NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE –
MILWAUKEE, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ — As college students across the country head back to campus, Northwestern Mutual is celebrating! This fall marks the landmark 40th anniversary of the Company’s award-winning college internship program, one of America’s Top Ten internships. The program has been providing real-world education in business and financial services to students since 1967.
“We at Northwestern Mutual are proud of our strong tradition of cultivating successful professionals and future leaders through the internship program,” said Michael Van Grinsven, director and alumnus of the Northwestern Mutual internship program. “We believe in the importance of investing now in the workforce of the future, which is why the focus of the program has always been to empower students for personal and professional growth.”
Over the past 40 years, the program has advanced the careers of more than 22,500 college students, with one in three graduating interns making the transition to become full-time financial representatives for the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. Today, approximately 41% of Northwestern Mutual’s Managing Partners are former interns, and one in five top financial representatives began their careers as interns at the company. This year more than 2,000 internships were awarded, a number that the company intends to double over the coming years.
Vault, Inc. ranked the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network internship program among America’s “Top Ten Internships” for the 12th consecutive year in the 2008 Vault Guide to Top Internships. In September 2006, BusinessWeek recognized Northwestern Mutual as one of the “50 Best Places to Launch a Career” in the magazine’s inaugural ranking of employers across the country. In July 2006, Fortune magazine highlighted the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network as having one of the “Five Best Internships for Real Work.”
“With 150 years of experience, Northwestern Mutual understands the knowledge and skills needed to succeed,” noted Van Grinsven. “These skills lay the foundation for a career in financial services, or any other field our interns may want to pursue.”
As full-time college students, interns with the Network generally work 15 to 20 hours per week developing business and client building skills. In many ways, interns follow the same process for building a practice and clientele as full-time financial representatives. New interns are provided in-depth training courses on the policies and procedures of the profession, the products and services available through the Network, and instruction on establishing a clientele and methods of executing a successful sale.
Northwestern Mutual Financial Network is the marketing name for the sales distribution arm of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI — a FORTUNE 500 company with over $1 trillion of life insurance protection in force. The company maintains the highest available ratings for insurance financial strength from all four major rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings, A. M. Best and Moody’s.
For 150 years, Northwestern Mutual has been serving the financial needs of its policyowners and clients. Further information on the company, its subsidiaries and affiliates can be found at: http://www.nmfn.com/.
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Source: Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
CONTACT: Jean Towell of Northwestern Mutual Financial Network,
1-800-323-7033, mediarelations@northwesternmutual.com
Web site: http://www.northwesternmutual.com/
