Job Treks, Job Shadowing & Short-term Projects
Job Treks & Job Shadowing: If you are in the career exploration phase and want to sample careers, Job Treks or Job Shadowing may be for you! A Job Trek may be over a few days, have more than one participant, and may include pre-work or small assignments during the visit. A Job Shadow is generally one day during which a student follows the individual through their daily tasks. Both are excellent ways to better understand an organization, office culture, job title, and skills needed for the position.
- Treks are often organized by undergraduate and graduate student groups
- EACE “Road Trips to the Real World” (open to Yale students)
Short-Term Projects: Project-based work is a valuable way to gain exposure and training with minimal disruption to your academics schedule. International students are encouraged to with OISS about any required work authorization for paid opportunities.
- Prescouter.com (for graduate students and postdocs)
- Pro-bono consulting projects with the Yale Graduate Consulting Club
- Parker Dewey: paid micro-internship opportunities (40-hour or less project-based work); international students must get OPT
- Forage (Virtual Work Experiences): These virtual work experiences are built and endorsed by leading companies. They are 5-6 hours long and allow you to learn relevant tools and skills necessary to complete similar tasks during a workday. There is no application and no cost for Yale students.
- Elmseed Enterprise Fund
- Yale Undergraduate Net Impact
- Writing articles or blog posts for campus or other organizations
- Yale Healthcare Hackathon
- Yale GreenLight
➡Check out: Insider Career Vault’s “How to Get Experience When You Have No Experience” and The Muse’s “How to Get Experience in a New Field Without Starting at the Bottom”
Micro-Internships
Micro-internships provide unique opportunities to gain valuable professional experience outside the traditional internship cycle. Students can learn and hone the skills that employers look for, explore new career paths, build meaningful connections with organizations, and get paid – all in their spare time. Essentially, micro-internships are short-term, paid, professional projects posted by employers across a wide range of industries.
- International students must use OPT; please consult OISS before engaging in work experience.
- Typical projects require 5-40 hours across 2-4 weeks and can be completed remotely.
To begin exploring, visit Parker Dewey, a free platform that facilitates micro-internships. You can create a profile and start exploring a network of short-term, paid professional assignments!
- Projects may be time-sensitive and employers may expect candidates to begin working immediately. Once selected, you will receive contact information for the employer so you can discuss a start date and begin work on the project.
