By Amanda DePerro, communications manager
On Oct. 8, the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Talent Resource Week began its final day with the session Micro-internships and How Your Company Can Utilize Them. This session is especially relevant today, as traditional internships are difficult to achieve during the pandemic and when many university students have not returned to campus
Micro-internships are short-term paid projects that range from 10 to 40 hours in duration with an average cost to a company of $400, according to Jeffrey Moss, founder and CEO of Parker Dewey LLC. Additionally, micro-internships are beneficial because they are scalable and easily implemented, and you can tap into talent not just in your area, but around the country and even the world. Plus, most micro-internships are completed remotely – perfect for businesses during a pandemic.
Parker Dewey focuses on connecting college students and recent grads to businesses for these micro-internships and other short-term paid projects to give young adults both experience and income while they search for a long-term or full-time opportunity. These projects are ones that need to be done immediately – in the next few weeks, perhaps, rather than projects that your team talks about completing next summer or in the coming years.
“The best way to think about it are the ‘we shoulds’ and the ‘I shouldn’ts,’” says Moss. “So, think about all of those tasks on your desk that you say, ‘We should really go write an article on a given topic,’ or, ‘We should go do a competitive analysis,’ or, ‘We should update our CRM,’ but who has time for it?”
Moss also says micro-internships are the perfect solution to the “I shouldn’ts” as well, using examples like, “I shouldn’t be the one doing a first draft of this article,” or, “I shouldn’t be the one figuring out how to do a social media strategy.”
As busy professionals, there are certain tasks that aren’t the best use of our time, and these tasks can be delegated to young professionals who are eager, excited and knowledgeable about how to do these tasks, so why not outsource to them? Moss says there are millions of college students who would be interested, so if your company isn’t tapping into this talent, you could be missing out on a cost-effective and simple solution.
Moss highlights some impressive stats: Parker Dewey has partnered with more than 400 U.S.-based colleges, universities and non-profit organizations, more than 80 percent of career launchers come from underrepresented backgrounds, and companies utilizing micro-internships gain immediate access to more than 11 million highly motivated college students and grads nationwide. And these career launchers aren’t in just one major or specialization; they come from a plethora of backgrounds, majors and universities.
“These projects are a great way to get to know a student who may be originally from Toledo and wants to return home after college but attends school in Indiana or California or Boston or New York or anywhere else,” Moss says. “Here is a great way to engage those students and show them the career opportunities that are available to them down the road, again, especially if they want to return home.”
To learn more about how you can utilize micro-internships, what a micro-internships can do for your business and to hear the entire session What is a Micro-internship and How Can Your Company Utilize them, please watch the video below:
Parker Dewey focuses on connecting college students and recent grads to businesses for these micro-internships and other short-term paid projects to give young adults both experience and income while they search for a long-term or full-time opportunity. These projects are ones that need to be done immediately – in the next few weeks, perhaps, rather than projects that your team talks about completing next summer or in the coming years.
“The best way to think about it are the ‘we shoulds’ and the ‘I shouldn’ts,’” says Moss. “So, think about all of those tasks on your desk that you say, ‘We should really go write an article on a given topic,’ or, ‘We should go do a competitive analysis,’ or, ‘We should update our CRM,’ but who has time for it?”
Moss also says micro-internships are the perfect solution to the “I shouldn’ts” as well, using examples like, “I shouldn’t be the one doing a first draft of this article,” or, “I shouldn’t be the one figuring out how to do a social media strategy.”
As busy professionals, there are certain tasks that aren’t the best use of our time, and these tasks can be delegated to young professionals who are eager, excited and knowledgeable about how to do these tasks, so why not outsource to them? Moss says there are millions of college students who would be interested, so if your company isn’t tapping into this talent, you could be missing out on a cost-effective and simple solution.
Moss highlights some impressive stats: Parker Dewey has partnered with more than 400 U.S.-based colleges, universities and non-profit organizations, more than 80 percent of career launchers come from underrepresented backgrounds, and companies utilizing micro-internships gain immediate access to more than 11 million highly motivated college students and grads nationwide. And these career launchers aren’t in just one major or specialization; they come from a plethora of backgrounds, majors and universities.
“These projects are a great way to get to know a student who may be originally from Toledo and wants to return home after college but attends school in Indiana or California or Boston or New York or anywhere else,” Moss says. “Here is a great way to engage those students and show them the career opportunities that are available to them down the road, again, especially if they want to return home.”
To learn more about how you can utilize micro-internships, what a micro-internships can do for your business and to hear the entire session What is a Micro-internship and How Can Your Company Utilize them, please watch the video below:
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