HNI Corporation offers you internship opportunities in a wide variety of areas and across many operating companies.  If you're innovative, hard-working, and seeking a great internship, Paoli might be the company for you.

What Will You Be Working On?

The projects you work on will be adapted to suit you.  We want you working on projects that meet your interests, emphasize your strengths, and help you grow professionally.  Internship departments and past projects completed by HNI interns are listed below:

• Accounting
• Developing a new corporate cash forecasting model
• Reducing accounts payable liabilities at manufacturing plants by conducting on-site research and creating a new invoice-processing system
• Engineering
• Manufacturing
• Improving efficiency in production of a new product line by 100%
• Improving the Six Sigma process for a product by 100%
• Product Design
• Eliminating ergonomic deviations in office furniture
• Improving each step of the concept development process
• Testing material strength and performing comparative analysis on different production materials
• Finance
• Developing a new process for streamlining financial reporting among departments
• Analyzing the performance of acquired companies and projecting their long-term performance against optimistic, realistic, and pessimistic market scenarios
• Information Technology
• Creating intranet applications, including online learning programs for HNI members
• Conducting member training for IT-related issues
• Law
• Launching a new ethics training campaign to ensure 100% member participation
• Developing member training courses for legal and business ethics issues
• Marketing
• Analyzing sales promotions to determine their effectiveness and devising strategies to increase promotional success in the future
• Researching end-user wants and needs for an operating company's quick-ship program to increase orders shipped through this program by 10%
• Benchmarking marketing programs against those of competitors and other businesses to improve customer satisfaction
• Public Relations
• Preparing an HNI operating company for NeoCon, the furniture industry's biggest trade show
• Writing news releases regarding executive management decisions
• Learning the launch process for a national advertising/PR campaign
• Human Resources (Member and Community Relations)
• Restructuring company job descriptions and creating new candidate interview guides
• Creating and implementing a more effective screening process for job candidates
• Redesigning the HNI college recruitment Web page that you're reading now
• Researching and summarizing benefits programs across all operating companies and making recommendations for corporate-wide improvements based on the results
• Quality
• Developing a new product-testing method for office panel systems
• Preparing for recertification from the International Standards Organization by collaborating with an operating company's test lab
• Safety
• Completing ergonomic assessments of production line movement to pinpoint potential causes of injuries and reduce the chance for injury
• Supply Chain
• Creating a Forecasting Report Card to measure the accuracy of demand forecasts by comparing forecasts with historical data
• Determining the cost savings of bulk-packing component parts and implementing improved packing standards
• Developing a tool for accurate product forecasting at many levels (aggregate, by location, etc.)

Frequently Asked Questions

What basic requirements do you look for in internship candidates?
In most cases, interns working for HNI and its operating companies have completed two or three years of college education and are in good academic standing.  Our ideal internship candidate has been actively involved on campus and may have had previous relevant work experience.  In addition, a healthy dose of enthusiasm, a strong work ethic, and a willingness to learn and grow are necessary for a successful internship experience.

How does your selection process work?
You'll probably first seek an internship with HNI through your university's career fair or by submitting your application through our careers Web site.  After reviewing candidates, we may invite you to interview on-campus or on-site at an HNI location.  If you're successful through this initial evaluation, you will be invited to a final interview for a specific position at an HNI location.  When you successfully complete this second interview, you will be given a job offer and become an HNI intern upon the satisfactory completion of a drug screen and background check.

I'm an international student.  Can I apply?
We encourage international students to apply.  You must be eligible to work in the United States.  At the time of hire, you must have a copy of a valid visa and a United States Social Security card.

Can I get academic credit for my internship?
Check with an academic advisor at your university to determine whether academic credit is available and beneficial in your case.  If it's a good option for you, we will encourage and facilitate the use of your internship for academic credit.

Think you'd be a good candidate?
We want to hear from you!

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