Sprinternships™ for employers

What’s a Sprinternship?

A Sprinternship is an opportunity for you to bring one or more teams of five UIC undergraduates into your workplace for three weeks in May.

This quick (hence the sprint!) and immersive paid internship experience gives students résumé experience that makes them more competitive when applying for summer internships. It gives you a chance to build your talent pipeline and advocate for gender equity in the Chicago tech world.

Sprinternships directly support Break Through Tech’s mission of advancing the careers of women and nonbinary students at UIC. We also welcome applications from UIC students from all backgrounds who believe in our goal of expanding gender representation in tech.

Sprinternships work!

Data from across the Break Through Tech network show that holding a three-week Sprinternship raises a student’s chance of landing a full-length tech internship from 5 percent to 60 percent. Read our Achieving Greater Gender Equity in Tech report to get the full story.

And, in this short video — less than 2 minutes — see why Sprinternships are crucial to the future of gender diversity in tech and how your company can get involved:

Watch the video

Important dates

Employer commitment forms due:
December 13, 2024 | Commitment form

Sprinternships run:
May 12 to 30, 2025

Sprinternship guides

Overview cover Overview:
What Sprinternships are, benefits for students and hosts, and how to customize the experience [PDF]
Playbook:
Expectations for students and hosts, monthly timelines, project info, and an extensive FAQ [PDF]
Cover of the Challenge Project Workbook Challenge Project Workbook:
Challenge project design, from examples to levels of difficulty to a possible timeline for each week [PDF]
Media kit cover Media Kit:
How to communicate your leadership in promoting gender diversity in tech [link]

Hear what our students have to say about Sprinternships

 

Become a Sprinternship partner

If you would like more information, fill out our partner involvement form or email Break Through Tech Chicago’s associate director of career development, Amelia Jackson, at anjacksn@uic.edu.