Finding Future Leaders: Inside ISS’ Inaugural Internship Program

When a company brings early-career talent onto a client account, the placement must be deliberate and well-considered. ISS North America’s internship program starts by securing headcount, identifying which divisions want an intern and for what kind of work, then building detailed, role-specific job descriptions before any requisition goes live. This past summer, that meant a marketing intern, a bid coordination intern and culinary interns placed across the country, each with a description shaped in partnership with the hiring managers who requested them.

That partnership continues straight through to the client account. “We figure out the clients and work with them hand in hand to make sure that we’re bringing interns into the right situation,” says senior recruiter Andrew Bidinger, who leads the program alongside fellow senior recruiter Jennifer Langston. “These interns offer fresh perspectives and new ideas; we’re fostering future leaders.”

A Real Benefit for Clients

For clients, the value proposition is a compelling one: fresh, capable early-career talent brought onto their accounts at low risk. The cost of the interns is absorbed by ISS rather than passed along to client accounts. Divisions and hiring managers who welcome an intern do so as an investment in their own teams and the future of the business.

The early returns are promising. One intern impressed their account so much that the team arranged to keep them on part-time while they finish school, with a full-time offer planned upon graduation. Formal feedback sessions with hiring managers and a robust intern survey will capture more from this first cohort, but the signals so far point to a program delivering genuine value where it counts[MR6.1], providing interns with meaningful work experience.

Meet the Interns

Behind the program are the interns themselves, each bringing curiosity and a distinct perspective to the teams and accounts they supported this summer.

“From day one, I felt ISS North America and Guckenheimer were truly invested in my growth,” says Emily Hocknell, who supported front-of-house operations and gained hands-on culinary and catering experience at a Guckenheimer account. “The team was understanding, patient and always willing to teach, creating an environment where I could build my confidence and skills.”

William Shearer spent his internship in a Guckenheimer café environment, building new skills and exploring different aspects of the business alongside seasoned hospitality professionals. For William, every day on the account was a chance to learn something new from the people who bring workplace dining to life.

For Gracie Olsen, the people made the difference. “Every day was a chance to learn with support and guidance,” she says, describing an experience shaped by mentors invested in her success from her first day on the team.

Sofia Maurer joined the ISS Corporate Bid Management team, gaining exposure to the strategy and collaboration behind solutions delivered for clients across North America. “Working on Key Account Manager interviews opened my eyes to many corporate opportunities,” she says, discovering new interests in communications, corporate responsibility and business strategy along the way.

Cassidy Swinehart used her summer to step outside her comfort zone, asking questions and exploring different areas of hospitality. Her biggest takeaway: “to stay curious and embrace new challenges.”

And Genesis Sanchez brought a background in B2C marketing to the ISS Marketing team, applying her experience in a new environment and contributing to initiatives that supported teams across ISS and Guckenheimer. “The best work is done when multiple perspectives are considered and used for improvement,” she says. “My team provided me with the right tools to make sure each initiative I contributed to was valuable to a larger project.”

A Program Powered by Partnership

It takes a collective effort, Langston is quick to add, crediting the hiring managers and partners who build week-by-week curricula and hands-on experiences for every intern. And those experiences are the point. “This is not busy work,” she says. “The interns aren’t here to make copies or coffee. We really want them to have project-based experiences.”

The trajectory points firmly upward. Planning for the next cycle is already underway, with new paths like technical services and capital projects on the horizon alongside the corporate and culinary tracks. For a company whose people sit at the heart of everything it does, investing in early talent is a natural fit, and the teams and clients who take part are already seeing the returns.

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