Each summer, we bring on a group of interns to gain real-world, professional experience in our fast-paced, innovative organization. CDK interns own it by taking on challenging projects and creating possibilities for the future of our company. Seeing how much of an impact they’re capable of making in a few short months, many of our interns choose to continue their careers with CDK as full-time employees.

Ryan Larsen is one of our many interns who became a full-time employee. He began his CDK journey as a Learning and Development intern in Summer 2020. At the end of his internship, Ryan was offered a full-time role as a talent specialist on the HR team. Since then, he has built a reputation for being an innovative thinker and strong relationship builder, and has taken on a bigger role as an associate HR business partner.

See what Ryan has to say about his career journey at CDK:

What about your internship experience made you want to come back to CDK as a full-time employee?

I wanted to stay at CDK because of the exposure to various projects across the Talent space. I also valued that my colleagues trusted me to positively impact both the department and the business through my work.

How has CDK supported your growth as a young professional?

CDK has consistently kept me engaged at work by asking me about my interests, caring about me as both a person and an employee, and challenging me to do work that makes an impact. Through my regular check-in conversations with my manager, I shared my desire to take on a more business-facing role so when an opportunity opened up, I was top of mind.

Why would you recommend the internship at CDK to other students or graduates looking to gain professional experience?

CDK is different because they care about your development. They do a fantastic job of tailoring your internship toward developing skills by having you take on legitimate projects from day one. From the get-go, there is mutual trust that the work done will benefit both the employee and the company.

What has been the most exciting or rewarding project you have worked on? 

I have two answers. The first one was our intern corporate responsibility project. We started working together with Greenlight for Girls (g4g) to support quality and inclusive education through videos that connected STEM to our roles at the company. It was so successful that we ran the same project again the following summer. The second project would be supporting our employee engagement survey. It’s extremely satisfying to watch the impact of this tool on projects, teams, departments — or even the company — when they can pair engagement data with actionable insights. Since we launched the tool, it has had a positive effect on the business.

How would you describe the culture at CDK?

The culture at CDK is very results-driven and employee-centric. CDK takes care of its employees and gives everyone the tools to make their mark on the company. I came into my role expecting to ask how I could help and instead have had my teammates ask me how they can help me develop in my career.

How are you empowered to make an impact in your role?

I am empowered to make an impact at CDK because my team has involved me in high-level projects. In my first role I was introduced to engagement data through our survey tool, and provided reports that helped teams improve their engagement. This data not only supports change at the team level, but also drives company-wide actions. Since then, I’ve taken that deeper understanding of the tool and found ways to use the data in my current role to guide business leaders on ways to handle HR issues, including increasing recognition and engagement.

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Discover what our 2025 interns had to say about their experience at CDK, and how the program helped them grow personally and professionally while shaping their career paths. 

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Learn more about our internship program and consider joining CDK as a student — gain real experience, enhance your skills, and create professional connections.  

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