Startups And Small Companies Could See Major Benefits By Hiring Gap Year College Students

For college students looking forward to the university experience, paying a hefty university price tag to sit in their parents’ living room or in an isolated dorm room and taking online classes is a potential disappointment.  So, some students have opted for local community college classes this year, while others have decided to sit this year out and take a COVID-19 gap year. Only 2.5 percent of colleges are planning a fully in-person semester this upcoming year. Rather than spend a year staring at Zoom, some students have taken the semester off. Startups are starting to see this as an opportunity to recruit these students into virtual fall internships. So can smaller companies.

Companies, especially small companies hit hard by lay-offs and now coming back see this trend as an opportunity. Remote internships and virtual gap years are now being presented as an alternative to college students looking to do something different this year. Even Silicon Valley has noticed and multiple firms are extending their paid internship programs to interns who would rather work than go back to school. Startups and small companies are now competing for these talented students. The virtual nature of the internships could allow local companies access to a nationwide talent pool. And these companies hope that the potential employees they hook this fall might stay on in the years to come, rather than taking spots at large tech companies.

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