College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Horticulture

National Landscape Internship Program

Hiring Organization: Heartland
Employment type: Internship
Job Location: Kansas City, MO
Application Due Date: April 30, 2024

HeartLand is passionate about the personal and professional development of our employees. Our focus is helping our interns prepare for their professional career by learning critical skills that will propel them forward in the workforce. Our established learning objectives are listed below, but we ask that interns take a proactive approach in their learning experience by circling the top skills they want to grow during the 10-12 week program.

Focus 5 Learning Objectives

Real-World Experience. i.e. gain experience to add to your resume; expand your network of company and industry contacts; gain a job reference to vouch for your performance.

HeartLand takes a developmental approach within our organization. Our focus is to help interns build professional leadership skills through a variety of different methods including HeartLand University of Excellence training, individual strengths-based coaching (Gallup Strengths), and opportunities to present to peers.

Landscape Industry Competencies. i.e. Improve skills, confidence, competency in specific areas related to your academic major or your particular area of career interest.

The HeartLand internship program focuses on the connection between the classroom and real-world. The program includes a minimum of 8 departmental rotations to give interns a broad picture of all of the intricacies of business in the landscape industry: Sales, Maintenance, Enhancements, Irrigation, Landscape Construction, Landscape Design, Seasonal Color, and Business Operations. This rotational approach is devised to help interns determine where their passion lies and build the professional skills they need to be successful.

Communication Skills. i.e. speaking, writing, presenting, persuasion (sales), client service, interpersonal, teamwork, leadership, and listening — as practiced in the professional world.

Communication is paramount in all we do. Whether it is client communication or internal communication, interns will have an opportunity to communicate with clients directly, communicate with and lead teams, present in group settings while communicating with people from different backgrounds.

Project Management Skills. i.e. develop skills in research, analysis, organization, time management, teamwork, multiple task coordination, initiative, adaptability, and project completion.

Through the HeartLand Individual Internship Project, interns will learn how to manage their time and tasks successfully in order to complete a value-add project of their choice, stretching their project management skillset.

Technology Skills. (i.e. improve skills with specific hardware/software/applications; understand how certain technologies are used in specific industries/companies; )

HeartLand uses multiple technological tools to help us co mplete our work in an efficient and effective way. From internal communication through Microsoft Office to using Aspire as our CRM, our interns will be exposed to technology that is prevalent in the landscape industry.

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