The 10,000 Degrees Micro-Internship Program

As you consider your organization's staffing needs in the coming months, Micro-Internships offer an opportunity to engage students and recent graduates on short-term, professional assignments.

Micro-Internships provide you with a unique opportunity to get items off of your to-do list while assessing students' skills and quality of work. You may even find your next great hire! The students are introduced to opportunities in the social good sector while building their resume and getting paid. A true win-win!

Have questions or need support? For general questions including support with student applicants and help posting projects, please contact 10,000 Degrees at CareerSuccess@10000degrees.org.

For questions regarding invoices or payment to the student, contact the Parker Dewey team using the form below.

Example Projects

You can have any of these completed by a current student or alum, making it easy to stay productive. Click on the project name below to customize/post your Micro-Internship on the Parker Dewey platform.

Post a Custom Project

Click on the link above to create your own project. You can determine the project scope, deadlines, and other details. If you need help, please reach out at info@parkerdewey.com.

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Content Creation

When you have content ideas but no time for the first pass, look to the research and writing skills of college students.

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Social Media Content Calendar

Creating a quality social media content calendar is time consuming. Give an eager student the opportunity to develop it for you.

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Marketing Collateral

Need some a logo, flyer, Instagram image, etc.? Engage a student to design marketing collateral for an upcoming event or campaign.

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Grant Writing

Leverage the research skills of a college student to research grants that may be available and write the initial draft of your application.

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Website Updates

Has it been a while since you've updated our website? Let a college student help!

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Data Clean Up

Utilize a college student's attention to detail skills to review and clean up data so you can focus on other priorities

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Candidate Sourcing

Get help from a college student or recent grad to identify and research prospective candidates that are qualified for one or more of your open roles.

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I know that I am getting bright, intellectually curious, and motivated talent. I also find it personally fulfilling to give back to my school in the form of mentorship and capability-building in a live work setting. It's a rare opportunity to create "wins" for my company, the school, the students, and myself!

Keagan Russo,

Sr VP of Strategy & Business Development,

Brightwell Payments

While we were focused on just getting some help on a project, we quickly realized that the student was incredible, and ultimately hired her as a summer intern. We saw her work ethic and skills, and got an inside track on hiring her.

Adam Hecktman,

Director of Technology & Civic Innovation

Microsoft

I like that there's no commitment. I posted a project to see who would apply, and now I have some amazing college students and recent graduates helping me.

David Faulk,

Head of Employee Success,

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is a Micro-Internship?

A Micro-Internship is a short-term project that can typically be completed within 5-40 hours and is due within a few days to a few weeks. These projects require no on-boarding and can be completed by a college student with minimal instruction. These are important but low-risk tasks that aren’t the best use of your time.

Q. What is the cost?

You set the price for each project. All projects are fixed-fee, and most are listed between $200-$600, typically implying $15-20/hour based on estimated hours of work. 90% of this fee goes directly to the intern, and there are no obligations or other fees even if the relationship turns into an internship or full-time role.

Q. What are the legal/administrative implications of Micro-Internships?

In short, it’s easy as Parker Dewey handles it all. No HR burdens. No conversion fees. No questions about ownership or worries about confidentiality.

Employment: Micro-Interns are not your employees, contractors, interns, temps, or freelancers. Similar to working with a consulting firm or any other service provider, you are engaging Parker Dewey LLC to complete the assignment, and each individual you select is a contractor or employee of Parker Dewey. You can still directly interact with them as much or little as you would like, and always have the opportunity to hire them directly without any costs or fees.
Liability: We’re mission-driven and believe in the power of creating opportunities. That said, we take on all the liability. Not happy with the work product? We’ll give you a full refund or find an alternate Career Launcher.
Work Product: All work product is owned by you.
Confidentiality: While most projects involve public-facing information of a non-sensitive nature, both Parker Dewey and all Career Launchers sign strict NDAs to protect your information. In addition to the standard provisions, the students understand that they are risking their academic transcript or expulsion for any violation of confidentiality.
Background Checks: Given the short-term nature and structure of these assignments, we do not conduct background checks. While companies are always welcome to conduct a background check directly, the nature of the specific assignments and lack of a direct relationship with the individual who is selected has caused most organizations to defer the background check until after a Micro-Internship is completed and a student is offered a traditional internship or full-time role.

Q. Does this replace traditional internship programs?

Micro-Internships are not meant to replace traditional internship programs but rather complement and even supplement them. Due to their short-term nature, Micro-Internships can be used year-round to find on-demand project support while simultaneously allowing you to engage and evaluate potential talent.

Q. Are Micro-Internships on-site or remote?

Micro-Internships can be either on-site or virtual, depending on the specific requirements of the project. We typically suggest remote, as this provides more flexibility and accessibility.

Q. Who manages Micro-Interns?

The best Micro-Internships do not require hands-on management to be completed. Career Launchers on Parker Dewey have core skills and are highly motivated to exceed expectations. During the Micro-Internship, the project manager—whether a hiring manager, team lead, or another employee—can engage the student however is best including email, Zoom, etc.

Q. I'm interested in hiring multiple Micro-Interns at the same time, who do I speak to?

Our Client Program team is dedicated to making sure that it's as easy to hire one Micro-Intern as it is to hire 100. Contact us to learn more about Micro-Internship programs.