FAQ | How Micro-Internships Work

The basics

Parker Dewey is the largest nationwide network of highly-motivated Career Launchers and business professionals working together on Micro-Internships. As a consulting firm, Parker Dewey helps companies more effectively complete tasks and improve hiring. We do this by contracting with college students and recent graduates who want to work on short-term, professional projects so that they can generate income while demonstrating capabilities and gaining practical experience.

Benefits for Career Launchers (Contractors)

Experience - work on interesting projects and explore career options
Relationships - develop your network with potential employers
Access - demonstrate your capabilities
Income – earn money for completing the engagement

To learn more and sign up as a Career Launcher, click here.

Benefits for Companies (Clients)

Flexibility - access resources when you need them, and you set the requirements
Ease - use it the way you want without the administrative burden
Insight – identify those with the skill and cultural fit
Risk-free - no cost to join or obligation to use

To learn more and create a free Company account, click here.

Benefits for Universities

Improve student job placement
Refine program curriculum
Deepen alumni relations
Expand relationships with existing and prospective employers
Enhance academic outcomes
Drive enrollment success

To learn more about a free partnership with Parker Dewey, click here.

We also partner with non-profit organizations and associations focused on connecting great talent to great companies. Learn more here.

Micro-Internships are short-term, paid, professional assignments that are similar to those given to new hires or interns. These projects enable Career Launchers to demonstrate skills, explore career paths, and build their networks as they seek the right full-time role. Unlike traditional internships, Micro-Internships can take place year-round, typically range from five to 40 hours of work, and are due between one week and one month after kickoff. Micro-Internships are used by companies ranging from those in the Fortune 100 to emerging start-ups, and go across departments including sales, marketing, technology, HR, and finance. All Micro-Internships on the Parker Dewey platform are fixed-fee, paid engagements.

Career Launchers are highly-motivated college students and recent graduates who are seeking to gain professional experience while demonstrating their talent and skills. Learn more about Parker Dewey's network of Career Launchers.

Micro-Intern assignments are comparable to those typically given to skilled new hires—think conducting market research, performing financial analyses, assisting in lead generation, and crafting internal and external communication materials. Companies partner with us to provide services across a variety of departments, industries, and organization sizes.

To see our library of example Micro-Internships, visit: www.parkerdewey.com/example-projects

Unlike a traditional internship, Micro-Internships typically range from five to 40 hours of work. Most clients request that the deliverable be submitted between one week and one month after a project kicks off. We recommend that clients unbundle larger projects into shorter, individual assignments for maximum flexibility and greater opportunity to work with a diverse array of Career Launchers.

We’ve seen greater success at attracting Career Launchers from diverse backgrounds through remote projects—providing flexibility on when and where the assignment is completed. When posting a project, clients determine if they want a project completed on-site, remotely, or through a combination.

Internships, externships, co-ops, and college consulting engagements have a much more significant commitment with limited flexibility. These types of programs tend to last at least ten weeks, are timed around the academic calendar, and require significant oversight to plan and manage.

In comparison, Parker Dewey offers flexibility around project length and timing, and provides immediate access to talent. This permits Career Launchers to determine their availability, while allowing the project to be completed according to a client’s schedule and needs. Since each Career Launcher is expected to have the expertise to successfully complete the engagement on their own, clients do not need to provide the support typical for an intern.

Similar to an internship or co-op program, Parker Dewey provides an excellent way of evaluating an individual’s skill fit with a company, should a full-time hiring need arise. In fact, Micro-Internships complement existing internship and campus hiring programs—with many companies using these assignments to introduce their program to Career Launchers, identify high-potential candidates, and evaluate them in an authentic setting.

Furthermore, these mutual auditions allow companies and Career Launchers to both effectively assess fit prior to committing to an internship or full-time role.

Parker Dewey exclusively works with skilled Career Launchers—those current students or recent university graduates who want to demonstrate their skills while forming professional relationships. As a result, the work quality is superior, as the consultants are focused on exceeding expectations and are interested in full-time opportunities (unlike some temporary labor that may be just interested in the paycheck or lack the characteristics that would make them successful in a full-time role). In addition, engagements are completed on a fixed-fee basis as opposed to the hourly model favored by most providers of temporary labor.

