🔒As summer internship competition intensifies, Avangrid receives record 10K applications for 71 spots

College students who earned coveted seats in Orange-based utility company Avangrid’s internship program this summer have more than a few reasons to celebrate. This year, Avangrid’s internship program received its greatest number of applications ever, with 9,923 applicants seeking 71 positions. That was a 168% increase, up from 3,703 applications received in 2024. In other words, Avangrid had about 140 internship applications per opening. That record demand underscores a trend in the internship realm: sharply increasing competition. Avangrid said the surge reflects “rising interest in careers in the energy sector, Avangrid’s growing reputation among emerging talent, and the increasing value students place on programs that offer both local and global career pathways.” Avangrid’s 71 interns work in 20 different departments — including IT, communications and network — across offices in New York, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oregon. The interns come from more than 50 colleges and universities across the United States and abroad, including international interns from Mexico and Spain, home to Avangrid’s parent company, Iberdrola.

Unlimited questions

Ignacio Estella — Avangrid’s senior vice president of innovation, talent and equal opportunity — said interns are viewed as “stewards of the company.” Avangrid places great value on their ideas and creativity, and interns often offer original ideas and creative solutions, unencumbered by entrenched thinking, he explained. Interns are encouraged to ask questions about anything to anyone. “We give that privilege to our interns because they are strategic investments,” Estella said. “We give our interns the No. 1 most valuable management tool in any company, which is to ask questions unlimitedly.”

Company executives not only listen, but empower them to drive change. Interns’ satisfaction with the program is reflected in a high rate of conversions to full-time employment, he said. About 50% of Avangrid interns either return for a second college internship, or accept a job offer from the company when they graduate, Estella said. “The strength of our numbers is also driven by the fact that internship is a path to a job,” he said. Further, the internship program creates a stock of job candidates who are already familiar with company culture, and whose work ethic Avangrid has already seen firsthand.

The chosen few

For interns like Scott Lowder, who returned for his second summer at Avangrid this year, the company’s offerings are an ideal match.

The Orange native is a senior at Boston College, where he’s majoring in computer science and finance. Lowder is one of about 25 interns based at Avangrid’s Orange headquarters. He learned in March, after two rounds of interviews, that he had been rehired. “I got the email, and I was very appreciative,” he said. Last summer, he applied his technical skills to help with the company’s migration to a new computer system. “I was working with stakeholders, I was making project charters, I was making project timelines, working with my manager and team members,” Lowder said. Now, the project he helped launch is nearly complete. Lowder said he’s learned how a large corporation functions, from “how they do their decision-making, their problem-solving, their IT infrastructure,” to how they communicate with third parties. He said students know job market competition is fierce, and many are seeking experience in their fields through internships during college, hoping to gain an edge. “With a plethora of people in college, I think internships are incredibly valuable to stand out amongst peers, get more recognition, or maybe be in the spotlight more for future employers,” Lowder said. “And it’s definitely changed the landscape for what’s expected of students.”

Fewer internships

Over the last two years, internship postings on the career website Handshake declined by more than 15% between January 2023 and January 2025, while internship applications surged, the website operator said in a recent report. The average applications per internship rose to 96 in January, compared to 56 in January 2024, and 32 in January 2023.

The downtick is creating high demand for the internships that remain available, said Beth Settje, associate director for experiential learning at UConn’s Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills. She said legislative policies have caused a number of agencies to lose funding, such as the National Institutes of Health, forcing them to cut internship programs. That uncertainty is trickling into the private sector. “Some private industries are uncertain about what is going to happen, so they are offering fewer opportunities, because it just keeps changing so quickly,” Settje said. But, she said, the drop in internship openings could also be part of a self-correction from the post-pandemic surge. Historically, the number of internships available dropped between 2008 and 2012, during the Great Recession, she said. As the economy recovered, so did the number of internship opportunities. The pandemic caused another downward slump in 2020 and 2021, she said. But the availability of internships bounced back from 2022 to 2024. Generally, internship programs with high rates of conversion to full-time employment tend to be among the most attractive to students, according to Settje. Employers also compete on wages and other benefits, such as providing intern housing. Most internships for college students are paid. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires interns to be compensated when they are considered an employee, meaning their employer is the “primary beneficiary” of their work. Certain internships that mainly provide education training, or are tied to formal education, may be unpaid under certain circumstances, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. When employers screen interns, Settje said they are increasingly looking for those with essential skills, which are crucial for career readiness. A recent report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers states that nearly two-thirds (64%) of employers used skills-based hiring practices for new hires. Meantime, industry experience has become more vital to future employment, with 84.4% of employers saying an internship is a crucial factor in evaluating new hires — the second most important consideration next to academic major. Grade point average has plummeted in terms of importance for new hires. According to NACE’s spring report, only about 40% of employers said they were recruiting based on GPA. That’s down from a peak of 73% in 2019. “This doesn’t mean students should get Cs in all their classes,” Settje said. “They should still aspire for the best grades possible. But employers, consistently, for quite a long time, not just the last couple years, have said … a 4.0 GPA does not always translate into being a 4.0 employee.”