Frequently Asked Questions

Parker Dewey is a 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, visit: www.parkerdewey.com/career-launchers

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, visit: www.parkerdewey.com/companies

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, visit: www.parkerdewey.com/universities

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 5 to 40 hours of work, and are due between one week and one month after kick-off. 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.

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.

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.

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 one of the existing projects. After posting the project, interested candidates can be reviewed and selected quickly, and clients set the timing as to when a deliverable is expected.

Companies retain Parker Dewey to provide services across a variety of departments, industries, and organization sizes. The assignments are comparable to those typically given to skilled new hires such as conducting market research, performing financial analyses, assisting in lead generation, and crafting internal and external communication materials.

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

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.

Unlike a traditional internship, Micro-Internships typically range from 5 to 40 hours of work. Most clients request that the deliverable be submitted between one week and one month after the launch. For larger projects, we recommend that clients unbundle these into shorter, individual assignments as this provides maximum flexibility, as well as offers greater opportunities to work with a diverse array of Career Launchers.

Like the project scope and deliverables, each of our clients determines the engagement cost.

 

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 will 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 the network.

We’ve seen greater success at attracting Career Launchers from diverse backgrounds through remote projects that provide 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.

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 fee that the consultant will earn. 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.

Since each client best understands the skills, profile, and personality required to successfully execute a project, it is up to the company to determine how it wants 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.

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 clients are not stuck with who a staffing firm thinks is a good fit (or, more likely, has sitting on the bench).

 

Furthermore, to the extent that there is interest between the client and consultant in pursuing a full-time role or internship, unlike many other organizations there is no fee due to Parker Dewey. In fact, we LOVE when we can help facilitate a mutually beneficial full-time professional opportunity.

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 does provide an excellent way to evaluate an individual’s cultural and 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.

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, the company has the opportunity to provide feedback. The review of the Career Launcher includes 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 consultant, 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.

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. 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.

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. In fact, we LOVE when we can help facilitate a mutually beneficial full-time professional opportunity.

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

 

Parker Dewey is a consulting firm where a company pays a fixed fee to Parker Dewey to execute a project. Similar to other consulting firms, the client 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 elaborate on this, and Parker Dewey receives a physically signed copy of this from all of its contractors before a project begins.

 

To that, the specific consultants working on these engagements are not employees or 1099 independent contractors of our clients, therefore there is no administrative, accounting, or HR burden.

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 consultants 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. To the extent a client would like to supplement this with its own Nondisclosure and / or Assignment agreements it may do so directly with the Career Launcher.

Career Launchers are independent contractors and therefore not employees of either Parker Dewey or its clients. As such, it is recommended that you categorize these experiences under the heading “Independent Consultant” and highlight each engagement separately or by category. Consultants are subject to the Nondisclosure Agreement in the Terms of Use, and therefore should be sensitive to the level of detail provided. Consultants 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 international students sign up for the platform, their account is not activated until they confirm their eligibility to complete Micro-Internships.  The students are directed to reach out to their International Students Office, and once they confirm eligibility, the 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. 

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