What is the internship where students from all 47 prefectures tackle corporate and regional challenges?

In today's rapidly changing job-hunting environment, the formalization of internships has been a challenge for both companies and students. Compounded by the spread of COVID-19, which made in-person internships difficult to hold, many students now struggle with career planning and obtaining information about companies.

To address this challenge, Dentsu Inc. (Wakamon) (Dentsu Inc. Youth Research Division) (※1) proposed a new internship model. In collaboration with Encourage (※2), they developed and implemented "47 INTERNSHIP" in 2020.

"47 INTERNSHIP" is an online internship program selecting one undergraduate (or graduate) student from each of Japan's 47 prefectures, totaling 47 participants. It aims to challenge regional disparities in job hunting. By creating a multi-company joint framework, students nationwide can connect with and deepen their understanding of Japan's leading companies from home ( details here ).

The second iteration of "47 INTERNSHIP" was held from August 25 to September 22, 2021. In this article, Yu Miura of Dentsu Inc. shares insights on the internship's content, the learning gained by participating students, and the current state of regional job hunting.

※1 Dentsu Inc. Youth Research Division (Dentsu Inc. Wakamon): A planning & creative unit whose mission is to design the relationship between youth and society. It produces new ways for young people and companies to connect through the redesign of job hunting.

※2 Encourage: A career support NPO operating in over 100 university branches across Japan's 47 prefectures. Student members form the core of its operations, with each university branch hosting one-on-one career counseling sessions.

 

 

Students and companies team up to find actions that solve regional challenges

For the 2021 internship, the entry sheet (ES) asked: "Based on your own experiences and perspective, what social issue in your local community or this country do you genuinely want to tackle/are currently tackling?" Applications poured in from approximately 2,200 students nationwide. From these, one student per prefecture was selected, totaling 47 participants.

Seven leading companies across various industries participated in this internship: Asahi Kasei, Iwatani Corporation, Avex, NTT DATA, CyberAgent, POLA, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Together with the students, they explored the theme "What we can do to solve regional challenges" for about one month starting in late August.

Beyond these three days, Encourage mentors and representatives from participating companies also joined the student teams' discussions. Feedback from professionals working on the front lines enabled even students initially unfamiliar with such discussions to engage in lively debates and make new discoveries, despite the short one-month period.

Interns refined their ability to articulate challenges

As the culmination of the internship, we compiled two maps: the "47 Prefectures Challenge Map," mapping the challenges each of the 47 participating students identified as problems they wanted to solve, and the "47 Prefectures Action Plan Map," mapping the actions they conceived through the internship (the figure below shows part of the maps).

Let's look at a few examples.

The student representing Ehime Prefecture identified "gender consciousness hidden within sake" as the challenge they wanted to solve, setting "developing sake specifically for cocktails" as their action plan.

This student wrote in their internship application essay: "In response to declining domestic sake consumption, we are building a certified sales system to increase consumption." When asked, "What discoveries did you make about your stated challenge through the internship?", they provided the following comment.

The student representing Iwate Prefecture identified "the high barrier to raising environmental awareness" as the issue they wanted to solve and set "promoting craft beer via social media (to contribute to solving food loss within Iwate Prefecture)" as their action.

When similarly asked, "What discoveries did you make regarding the challenges you set for yourself through this internship?", this student provided the following comment.

This "47 INTERNSHIP" program, by focusing on "issues in their own region" – a theme students could easily relate to personally – fostered active discussion and deep thinking. As a result, we believe it not only created an opportunity for information exchange between large corporations, which previously had little connection with regional students, and these students themselves, but also led to the students experiencing new discoveries and growth.

Meet peers nationwide who challenge and inspire each other. A valuable opportunity to bridge the job-hunting gap!

Regional disparities are a major issue in job hunting. To understand how students actually feel, we asked participants about their frustrations with job hunting in regional areas.

It appears disparities exist in many aspects between urban and regional areas.

Additionally, regarding their feelings before participating in this internship,

Many students expressed anxiety about interacting with diverse peers from across the country.

Thus, while the development of the internet and social media has created a world where information is accessible anywhere, it remains clear that sufficient information is still not provided for decisions concerning self-realization, such as job hunting and career paths. The gap in job hunting opportunities in regional areas has not yet been bridged. However, students who participated in "47 INTERNSHIP" shared the following feedback:

We designed and implemented the program with the desire to create a meaningful internship for students and to truly understand their perspectives. After participating in the internship, we felt every student had gained more confidence than before.

"47 INTERNSHIP" was not only a place for regional job seekers to meet seven leading companies across various industries. Because it gathered students from across Japan who possess a strong passion for solving the challenges they face themselves, it also became an opportunity to meet peers who could spur each other on to greater effort. Furthermore, by providing information directly relevant to job hunting, we believe we were able to play a part in correcting the disparity in job hunting opportunities between regional and urban areas.

Next time, we'll share perspectives on "47 INTERNSHIP" from participating companies.