General Program Overview
Our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program (RIPP), together with The First Rung and our Stormy Wannabees Advantage Initiative, present a coordinated and sequential set of activities that prepare middle school, high school, and first year college students for the next phases of their lives. Across the five-year span of offerings, program content and activities create a window into, are designed around, and replicate as much as possible, the business world.
We embed one or more of five basic processes in each our program components.
Preparation
We use some very standard methodologies to get Rainmakers Candidates ready for some very ‘above-standard’ activities. We use readings, discussion, self-evaluative tests, peer review, expert review, and practice with ongoing feedback. But then we go way beyond standard.
We connect our Candidates to working business people and college admissions officials via distance technologies. Candidates will hear about the college admissions and hiring process, and what it takes to keep and do well in a job, directly ‘from the source.’
Simulation
Candidates (four or five to a team) will work in teams to conceive, plan, and deploy several projects that are scaled-down but relatively accurate versions of the same types of activities found in business and industry. Teams then compete against each other (as they would in business) to see whose work is judged the best by our volunteer business Mentors.
Application
We engage Candidates in some activities that require they design and fabricate products, deploy commercial campaigns within their schools, and then evaluate the success of every endeavor using pre-deployment / post-deployment data. Each of these activities mirrors expectations in the world of business.
Evaluation
Professionals in all kinds of business are constantly evaluating their own work, that of their workmates, and, of course, the overall state of their organizations. We provide constant supportive information to Candidates from their teammates and business Mentors. Employers ‘hosting’ internships also provide feedback to our Candidates as they serve their Rainmakers Internships.
Certification
Today’s business world requires that every worker pursues a path of continuing education. Regardless of career choice (engineer, hairdresser, mechanic, nurse, or electrician,) workers need ‘paper.’ Sometimes ‘paper’ means a college degree; sometimes it means an industry credential. But a credential of some kind is necessary to enter almost all of today’s higher paying career paths.
Workers at almost all levels of the career spectrum will also need to take continuing education courses and earn credentials on a regular basis.
Rainmakers Candidates can earn what might be their first external (non-school) credential by successfully completing our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program.
Don’t Miss This Additional Information:
What Can High School Interns Do for an Employer?
Compare Traditional vs. Rainmakers Internships.
Learn More About Our Rainmakers Program.
See The Full Sequence of Activities Across Programs and Grade Levels
How to Launch a Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program in Your Local High School.