Internship : New Market Penetration

This internship responds to the conclusion by MegaChess management that the needed skillsets are lacking in most seasoned sales and marketing hires when it comes to penetrating new markets with mature products and services. We are convinced the missing skillsets can be taught through a structured internship.

As a Cooperative Work Experience of Saddleback College, this internship is open only to registered students of Saddleback College, with preference given to students studying business.

This internship is mentored by Ken Hagerstrom, and it is a paid internship for up to 6 students, however, payment will not be based on effort. Payment will be made for the successful completion of specific milestones, defined as the work product of written tasks. Payment is not based on showing up as much as for showing accomplishments.

Students who complete this internship will have a hands-on understanding of the strategy and tactics to penetrate a new market with pre-existing products or services. Although the lessons learned will be applicable to any company, the interns will all be working with the products sold by MegaChess, but with each intern focused on a different market to penetrate.

After an on-campus orientation lecture, the internship will be conducted entirely online. Using the Task Meister program, the mentor will propose tasks to each intern. The task description will specify the required work product, along with a due date. A number of authorized hours will be proposed, typically between 2 and 8 for each task. These hours will represent how long the mentor would take to complete each task. Interns will often take longer.

If the intern accepts the task, a mini-contract will form between the intern and MegaChess regarding that task such that the intern will be paid the number of authorized hours times $20 if the requirements of the task description are met by the due date. A screenshot of a sample starter task is presented. At any time, each intern may have several tasks authorized.

Interns will be encouraged to make progress notes in each task's notes section, including interim results. Interns will also summarize obstacles encountered in the notes, which is also where the mentor will add suggestions for overcoming them. All such tasks and their notes will be visible to all interns so they can collaborate and learn from each other's obstacles and accomplishments.

Interns will be free to mix their internship duties with other class and work obligations, but those who fail to meet their deadlines may be dropped from the internship. Interns who complete all tasks successfully will be offered a permanent marketing position with MegaChess to develop sales from the new market they have penetrated.

A textbook is not required, but we recommend Marketing Management by Philip Kotler for the basics and Strategic Selling by Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman for some of our advanced concepts.

To proceed, interns are requested to review the new markets we have targeted for MegaChess products. Each target represents a market that has already purchased MegaChess products, but without any outbound marketing effort. Each intern will be restricted to one target market, with expansion possible to other markets after successful completion of the internship. Markets we have failed to list will be cheerfully considered.

Interns are encouraged to use our online application to introduce themselves, after requesting whatever clarification they need from the internship mentor.

Skillsets that will be essential to success include:

1. Top-notch written communication skills. Most of this internship will take place through email and task notes. Clear, concise thoughts presented with proper diction and grammar are more relevant to this internship than "people persons" with the gift of gab.
   
   
2. A passion to become the "chess person" to the target market. The mentor subscribes to the saying, "People do best what they want to do most."
   
   
3. Self-motivation and superb time management skills. Without class time, quizzes, or other scheduled activity, interns will be on their own to prioritize their time without external encouragement.

Skillsets that will be helpful include:

1. Some prior involvement with the target marketing community selected by the intern.
   
   
2. A familiarity with the game of chess.
   
   
3. An interest in continuing to build and apply an expertise in the area of penetrating new markets with mature products and services.