Interns gain new skills working with Illinois Tollway mentors while bringing enthusiasm and fresh ideas
When the Illinois Tollway brought in 31 college interns last summer to work with mentors in 13 different agency departments, the goal was for the students to learn new professional skills, gain insights into how the Tollway operates and possibly develop an interest in pursuing a career at the agency.
“Being here at the Tollway is a learning experience and it’s an amazing journey,” said Jonathan Flores, a senior at Northeastern Illinois University who interned in the Tollway’s information technology section. “There are many ways to solve a problem--that’s one of the things they taught me here. It’s been a great experience.”
“It taught me how to adapt to my surroundings, how to speak professionally to other people, how to adapt overall to new situations,” said Shawn Strong, a sophomore at the University of Illinois, who was named “Outstanding Intern” during his stint working with the Tollway’s Business Systems department.
January is National Mentoring Month, which is intended to raise awareness about the benefits of mentoring and help create support for programs that provide guidance for young people.
But interns like Flores and Strong also contribute to the Tollway by bringing new perspectives, attitudes and ideas that inspired and impressed their Tollway mentors.
“As much as the interns learn from us, we learn from the interns,” said Matt Meyer, deputy chief of application development, who mentored Flores. “Interns bring in that fresh perspective and really challenge us to make sure we’re doing things the right way,”
The 30-hour-per-week internships typically run through the summer months, but can be extended through the school year to allow interns more time to work with their mentors to expand their skills. Strong and Flores are among the 13 interns still working for the Tollway after having their internships extended, though they’re largely working remotely and putting in fewer hours because of their class schedules.
Meyer was impressed by the interns’ eagerness to learn and their suggestions
“It’s always great to see how eager an intern is to contribute,” Meyer said. “I’ve learned to always be inspired by that type of work.”
The mentors work closely with their interns, introducing them to the work done by the agency, assigning them tasks and then monitoring their progress to offer suggestions and guidance when needed.
Mentors and other Tollway staff interviewed prospective interns, reviewed their backgrounds and interests, then selected those they thought would be the best fit for the program. Most of those chosen were college upperclassman, with Strong, a computer science major, being the youngest student chosen.
“Shawn is a special case—he came in as a freshman,” said Art Manaois, the Tollway’s senior manager of tolling innovations, who mentored Strong. “However, we saw that he had the enthusiasm and the willingness to learn and that motivated us to say “hey, let’s try him out.’”
That choice worked out well, with Strong being named “Outstanding Intern” after working successfully on several assignments, including a project reviewing toll revenue data and transactions to create ways of analyzing impacts of tolling interruptions on revenue collection.
“We’ve been lucky to have him. He’s done a lot of good things,” said Manaois, who was selected as “Outstanding Mentor” for his work with Strong in the internship program.
For his part, Strong praised the guidance he received from Manaois.
“I feel like he recognized some of the skills I had and was able to hone them in a way that could be more effective for the Tollway,” Strong said. “I really appreciate him for that.”
The success Strong experienced in his internship helped him gain confidence to continue studying computer science—and possibly a future career with the Tollway.
“It gave me the motivation to continue because computer science is a very hard major, but I’m very interested in it,” Strong said.
Helping locate and recruit talented potential employees is a key benefit of the internship program. Information about Tollway careers can be here.
“One of the goals we like to get is interest in the Tollway,” Meyer said. “If those interns would like to pursue opportunities for employment at the Tollway, that’s always an area of focus that we continue to explore as we work with the interns.”