100 Job Strategies
100 Job Strategies · 28 of 100
Most small companies have never run an internship. Send them one that is already designed.
In short
Thousands of small and mid-size companies have work that a capable intern could do, but no internship programme, because nobody has had time to design one. Sending a one-page internship proposal — the project, the twelve-week plan, the deliverables and a modest stipend — turns a vague request for work into a ready decision. It is one of the few ways a fresher can create an opening where none was advertised.
A 40-person software company has a backlog of things that never get done: customer case studies, a messy analytics setup, documentation nobody has written. There is no internship programme. There has never been one. The founder assumes internships are something big companies run.
One morning an email arrives from a final-year student. Attached is a single page.
Twelve-week data internship. Week 1–2: audit your current product analytics. Week 3–8: rebuild the core dashboards and document the event tracking. Week 9–12: deliver a written report on activation drop-off. Stipend: a figure well below a full-time salary. Mentor time needed: one hour a week.
The founder forwards it to the head of product with one line: should we do this?
They do.
Internships at large companies are designed by early-careers teams and advertised months ahead. At small companies, they mostly do not exist — not because there is no work, but because nobody has had the time to think through what an intern would do, who would supervise them and what it would cost.
A request to 'help out' or 'intern with you' asks the founder or manager to do all of that design work themselves. Most will not, however friendly they are.
A ready-made proposal removes the design work entirely. It names a concrete problem the company visibly has, breaks it into a realistic plan, states what the company gets at the end, and puts a clear cost and time commitment on it. The decision shrinks from 'should we start an internship programme?' to 'is this specific project worth this specific amount?'
It also demonstrates exactly the qualities companies look for in a junior hire: initiative, the ability to scope work, and an understanding of their business. Many of these internships turn into full-time offers, because the company has watched you define and deliver something real.
Look for small companies with obvious unfinished work: no case studies, a stale blog, basic analytics, thin documentation, an unconverted user base. Large companies already run structured programmes.
Choose a single, specific project that matches your skills. 'Marketing help' is vague; 'write and design six customer case studies' is a project a founder can picture.
Break the project into phases over eight to twelve weeks, with a clear deliverable at the end of each. A realistic plan is more convincing than an ambitious one.
Propose a modest stipend and name the supervision you need — say, one hour a week. Founders mostly worry about cost and time; answering both upfront removes the main objections.
At a small company this is usually the founder or a department head. Keep the email short and let the attached page do the persuading.
Send short weekly updates. In the final weeks, ask whether there is scope for a full-time role or an extension. Many of these internships convert because the company has seen the work.
Small companies do not reject internships. They simply never design one — so arrive with the design already done.
More often than you would expect, provided the proposal is concrete. The obstacle at small companies is rarely money for a modest stipend; it is the time needed to design the role. A clear, scoped plan removes that obstacle, and founders are often glad to have someone take on work that has been sitting untouched.
Look at what similar internships pay in your city and field, and propose something in that range. Being realistic signals that you understand the business. A stipend far above market reads as naive; proposing to work for nothing undermines the seriousness of the proposal and can put the company on the wrong side of employment law.
Yes. Recent graduates can propose the same kind of structured project, sometimes framed as a fixed-term trainee role or a short contract rather than an internship. The mechanism — a scoped project with a clear cost — works regardless of the label.
Deliver what you promised, make your work visible through short weekly updates, and learn how the business works beyond your project. In the final weeks, ask directly whether there is a path to a full-time role. Small companies that have watched you define and finish a real piece of work are often willing to create one.
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