Unlike staffing firms, both Parker Dewey’s clients and Career Launchers determine if there is mutual interest, ensuring a better working relationship as they best understand if the assignment, skills, and personality required to successfully execute a project are aligned. This means that Career Launchers apply only for assignments that interest them—and companies avoid relying on a judgement call by a staffing firm.

A scenario we're often asked about: What happens when there's mutual interest between the client and consultant in pursuing a full-time role or internship? Unlike many other organizations, there's no fee due to Parker Dewey. In fact, we LOVE when we can help facilitate a mutually beneficial full-time professional opportunity.

From employers

Our clients determines engagement cost—including project scope and deliverables.

All projects are priced with a fixed fee and usually equate to $12-$25/hour. Students receive 90% of the payment, while Parker Dewey retains the remaining 10% to cover expenses. Students see projects listed at 90% of what the company enters, so they know exactly how much they are going to receive upon completion. If a project takes significantly longer than estimated, we work with both sides to determine a fair updated payment.

Beyond the cost of the engagement itself, there are no additional fees charged by Parker Dewey, even if you decide to hire someone for a traditional internship or full-time role off the platform. We love it when this happens!

Additionally, there are no fees for Career Launchers to apply and work on Micro-Internships or be a member of our network.

Beyond the cost of the engagement, there are no additional fees charged by Parker Dewey. There are no additional costs to register, serve as a Career Launcher, or access Parker Dewey’s content library.

Furthermore, Parker Dewey encourages its clients to hire Career Launchers for internships or as full-time employees, and we minimize barriers to employment by not charging any finder’s fee to either party. (We LOVE when we can help facilitate a mutually beneficial full-time professional opportunity!)

No payment is required to post a project or evaluate Career Launchers. Payment is made to Parker Dewey only at the time the engagement begins (i.e. when the specific Career Launcher is selected by the client). Parker Dewey holds these funds in escrow until the completion of the project is approved by the client.

Payment for this business service can be made via credit card, electronic bank transfer, or check. We are also willing to work directly with our clients if any other methods are preferred.

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.

Parker Dewey work directly with hiring managers across departments, as well as human resources for company-wide campus recruiting programs. Many department heads use Parker Dewey to get work done on-demand while building a talent pipeline for sales, marketing, finance, operations, and just about every other department.

Furthermore, since the Career Launchers are highly skilled and have the experience or completed the prerequisite coursework to prepare them to execute these engagements, companies do not need to provide managerial oversight or control.

You can post a project in under five minutes using our library of pre-defined Micro-Internships. Additionally, companies can either create custom assignments or can use our Project Builder templates to adapt existing projects. After posting the project, interested candidates can be reviewed and selected quickly—and the timeline for deliverables is up to you.

Since each client best understands the skills, profile, and personality required to successfully execute a project, it's up to you—the company—to determine how you want to evaluate candidates. Given the short-term nature of the engagements and the consulting relationship, this is typically much more streamlined than the process of making a hiring decision. Many organizations select a consultant based solely upon the individual’s profile and answers to project-specific questions, though some also request work samples, or conduct phone interviews.

Clients should expect work quality comparable to that of a skilled intern or new hire. As Career Launchers, the students and recent graduates on Parker Dewey are focused on exceeding expectations as they seek to demonstrate their skills. In addition, Career Launchers have access to resources and insights that may not typically be considered by industry veterans, allowing them to bring a unique perspective to the task.

Upon completion of the engagement, you have the opportunity to provide an overall rating, along with an evaluation of the performance in five specific areas: timeliness, communication, quality, presentation, and skill level. In addition, companies can offer confidential feedback directly to the Career Launcher, providing professional development similar to what an individual might receive from a mentor.

In all cases, Parker Dewey does not publish this feedback, nor is there any form of rating on our platform. We believe Career Launchers benefit from these real-time insights as they explore careers and hone their skills.

In short, no. We make it really, really easy.

