Each year, UPS interns are selected for the Community Internship Program by following these steps.
- Each operations-management department within UPS’s 12 regions keeps a list of managers’ names as potential interns. The criteria for selecting managers vary, but employees generally must have been with the organization for several years, be in mid- to upper management and be respected leaders within their own work groups. Managers may submit their own names for consideration; but volunteering doesn’t necessarily guarantee that a certain manager will be chosen. Because UPS is highly decentralized, the selection criteria are specifically vague so that senior managers have the latitude to select individuals whom they think are the best candidates for the program.
- Each regional operations-management department submits a list of three to four names of potential interns to the corporate-training department in Atlanta. This department is responsible for running the internship program.
- The corporate-training manager, along with the internship coordinator, chooses six to eight managers who will participate in each internship session. There are seven internship sessions each year at four different sites across the U.S. A total of 43 managers participate each year. The training department is careful to select managers with varied backgrounds and from varied locations so that the intern mix represents a cross section of UPS management.