University of Delaware's BlueHensWork Micro-Internship Program

UD BlueHensWork:

Funded Micro-Internships for Non-Profit, Public Service, and Government Organizations

Delaware-based non-profit, public service, or government organizations are invited to engage University of Delaware (UD) undergraduate students on short-term, paid Micro-Internships.

WHAT: A micro-internship is paid, project-based work appropriate for a college student. It’s real-world experience that helps develop diverse Blue Hen talent while assisting Delaware public servants (non-profits and government agencies) with mission-critical workload.

COST: FREE. Organizations are eligible for 40 BlueHensWork-funded hours per academic year. Payments to student micro-interns are covered by a UD Career Center grant, and there is no cost to the host organization. Students receive payment directly through our micro-internship partner, Parker Dewey. ($600 for 40-hour projects, and $300 for 20-hour projects).

HOW: Qualifying organizations develop and post a 20 or 40 hour project to be completed by a UD undergrad remotely. Approved projects will appear to UD students on their Parker Dewey website view as “featured projects”. Eligibility criteria can be found in the FAQ section on this page.

WHEN: This BlueHensWork (BHW) opportunity is offered during summer and winter breaks, but employer-funded micro-internships via Parker Dewey can happen any time and be promoted to students from any participating college! Dates for the current BHW program cohort are below.

All projects must be posted and approved before the platform opens to student applicants. In the interest of equity and program success, please allow time to collect multiple applicants before selecting a student match.

TO GET STARTED: Click on the blue “Create My Project” button below and follow the prompts. Be sure to register as an employer (not a student) with Parker Dewey if you haven't already, and reach out to tmulveny@udel.edu with any BlueHensWork program questions, or to support@parkerdewey.com with any questions about the platform function.

How it Works

On-Demand project support is only a few steps away!

Step 1: Create Your Parker Dewey Account
Creating your account takes less than 5 minutes, and there's no cost to set it up or post your project!

Step 2: Post Your Micro-Internship Project
See templates below.

Step 3: Choose from Applicants
Access diverse University of Delaware talent. All costs are covered for qualifying organizations.

Step 4: Your work gets done!
Engage with the Micro-Intern in whatever way works best for you, while Parker Dewey handles all admin.

Featured BlueHensWork Micro-Internships

20-Hour BlueHensWork Projects

Click here to see sample 20-hour Micro-Internships.

40-Hour BlueHensWork Projects

Click here to see sample 40-hour Micro-Internships.

Timeline

April 28 - May 30

Post your project via Parker Dewey.

May 15 - May 30

Micro-Internships will begin to be promoted to UD students. Students can be selected for Micro-Internships at any time.

June 1 - June 30

Students are on Summer Break. Those selected for Micro-Internships can complete their project.

July 15

All Micro-Internships must be marked complete by project supervisors. Students paid by Parker Dewey upon project completion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is a Micro-Internship?

A Micro-Internship is a short-term project that can typically be completed within 10-40 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.

The UD BlueHensWork program will support Delaware-based non-profit, public service, or government organizations are able to host 1 40-hour project or 2 20-hour projects under this funding.

Q. What is the cost?

Thanks to the generous support of the University of Delaware Career Services, Delaware-based nonprofit and government agencies are eligible to receive full funding for 20 and 40-hour Micro-Internships as long as they select a current University of Delaware undergraduate student for their project.

The student receives $300 or $600 upon completion of the project depending on if the project is scoped to take 20 or 40 hours to complete. Students are paid by Parker Dewey upon completion of the project.

If you have a longer project in mind, please contact Parker Dewey via the form below.

Q. Who is eligible to participate?

Employer Eligibility Criteria:

Delaware non-profit and government organizations
Winter 2025 participants can host 1 student for 1, 20-hour project in Summer 2025

Student Eligibility Criteria:

All current undergraduate University of Delaware students can participate
Students can only complete up to 40 hours worth of projects (2, 20-hour projects or 1, 40-hour project)

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 project manager will be a member of your team, whether that be a hiring manager, team lead, or another employee. At the start of the project, they will clarify specific expectations and share the information/materials necessary for your Micro-Intern to complete the project. From there, they can engage the student in whatever way works best, whether that be email, Zoom, etc. Because University of Delaware students on Parker Dewey have core skills and are highly motivated to exceed expectations, they require minimal management.

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

Parker Dewey's 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 Parker Dewey to learn more.