of their own interns.
More than 1,000 interns milled about the stadium's covered field and a VIP club mingling with each other, munching nachos and pretzels and playing games as they learned more about the Twin Cities and why they should stay here to work after their internships are done.
Recruiters from Target, U.S. Bank, General Mills, Medtronic and other companies worked for months to organize the event. All face challenges attracting young workers at a time when the labor market is extremely tight. And interns, many having just finished college or entering their final year of it, tend to be more open to relocation than people who are further along in their careers.
"There's a handful of moments in a person's career when they are most likely going to be considering their options. ... It's a massive opportunity for us," said Matt Lewis, director of Make It MSP. Other regions do similar events, he said.
Companies want to improve their recruitment-conversion rates, the rate at which a potential employee accepts a full-time job offer. Nationally, businesses land roughly 50 percent of their recruits, Make It MSP said. Each company has different intern-conversion goals.
Last year, 63 percent of the local companies who participated in a pilot of the intern welcome event hit or exceeded their conversion goals. Event coordinators said the hope is that by working together as a region each company can reach its own goals.
"We have to make sure when they come to the city for the first time that they like it," said Heidi Riese, college relations event specialist with Land O'Lakes Inc. She added, "Whether Land O'Lakes gets that intern or U.S. Bank, it's a win for us. We are still retaining that talent within the Twin Cities area."
Attracting people to the Twin Cities is one of the priorities of Make It MSP, a division of regional promoter Greater MSP. Make It MSP already organizes events throughout the Twin Cities for professionals of color to network. While the urban area has grown faster than the state as a whole, it has trailed regions of comparable size, such as Denver, Seattle and Austin, Texas.