Your company pays a fixed fee to Parker Dewey to execute a project. Similar to other consulting firms, you can select a specific individual to execute that assignment and communicate with them directly, but the business relationship is with Parker Dewey itself. The Terms of Service between Parker Dewey and both Career Launchers and Clients further elaborates on this, and Parker Dewey receives a physically signed copy of this from all of its contractors before a project begins.

The specific Career Launchers working on these engagements are not employees or 1099 independent contractors of our clients—meaning no administrative, accounting, or HR burden for your company.

All consultants are subject to the Nondisclosure and Assignment agreements included in the Terms of Use. Beyond the legal ramifications of violating this agreement, it is presumed that the Career Launchers understand the impact that violation of these agreements would have on their opportunities for future employment and the status of their relationship with their university. If you would like to supplement this with your own Nondisclosure and/or Assignment agreements, you may do so directly with the Career Launcher.

See examples of projects in our project library. Each of these can be refined to your specifications and posted within a handful of clicks. You can also customize your own project.

From students & recent grads

You can create a profile in under five minutes and begin applying for open Micro-Internship assignments. There are no video interviews, tests, courses, credit cards, or ePortfolios required. We simply want to understand a bit about your education and experiences.

Once you register with Parker Dewey as a Career Launcher, you can review open Micro-Internship requests. This provides details of the engagement, including the expected deliverable, anticipated time commitment, due date, industry, and compensation. Simply click to apply and respond to any project-specific follow-up questions asked by the client. The company reviews incoming applicants and if selected, you will be notified of the next steps.

As a Career Launcher, you're an independent contractor—not an employee of either Parker Dewey or our clients. We recommended that you categorize your Micro-Internship(s) under the heading “Independent Consultant” and highlight each engagement separately or by category. Career Launchers are subject to the Nondisclosure Agreement in the Terms of Use, and therefore should be sensitive to the level of detail provided. Career Launchers may request that a client review the content or can contact Parker Dewey for feedback.

Micro-Internships are eligible for international students through CPT, OPT or a work visa. When you sign up for the platform as an international student, your account is not activated until you confirm your eligibility to complete Micro-Internships by reaching out to your International Students Office. Once you've confirmed your eligibility, your profile is activated on Parker Dewey.

Each school has different requirements for academic credit, including the length of time and project requirements. Parker Dewey is happy to share this data with schools after project completion for credit consideration. Due to the on-demand nature and availability of Micro-Internships, we do not allow universities to require participation in Micro-Internships, but instead, offer this as one of many opportunities for students to gain professional experience. We make no guarantee that students who have created a profile and applied for a project will be selected for an opportunity.

No. Per our contractor terms, Micro-Interns must be at least 18 years of age to apply and work on projects via Parker Dewey.

Yes. We welcome any interested individual to participate in a Micro-Internship, irrespective of academic pedigree. However, students who have access to on-campus services like their career center, alumni network, faculty, student organizations, and even free or discounted software generally have an easier time succeeding in project completion.

Parker Dewey handles paying Career Launchers directly once a project is completed. Career Launchers have the option of receiving a direct deposit or physical check. Click here to check out our Payment FAQs.

You'll also always see exactly what you'll be paid before you apply to the project. No bidding on a project or setting up invoicing, either—we take care of the rest.

From universities

As a university partner, we support your Micro-Internship program in any way that we can. This includes providing a custom portal for your students, employer partners, or alumni to sign up for the platform; marketing materials to help you launch your program; newsletter, webinar, and other outreach to share best practices; and data to help you measure the engagement of your students, employers, and alumni with these opportunities.

Additionally, when companies post projects specifically for your students, we notify our university partners so you can spread the word to any interested students.

There's no cost associated with becoming a Parker Dewey partner.

Alumni are eligible to complete Micro-Internships as long as they wish after completing their academic program. Typically, after a year or more of professional experience in one’s target field, these opportunities are no longer of interest, but Parker Dewey does not delete Career Launcher accounts unless the individual requests us to do so.

Micro-Internships are eligible for international students through CPT, OPT or a work visa. International student accounts are not activated on our platform until students confirm eligibility to complete Micro-Internships with their International Students Office.