“Leaving Talent on the Table: The Need to Capitalize on High Performing Student Interns” focuses on ways to leverage student interns as a strategic component of workforce planning, recruitment and hiring at the entry levels. For instance, the report examines the significant gap between the private and federal sectors in intern conversion rates—private employers report converting more than half of their interns, whereas federal agencies convert fewer than 7 percent.

The Partnership’s examination found a decentralized, fractured and hard-to-navigate system that detracts from the long-term, strategic use of highly qualified, motivated student interns as a talent pool for future job openings. To correct these flaws, the report outlines a series of recommendations to help the federal government end its benign neglect of student internship programs and use this valuable resource to hire talented young professionals, improve government performance and better serve the American people.