CS: I'll tell you some background about why internships are so important to me. I was an intern when I was in college and it was actually not the best experience. I remember going in and having no idea what to do, not understanding what I was going to get from the experience, not having anyone really looking out for me. I remember thinking to myself, "Gosh, what a missed opportunity."

I think it's really important to start internships early—from sophomore year. And to have the students with you for two consecutive years and then, hopefully, join the team. That should be the model. So I started the program in the US. And, since then, I think we've had about 60 students graduate from the program in the US and about 20 or so now from the Japan program. And many of those students have actually been hired into IBM and that's the end goal.

My expectation for the students is that they contribute to the business. They are working on critical business projects. The goal is that they have something to take with them when they leave to put in their portfolio.

When we designed the internship program in Japan, we wanted to focus on giving them a project aligned to their expertise or interest area and pairing them with a mentor.

We've had a lot of tears when the interns leave because we kind of fall in love with each other a little bit. It's been really special to see my team get as much from the students as the students get from us.

CS: I actually don't look for students who have the specific skills for the team or the project. I hire based on personality. I hire based on passion. I hire based on communication strength. I always kind of look for the hidden talent. Who may have potential that they don't see in themselves? So, I always look for a memorable moment in the interview. And all of the interns I've hired have either asked me very difficult questions or they've been very nervous and I've had to spend extra time with them to understand why they want this. I look for students who have prepared themselves by researching about IBM. They understand what we're doing right now. They've read the recent news articles.

I can teach skill, but I can't teach passion and I can't teach energy. When I'm hiring an intern, I want to consider how can I coach them or how can I support them. But they have to have the right attitude.

CS: Sure, my organization is really focused on driving what we call demand in the market for IBM—for our solutions. There are a few different teams that are focused on events, for example, so some students may be working on our large client conferences or how we are participating at third party sponsorships or trade shows. I have a team that's focused on digital and social [media], so many of our students have been working on how to reach new buyers through online media or paid, earned, or owned types of strategies. They might be working on our IBM.com online real estate. I have a team that's focused on campaign planning, so how to build a client journey to attract buyers out there. We have a telemarketing team and then we have a team unique to Japan, which is focused on executive programs. And there are some other things, like an analytics team.

CS: We never put projects out there that are like an island, completely separated from the work being done, because the student would never integrate into the team. Every project we pick has been nominated by the manager as critical work. It's never been a side project that goes away. We just need somebody to have the time to be left alone to work on it. And that's the benefit of it. The interns don't get pulled into the other stuff happening in the office. They can work on their project and not have to think about anything else.

CS: When I give them the project, it's very conceptual—here's the problem statement; here's what needs to be done; here are people you need to work with. We don't over structure things because we may miss an opportunity for them to teach us something. But I think the greatest benefit for us is the change in the environment.

The interns have created a subculture. When they step foot on the floor, there's a buzz—"oh, the interns are here!" For me, the best thing is when I walk down the floor and see some fresh faces. The energy they bring with them is a good change of pace for my team. Now that we've had some great talent come through. I think the staff is anxious to support them and support the great work they are doing.

CS: The process is a piece of cake. So far we've had such great success with the students.

Sometimes candidates may not be interested in IBM, because they think, "Oh, it's so structured and not fun, not cool." But we are cool. I think our team is very unique. We are relaxed. We are a global company. We like to have fun. It's not what you would think of as the typical IBM. For students who may not be thinking about IBM for an internship, please ask them to consider it, because it's probably not what they expect.

I would advise students to really work on the interview. Be prepared about what they want me to know about them. We have a set of values at IBM and one of those values is "think, prepare, rehearse." Sometimes when students come in, they let their nerves get the best of them, which means they didn't rehearse enough. So I think interviewing is always a positive thing to work on.