A Solution for Those Left in the Lurch
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At the first-ever Micro-Internship Job Fair on July 20-23, over a hundred CU Boulder students applied for opportunities at companies in the finance, marketing, nonprofit and tech sectors, among others. With close to 20 micro-internships up for grabs, students from the Leeds School of Business, College of Engineering, CMCI and Arts & Sciences were eager to stand out from the pack.
Postings included podcast development, media planning, social media, brand marketing, programming and more. The process was simple: Students apply for a job then interview the next day—hours later they find out whether they got the job or not.
“We were really impressed by the applicants,
and we’re excited to have two interns (instead of only one)
join our Focus Group team and another intern
join our Development team.”
Donna Munip, CFO/COO at Metro Caring.
Most companies at the fair were new to recruiting at CU. Callie Cavanaugh, founder and CEO of Nonna Eats, said, “This fair was awesome. It was really nice to connect with the students, and it was challenging to decide who is best for the job.”
A win-win proposition
When the economy took a pandemic-induced nosedive last spring, jobs and internships vanished, leaving CU students and new graduates scrambling for work. Meanwhile, businesses struggled with budget cuts, less staff and lost revenue, leaving them with less bandwidth for work that still needed to get done.
To help students and the business community, Leeds School of Business quickly launched the Micro-Internship program: Students and graduates gain valuable business experience through short-term, paid, professional assignments, while companies get the immediate support they need.
“Students get to dip their toes in the water and try out different jobs in the business world, and companies get projects off their to-do list that otherwise may not get completed,” explains Stan Hickory, manager of internships and workforce readiness at Leeds’ Office of Career Strategy.
The Office of Career Strategy plans to hold the next virtual micro-internship recruiting event on October 19-21, 2020. In the meantime, any student or employer can participate in this ongoing program.
For more information or to post a micro-internship, contact Stan Hickory at hickorys@colorado.edu.
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