今天合作社管理层经常抱怨的是，要雇用具有合作社知识的有经验的人. They often hire people who have corporate business knowledge, 但没有合作的商业知识，最终用时间和金钱来培训他们. Currently, 北达科他州的五所学院/大学提供合作社课程——乐虎电子, Dickinson State University, Lake Region State College, Minot State University, and the University of North Dakota. 学生来自商科、农业综合企业和其他院系. Students are learning about cooperatives, the steps to start a cooperative, and the financial differences of cooperatives versus corporation.
By offering an internship to these students and others, 合作社可以将新的人才引入公司，与学生一起工作，而不需要就业义务. The students can meet short-term needs for extra assistance, and bring enthusiasm and current industry knowledge. As an example, 一个地区合作社为一名学生提供了一个实习机会，让他们用成员们想要上网的东西重新设计他们的网站. The end result was exactly what the Cooperative had hoped for.
Why should a Cooperative be interested in offering an internship? 也许下面的统计数据会揭示一些有趣的原因. When surveyed, 在美国大学与雇主协会(NACE) 2003年就业前景调查中，雇主们表示，他们认为自己的实习项目是招聘全职大学毕业生最具成本效益的方法, permanent positions. 这些企业报告称，32%的大学新员工来自他们的实习项目. NACEs秋季就业前景预览调查显示，雇主预计将招聘3名新员工.6 percent fewer 2003 college graduates. 唯一预测大学招聘前景乐观的地区是中西部地区. The employees in this region expect to hire 11.2 percent more new college grads this year (2002-2003) than last year. The worst outlook was in the West with a drop of 15.7 percent.
