Through micro-internships, students offer year-round support to companies seeking help with project-based work鈥攁nd a pipeline to future employees.听
When is it the right time to hire additional staff?
There鈥檚 no exact science to guide small businesses and entrepreneurs as they face the challenges of growing their business head on. And hiring too soon鈥攐r too late鈥攃an be disastrous for businesses who have to make the right calls on where to spend their time and how to manage the bottom line.听
That鈥檚 where the micro-internship program at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder has been such a success.听
The micro-internship program puts Leeds students to work on short, project-based assignments for employers. These consulting arrangements are more flexible than a full-scale internship, with a typical micro-internship involving between five and 50 hours of work.
For Sat Ramphal, CEO and co-founder of XiByte, the hardest part of the process was choosing the most qualified candidate.听
鈥淲e hired a student to work in digital marketing, doing customer discovery, social posting and advertising, which freed me up to spend more time with customers and investors,鈥� said Ramphal, whose company is developing Maya, a business assistant that uses artificial intelligence to see the needs of founders.听
鈥淭he student鈥檚 work helped prove that this was an area worth further investment in the future,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a startup, we have to be especially careful about where we spend our limited resources. For us, a micro-internship was more affordable, and gave us more control, than a consultant or freelancer.鈥�
Benefits beyond startups
The benefits aren鈥檛 just limited to startups, said Brooke Lloyd, of the Office of Career Strategy at Leeds. Even Fortune 100 companies have hired Leeds students for project-based assignments.听
鈥淥ur partners have posted a number of different micro-internships, in everything from digital marketing and competitive analysis to HR, finance and SEO,鈥� Lloyd said. 鈥淎nd the process is designed to be easy. Companies post opportunities on our Handshake platform, and are quickly be connected to students whose education and experiences align with the needs of the project.鈥�
It鈥檚 not just employers who benefit. Emily Abed Bus鈥�21 said a micro-internship she did with Sacred Cycle helped her apply what she learned in her marketing classes in a real business setting.
鈥淭he experience helped me feel more prepared for my internship the following summer, because I had a better sense of time management and was able to set more realistic expectations for myself,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y experience with Sacred Cycle inspired me to create my own nonprofit, which I hope to pursue more fully in the near future.
Beyond helping solve a specific problem, the micro-internship program helps companies better understand the unique value proposition Leeds students offer in the business world, and build a potential pipeline of future talent.
鈥淎t Leeds, the students are learning the latest in business, so they bring a fresh perspective to your company.鈥�
Heather Browning, principal, Colonial Benefit Group
鈥淭he micro-internship program is a good chance to see what college students are capable of and how they can support you before considering an intern for the whole summer,鈥� said Heather Browning, principal of Colonial Benefit Group.听
Staying on the cutting edge
Browning hired a student on a micro-internship to explore how her startup might benefit from digital and social media marketing.听
鈥淎t Leeds, the students are learning the latest in business, so they bring a fresh perspective to your company,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 like to learn, but as a small-business owner, it鈥檚 hard to find the time to stay cutting-edge.鈥�
And, as Lloyd pointed out, micro-internships aren鈥檛 tied to the typical summer internship cycle, a further advantage for businesses.
鈥淥ur students are available year-round鈥攅ven during holiday breaks, when you might need extra resources when people are on vacation,鈥� she said.听
To learn more about micro-internships or start getting connected to Leeds students, visit the micro-internship portal on the Career Strategy section of the Leeds website.
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