Internships and the Catholic Faith

June 14, 2023

by Stephen M. Henley

When most people think of internships, they focus exclusively on secular considerations:

Learning a set of professional skills
Networking
Resume-building
Preparing for the next career step

All of these are components of internships. As Catholic business leaders, we can go further and instill a sense of Catholicism into our internship programs by designing them and focusing our mentoring encounters with the source of our joy, Jesus Christ, at the forefront of our minds. As Legatus members, we can do this through internship programs, while respecting people from all faith backgrounds, or none.

We know that “Legatus empowers executives to boldly live their Catholic identity.” Executives can help design internship programs at their businesses that help promote a beatitude culture formed by the Sermon on the Mount. Drawing inspiration from the words of Christ in Matthew 5:3-12, Legatus members can promote the values of righteousness, mercy, and peace through the example they provide in the workplace, the instruction given to interns, and the overall atmosphere of the workplace, all without saying a word about your faith!

Demonstrating to interns that core moral values are as important as business acumen, Legatus members can help interns consider the ethical dimensions of business. Given the state of the world today, it is possible that interns have had little to no moral or faith formation. An internship program inspired by the Sermon on the Mount could be the beginning of interns considering the moral and ethical dimensions of their professional activities in a way they have never done before. Those lessons are priceless.

Take time to reimagine the internship experience. An article in Forbes, How To Build A Summer Internship Program That Attracts Full-Time Talent, shares some valuable insights from business leaders. This one resonated with me:

[i]nstead of an internship, think of the program as a mentorship. Be a constant source of support and inspiration for your summer interns and show them why working at your company isn’t just professionally appealing but also a lot of fun. When people love what they do and who they get to do it with, they’ll want to stick around (hopefully) forever.

Design the internship experience to be a mentorship experience. This will lend itself to opportunities to share, through imparting lessons about your profession, how Catholic values have shaped your journey as a business leader. Men and women just starting out on their professional path are seeking out the stories of those who came before them, and who they can emulate.

Infuse those conversations with the joy of your faith and how it guided you, from failures to triumphs. Those conversations are fun. They create an atmosphere of fellowship, support, and understanding. In such an environment, interns are free to ask questions, take on new challenges, and make mistakes.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops shares that,

[m]entors listen and are attentive and help one discern God's unique call to them. They do not conceal life struggles, but share them appropriately. Young people are not looking for a perfect mentor, but someone not afraid of being authentic, honest, and generous in letting them into his/her story, his/her faith journey, while setting appropriate boundaries.

This summer, when supervising your internship programs, remember that the mission of Legatus, and your experiences in it, can help inspire you to ensure your interns have a well-rounded experience. If interns become professionally knowledgeable and more aware of the Catholic values that you bring to your work, then you will have truly been an ambassador for Christ not just in the workplace, but for the next generation of business leaders.