… to Focus on Careers

It’s never too early for a student to begin defining a set of general career goals. In our program, we help them work through processes they will need to master to secure and be successful in a real job. We ask them to create something out of nothing — that’s what Rainmakers do — because that’s what they may have to do when they are seeking employment as an adult.

Defining a career path takes several years as students mature, learn more about themselves, learn more about what the world will expect of them. Without doing a broad scan of available data, too many students pick the wrong major because they don’t understand what careers may be ‘attached’ to the knowledge in their college major. That’s why over 80% of students in college change their majors.

Changing majors in college is a very expensive decision. Additional courses may be required prior to moving into the electives connected to the career major, students lose time, have to spend up to six or seven years in school, postpone earning money, and take longer to pay back their student loans.

… Than Reinvent the Internship

In the process, we created a new paradigm that more closely mirrors tomorrow’s workplace. We also greatly reduced the burden that the old internship model placed on employers, thus opening opportunities for thousands of students to secure internships. We called our new program the Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program (RIPP). Through it, we can better prepare teens for their future jobs and immediate access to the Gig Economy.

Students who successfully complete the program have done something that will elevate them well above the competition — they will have proven they can create something (an internship) out of nothing. That’s what Rainmakers do. And colleges and employers alike love Rainmakers. With that success ‘under their belts,’ our newly designated Rainmakers are eligible for a free lifetime Membership in our online Rainmakers Club, where they can continue to build their professional networks and seek employment.

… What We Did

Ultimately, if jobs are changing rapidly — and drastically — and they are, then the way society prepares its young adults for the world of work also has to change. So we took a hard look at what used to be one of the best ways to prepare students for their future careers — the internship experience. We realized that a traditional internship no longer reflects what the real world demands of its workers.

Traditional internships still submit to their historical model — often taking as long as a year of a teen’s free time to slowly learn the ins-and-outs of one particular business while traveling back and forth to the business site and doing some (often boring) work in the process. But why should a student bother to learn the culture of a single business when today’s business cultures, unlike those of a generation ago, vary so much and change so quickly? Why bother to spend all that time on a business site when so many of tomorrow’s workers will report to work virtually? Why send students to serve internships that may not be truly aligned with their real likes and talents?

Contact Your High School Principal

Speak with your teen’s high school administrators and suggest that you would like your son or daughter to take part in our program so he or she can capitalize on and extend the hard work they do in their academic classrooms. Ask your district superintendent or high school principal to begin the process that will culminate in the approval and adoption of the Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program.

With our program, you can be sure your teen will be exposed to information that will help prepare him or her for both post-secondary education and workplace success. If you school leadership is interested, we will work with them — and with you — to initiate a successful launch.

We require all participating schools select a Site Director which is a compensated part-time job with minimal hours and flexible schedules. We work with school leadership to select a qualified parent for the part-time, paid position. Consider applying for that position — you may have the qualities we look for in a Site Director.

Our program provides information about academic, social, and workforce readiness to students as early as eighth grade and throughout high school. Students build their knowledge of business basics with our curriculum and activities and learn how to secure and serve a Rainmakers Internship. However, you should know that we require students wait until they turn eighteen before they can begin outreach to work with businesses who host our Rainmakers candidates.

Businesses and colleges alike consider internships quite impressive when successfully completed by high school students. And in today’s world, where job placement websites offer employers millions of online qualified applicants, most people still get jobs the old-fashion way: through personal contacts (networking). In fact, most reputable research cites that anywhere between 70 and 85 percent of new hires secured their jobs through their personal contacts. Therefore, the sooner young adults begin building their networks, the better. And that is exactly what we help teens do!