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Internship Class

Lewis & Clark is being intentional about its commitment to Portland and its students.

TLDR: Put an LC student on a project you are not getting to, and we will pay half the cost and you will NOT be the employer. You will pay $750 and the student receives $1,500. Here is the brief intake form - please fill out by August 29.

Additional:

Have a project you have been meaning to tackle, need a skill set that you don’t have, want to test out a new idea—without the administrative hassle of hiring a new employee and at half the price a cheap intern would cost? Fill out this google form (by August 29) and describe a project and what hard and soft skills you are seeking—we will try to match you with a Lewis & Clark student in the class who can do this work for you this coming semester. Our focus is adding value to you and limiting your hassle.

Filling out the form does not obligate you to interview any student (just review resumes of students interested in your position). If you do interview a student, you do not have to hire them. If you do hire them, you will not be considered the employer—we are purposely removing that administrative hassle to give you the chance to give the younger version of yourself an opportunity.Welcome to Liberal Arts 2.0.

FAQ

What is the cost?

Unless you wish to pay more, you only will pay $750 of the $1,500 students receive to work 8-10 hours for you for 8-10 weeks. We pay the other half. We also pay the cost of the third party administrator that acts as the employer and also pays the students. The administrator is Parker Dewey.

Wait, are you going to match me with a student? What if I don’t like them?

Nope, that is the fun part. We run this internship a bit like Tinder. The students choose their top three hoped-for internships and as many 4th places as they like. We will then send their resume to you. You can reject all, some, or none. You send a quick email to any student you wish to interview and tell them three time chunks you are free for a zoom or in person meeting and they will write back, choose one and send a calendar link. If, after you interview them, you don’t like any, no problem-no harm, no foul. That’s life. We feel good because 100% of our students end up getting hired with this system. This is our eighth year of offering this class.

When do internships take place?

Internships will run from the end of September to early December.

Is this in person, hybrid or remote?

Since so much context, nuance and networking is present in-person, we would like as much in person as possible. Practically speaking, a mix of in-person with remote (for research, social media work etc.) is what we commonly find. But yes, remote is acceptable if you have scheduled check-ins.

What if a student gets more than one offer?

This happens. Once you give an offer, students have 48 hours to make a decision (excluding weekends). This way, we move the process along and you can opt for a second candidate if your first choice declines.

What if I have a project but it won’t take all of the student’s time?

This is common. We would love students to do “grunt” office work as well. We had one client who worked the front desk of a workout business - she also rewrote the company’s entire HR manual to align the org’s ethos/mission with specific job descriptions and employee evaluations.

But how does it actually work?

We try to make this low impact on you. Once you “hire” the student (you click a link on Parker Dewey site-they are the employer), you will deposit $750 with Parker Dewey. When the internship is halfway complete, the student receives the first half of the payment ($750). At the conclusion of the class, students are paid the second half. Every week, the student provides a summary of their hours to you and the professor (you can confirm these hours/work completed). We will notify Parker Dewey that the work was complete—this activates the payment. At the end of the semester, the student will present via zoom to you and the professor—15 minutes plus Q&A, for a total of 30 minutes.

What majors are these students and what kind of projects/internships have students done in the past?

Majors in the class span all the majors at Lewis & Clark. Think of a major like a lens—it shapes how the student views and analyzes the world, but it is not necessarily a predictor of what path they will take after graduation. We have majors in this class from Environmental Studies, Math, Computer Science, Economics, Psychology, Rhetoric/Media Studies, Arts etc. Past projects have included content creation, website creation, social media, research (policy, legislation, competitor analysis), sales, marketing, AI work, and program creation/management. Past projects have included website creation, social media, research (policy, legislation, competitor analysis), sales, marketing, program creation/management, and content creation.

So you are saying that you are giving liberal arts students an opportunity to apply their knowledge to the workplace as part of their curriculum and they receive credit + pay? I’d like to tell others about this.

This is exactly what we are saying. Moreover, we combine the internship with a seminar class (Entrepreneurship 349 - Innovation at Work) where we teach career readiness, financial literacy, bring in speakers, etc. This way, we keep the students supported and accountable. Further, studies have shown that students who work internships during college receive nearly twice as many job offers upon graduation. Thank you for your role in the younger-version-of-you’s future success. Sure, you may forward this to your friends and colleagues, splash it on social media, tell your favorite media outlet, whatever you want.