5 Reasons to Intern at a Social Enterprise

Social enterprises are not your everyday companies. They are businesses with the common goal to create a positive impact on our society. Social enterprises use business principles, as well as the existing economic structures, to help positively impact global issues such as human rights, social welfare, and environmental sustainability. But what’s so special about social enterprise? These companies provide a new, modern twist on how social good can be achieved through business — as well as an exciting role for interns who want to gear their professional lives toward making a difference.

Social enterprises are working toward achieving a common goal to better our society. But they don’t stop there — social enterprises now range from for-profit companies with a social impact purpose to non-profits with different ways of achieving those goals. As an intern at a social enterprise, you won’t just be performing mindless work to put on your resume. You will more likely find yourself focusing on worthwhile projects, observing defined positive impact outcomes, and feeling that your work is making a difference.

Many social enterprises are young companies, and if they have been around for a while, are looking for new ways to tackle longstanding problems. Social enterprises inherently need not only innovative thinking and new approaches to existing issues, but they also need YOU. Young, motivated interns can provide social enterprises with exactly the generational perspective that they need to enact change, making your role as an intern necessary.

While social enterprises can contribute to every sector of the economy and cover a wide range of goals, they all seek to make day-to-day life more sustainable, efficient, and positive in one way or another. But changing ways of doing things that have been normal for decades takes commitment and collaboration. As an intern at a social enterprise you will be able to collaborate with professionals on issues that matter, and watch your ideas become reality.

The rapid transformation of our economy and changing mindsets about the role of business in social good have caused 60% of existing social enterprises to emerge within the last 10 years, and 29% within the last five years. It is growing toward representing 3.5% of the US GDP, and takes advantage of our country’s historic entrepreneurial community-based approach to addressing social issues. With an even more socially conscious millennial generation, jobs and opportunities in social good are only expected to increase.

From working at both social enterprise companies as well as traditional companies, it is clear that businesses with a focus on social good attract people that are passionate about improving the world we live in. This goes beyond the goal that the company is trying to achieve, and is extremely apparent in the workplace. A mix of genuinely kind people and a common mission for social good creates a working environment that you will never want to leave.

Sources:

https://www.se-alliance.org/what-is-social-enterprise

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-thornley/social-enterprise_b_2090144.html