Kevin Tampone
CNY Business Journal: August 10, 2007 — Executives at Terakeet, a Syracuse company that works with Web and Internet technologies and speech recognition software, enjoy having interns and usually employ several throughout each year.

Finding them, however, is not always easy.

"[Finding them is] probably one of the most dreaded things in our company," says Patrick Danial, chief technology officer and co-founder of Terakeet. "We love doing it, but it takes so much time."

This year, however, was a little easier. Terakeet was one of the first companies to use the new industry co-op program launched in 2006 by the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Computer Applications and Software Engineering (CASE) at Syracuse University.

The program was a success in its first year, CASE Center officials say, placing about 60 students at local companies.

Instead of running advertisements, wading through resumes, and conducting dozens of interviews on his own, Danial worked with the David DiMaggio, the coop program's manager. The two met and developed a profile for the type of intern Terakeet wanted.

DiMaggio then pre-interviewed candidates for Terakeet and brought back a much smaller pool for Danial to meet. In addition to streamlining the process of finding an intern, Danial says working with DiMaggio helped him in other ways.

"He also helped me fine tune my ability to profile what I'm looking for," Danial says. "I can look at a resume, but I don't write job descriptions. So that helped a lot."

DiMaggio says the close work he does with companies is a big reason for the coop program's success. He also stressed the CASE Center is not looking to supplant other area internship programs.

For example, DiMaggio will sometimes use the Project ION Web site to find potential co-op candidates himself. Project ION lists hundreds of internships at area companies and is a project of the Central Upstate Regional Alliance.

The CASE Center's programs simply add another layer of assistance for firms Interested in having interns. And while large companies have participated, it holds particular appeal for small businesses, DiMaggio says.

"For smaller employers, they probably don't have an FIR department," he says. "And if they do, they probably don't have a dedicated recruiting person."

DiMaggio worked in sales and marketing for 20 of his 25 years at General Electric. During his last five years there, he worked in corporate recruiting.

Back at Terakeet, Danial ultimately chose a Syracuse University student named Qi Liu. Liu worked in a number of areas at Terakeet, including research and programming, for about six months.

"I got exposed to some of the latest technology ...," Liu says. "It really helps to learn what are the most important aspects of textbook knowledge, which might be ignored or not thoroughly understood during classroom learning."