In this series, we’re covering six of the most pressing challenges facing campus recruiters right now. Stay tuned as we release a new post each week! 

Recently, we’ve written about how Micro-Internships help overcome some of the biggest challenges for campus recruiters—from overcoming lack of student awareness, to cutting through the noise to build genuine relationships with candidates. This week, we’re covering how Micro-Internships support and engage busy hiring managers! 

Hiring managers are constantly managing tons of moving pieces: recruitment responsibilities, resource constraints, and strategic decision-making, to name a few. When it comes to engaging talent for roles of any length, Micro-Internships serve an effective tool to support busy hiring managers. Here’s how. 

Micro-Internships help recruiters get ahead of hiring needs. 

Most hiring managers don’t start recruiting until it’s too late—inevitably creating extra stress around the process. There’s plenty of evidence that backs up this key idea: ​​”When hiring becomes a definitive need instead of a would-be-nice or even a slightly more urgent must-do-soon, your chances of a successful hire with longevity become far more narrow.” With Micro-Internships, hiring managers can begin engaging candidates within hours. This also allows recruiters to shine by offering up a quick, yet effective solution that addresses a recruiting team’s immediate needs—whether it’s a project that needs attention, a surge in workload, or an urgent gap in the team. 

While Micro-Interns support the hiring manager, the hiring manager supports the recruiting team. 

Beyond their immediate assistance to busy hiring managers, Micro-Internships benefit the larger recruiting team. As Micro-Interns work alongside the team, hiring managers can begin to vet potential candidates, gaining valuable insights that streamline the assessment process for the larger recruiting team. The hiring manager gets a clear understanding of candidates' capabilities through firsthand observations, making the decision-making process more informed and efficient and collecting information that can be leveraged by other recruiters and hiring managers. Through the Parker Dewey platform, hiring managers also have access to candidate data, ready to be shared with the entire recruiting team for strategic decision-making—especially for companies running Micro-Internship programs. 

Hiring managers can use Micro-Internships to create a targeted skill assessment.

Different roles demand specific skill sets. Micro-Internships allow hiring managers to assess candidates' skills and abilities in real-world scenarios. Need to test a candidate’s writing chops for a marketing role? Run a content creation project. Looking for a data-savvy new hire? Try a finance or accounting project. By assigning specific projects or tasks related to open roles, hiring managers can gain insights into how candidates can apply their skills to practical challenges. This targeted assessment helps in identifying candidates with the necessary skills to excel in the job.

Micro-Internships help managers evaluate talent efficiently.

Traditional campus recruiting processes involve so many steps: screening batches of resumes, conducting multiple rounds of interviews, and evaluating large pools of candidates. And whether you’re filling a part-time role, full-time role, or summer internship, it still takes weeks—or even months—to make a hire. Micro-Internships streamline the talent evaluation process by presenting hiring managers with pre-vetted candidates who have already completed relevant projects. This efficiency saves valuable time and resources, allowing hiring managers to focus on the most promising candidates.

Through short-term projects, hiring managers are able to showcase company culture. 

With Micro-Internships, hiring managers have the opportunity to showcase their company's culture, values, and working environment to potential candidates. By involving interns in meaningful projects, companies can provide an authentic glimpse into what it's like to work for their organization. This firsthand experience helps in attracting candidates who resonate with the company's mission and vision—and if it’s not the right fit, both sides are saved additional time and effort. 

Micro-Internships are flexible when it comes to timing and commitment length. 

Whether you’re looking for your next full-time candidate or support on next week’s project, Micro-Internships help meet your hiring needs. Micro-Internships are a flexible recruitment method, allowing hiring managers to engage talent at any point throughout the year (academic breaks, summer, you name it) and for any amount of time (usually in the 10-40 hour range).

Interested in trying a Micro-Internship for yourself? For a limited time, you can work with Micro-Interns at no cost to your organization—thanks to a generous grant. Get started here.