Only 2% of high school students complete internships. We are changing that.
Real Work. Real Clients. Real Skills.
Our Micro-lnternship brings the best parts of a site based internship into the classroom for all of your students.
What is a Micro-Internship?
A Micro-Internship is a 30-hour career connected learning experience that is specifically designed to reach students least likely to have access to traditional career exploration opportunities.
Students work in teams to solve a real challenge from a local organization while building durable skills like communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and initiative.
98%
of students found the Micro-Internship more engaging and relevant than typical coursework.
90%
of students learned about jobs or organizations they had not known about before the Micro-Internship.
94%
reported growth in 3 or more future-ready competencies —collaboration, communication, critical thinking, confidence, and initiative.
96%
of students reported gaining skills or knowledge that will help them in the future.
Where does this fit in your school or organization?
Micro-Internships integrate into existing courses such as core classes, CTE pathways, advisory, or capstone.
Because the experience happens in a classroom, there’s no need for transportation, site placements, or complex coordination making it a scalable way to bring real-world learning to more students.
School or Nonprofit Site: These partners host Micro-Internships in their classrooms, expanding access to real-world, career-ready learning for students who might not otherwise have it. Teachers facilitate the learning, equipped with everything they need to deliver a high-quality experience.
Client Partner: Local communities, businesses, and civic organizations serve as “clients” for Micro-Internships. Each provides an authentic challenge tied to real community or industry needs.
Youth & Young Adults: Students collaborate in teams and build durable skills by researching, interviewing stakeholders, analyzing insights, and presenting real recommendations.
Cambiar Quest provides: - Client partner sourcing and onboarding - Ongoing office hours and implementation support - Training and plug-and-play curriculum for facilitators
Each Micro-Internship builds around a challenge submitted by a local client partner. We restructure these challenges into a rigorous, classroom-embedded Micro-Internship experience.
Examples of Real-World Business Challenges
Community Health
Challenge: Develop a community engagement plan to help a regional hospital reach residents around their top health priorities and connect more people to the care they need.
Engineering & Robotics
Challenge: Develop a robotics solution to address operational challenges during a busy school lunch period such as long wait times, traffic flow, or food distribution efficiency.
Entertainment Marketing
Challenge: Design an outreach strategy that motivates teenagers to attend a film screening, talk about the movie, and encourage others to see it in theaters.
Micro-Internship Reflections
“I definitely grew in collaboration because I worked closely with my teammates and also in creativity, using my own ideas and preferences to help create the right solutions for our target audience.” - Student
"I grew a lot in critical thinking, learning to come up with questions to ask interviewers, analyze the responses, and identify the key data we needed for our presentation.” - Student
“We had to present in front of a client who had expectations for us, take their feedback, and then deliver our solutions back to them. That really strengthened my communication skills.” - Student
"In my first internships, I was basically an errand boy. This experience was completely different—it gave students the opportunity to be fully involved, truly immersed in a program, and actually contribute in a meaningful way.” - Client
“The students' level of engagement was far beyond other experiences I’ve had. Including them in the solution and hearing directly from them, the youth voice, made a real difference." - Client
Frequently Asked Questions
Who finds and secures the commitments from local organizations?
Cambiar Quest takes care of finding and securing commitments from organizations in your region.
What kinds of educators make for good micro-internship partners?
Educators passionate about integrating work-connected learning and fostering career exploration are ideal partners.
What students are a good fit for the micro-internship?
The micro-internship is suitable for all high school aged students. We recommend using the micro-internship as an early high school experience to set the foundation for career and college readiness and exploration.
When and where does the micro-internship happen?
The micro-internship curriculum can be implemented in a variety of in-school and out-of-school settings including high school classrooms, afterschool programs, summer offerings, and community based organizations.
How long is each micro-internship?
Each micro-internship is typically 35 hours long. These 35 hours can be configured to meet a variety of scheduling needs.
When does it take place? During the school year? Summer?
Micro-internships can be implemented at any time during the school year or summer.
How much does it cost to participate?
Cambiar Quest is currently seeking pilot partners to implement the micro-internship. Pilot partners who commit to a co-learning implementation cycle will receive the micro-internship curriculum, support, and professional development free of charge.
How can students sign up for a micro-internship?
Currently, the micro-internship is available only through participating school sites and organizations. Students interested in participating should reach out to their school counselor for more information on how to sign up or bring the program to their school.
What does an educator need to do to make micro-internships available to their students?
Educators and administrators interested in bringing the micro-internship program to their school site should reach out to the Cambiar Quest team.
Is this a course that could be part of the school curriculum?
The 35 hours of curriculum can fit within a variety of high school courses. Reach out to the Cambiar Quest team to learn more about how the program can fit into your school’s existing course sequencing.
What do organizations need to do to participate?
Organizational partners need to provide a real-world business challenge for students to tackle and be willing to give feedback to students at specific points in time throughout the project. Local businesses and organizations interested in participating must be willing to commit a total of 5-6 hours towards the micro-internship implementation.
How are students assigned? Can organizations select their students?
The micro-internship experience is designed for entire classrooms or student groups to participate at once. Students are grouped into teams to work on the organizational partner’s business challenge. Organizational partners are not able to select participating students.
Do students actually propose solutions that organizations can use?
Yes, students often propose impactful solutions! They conduct interviews with target users, analyze the data to find key insights, and bring a fresh perspective to the challenge. This allows them to recommend actionable solutions grounded in the real needs of users and customers that organizations can directly implement.
Do students ever get hired by organizations after the micro-internship?
While the Cambiar Micro-Internship program doesn't directly place students in jobs, it can definitely be a stepping stone to employment! We strongly encourage both students and our organizational partners to explore potential hiring opportunities at the program's conclusion. The micro-internship can serve as a valuable springboard for students to launch their careers and a great early talent pipeline for our organizational partners.
Is the micro-internship available to students outside the U.S.?
Currently the micro-internship is only available to participating schools and organizations in the United States. If you are interested in bringing the micro-internship to your community outside of the US, please reach out to the Cambiar Quest team.
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