VCU's Micro-Internship Program
VCU's Micro-Internship program.
Virginia Commonwealth University is excited to highlight an innovative way for our community of businesses to connect with highly-motivated VCU students and recent grads via short-term, paid professional projects.
VCU has partnered with Parker Dewey to connect our students/grads with these opportunities. Please join VCU staff and members of the Parker Dewey team to hear:
- an overview on how Micro-Internships work,
- examples of the types of projects students can complete, and
- how these paid, short-term projects create equitable access to professional careers in our community.
For more information, and to get started, visit: https://info.parkerdewey.com/vcu/featured
Watch the replay on demand!
This webinar was recorded on January 17, 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Career Launchers on Parker Dewey have core skills and are highly motivated to exceed expectations, they require minimal management.
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.