Davidson College's "microinternship" program is giving students hands-on work experience through a variety short-term, remote projects.
Gig Hub, a product of The Hurt Hub at Davidson, was launched in January 2019 as an exchange where students and startups connect on real-world projects.
Julie Goff, general manager of the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said the structure benefits both the students and the startups.
"We were talking to entrepreneurs and alumni who needed great students to help them do specific projects, but they’re not looking for full-time interns," she said. "We wanted to find a way to match these 30-to-40-hour projects with full-time students who are really busy but really disciplined and talented."
Goff said she anticipates about 125 students will participate in the program this summer, which experienced a surge in applicants in the last two weeks due, in part, to the postponement or cancellation of other, more traditional internship programs.
"Employers are either pulling the plug, realizing it's too tricky to do it remotely, or they're pushing the start date. Other students were planning on doing lab research or studying abroad and can no longer do so," she said. "All sorts of summer experiences are being affected, so now we have students who are highly motivated to get any experience."
Goff said the Gig Hub model is accommodating to these students because they have the opportunity to work on several short-term projects for a variety of startups and companies throughout the summer.
"It’s valuable because they get to jump in on a project and really work collaboratively with someone at a company in a way that is a lower threshold of commitment," she said. "By doing it in bite-sized chunks, they can experience different kinds of work and different companies while they’re still students."
The program offers the ability to work remotely on projects that range between five and 40 hours to complete, across eight skill categories: Startup Generalist, General Research, Data Analytics, Web Development, Art/Photography/Videography, Translation Services, Design/Social Media/Marketing and Copywriting/Editing/Web Content.
Students who participate are employed by and paid through the college, Goff said.
Because of increased demand, Goff said they're still accepting project submissions from companies, and project work can start as early as late May.
Some of the Charlotte startups who have utilized Gig-Hub include Tech Talent South, Corvid Technologies, Biteline, Lucid Travel, True Learn and Positive Workspace.
