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Ambitious students, ready to work
We work with students from various top universities, all who have been trained on product management and are eager to put those skills to work and keep learning and growing.
Get work done. Discover future talent. Shyfternships.
Flexible, low risk commitment
Unlike traditional internships, you do not hire Shyfterns as employees or contractors. Shyft PM handles all the heavy lifting, making it easy for you engage.
Fully managed and coached by Shyft PM
Each Shyftern is fully supported throughout the engagement by an experienced product coach, ensuring quality work and deliverables for your team.
Great opportunity to assess talent
Shyfternships provide a unique way to assess the skills, knowledge, fit, and potential of future product talent. Even if you're not currently hiring, meeting and working with Shyfterns can help build a talent pipeline when and if hiring needs do arise.
Various types of work
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User research
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Market research
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Data analysis
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Product discovery
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Product team support
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Product positioning
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Custom engagement
Shyfternships are mini product management internships worked by students, recent graduates, or aspiring career-changers (aka “Shyfterns”). A Shyfternship is a short-term, defined project that can be worked anytime during the year.
These are designed to help your product team keep important work moving without the burden of hiring new employees or 1099 contractors. We do all of the administrative work so all you have to do is outline the work and get started.
If you are interested in longer engagements, we also help companies manage their SUMMER INTERNSHIP programs and with ASSOCIATE PRODUCT MANAGER programs.
A Shyftern is a current university student, recent graduate, or aspiring career-changer. All Shyfterns have been vetted and accepted into the Shyft PM community through a rigorous assessment process that ensures they have the right mindset, skills, and foundation to be successful. Once a Shyftern is accepted, they receive training through Shyft PM Academy and coaching to ensure they are prepared for their first Shyfternship. They also receive dedicated coaching and situational learning while they are working a project.
Shyfterns can work on a variety of tasks. Most of the work falls under one of six tracks, however we can also customize a Shyfternship if your team's needs don't fall neatly into one of these.
We take a balanced approach to ensure Shyfterns are learning and using best practices while remaining flexible to utilize your team's processes and artifacts whenever appropriate.
The tracks, with some sample tasks are:
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User Research
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Customer Interviews
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Survey Creation and Management
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Customer Journey Mapping
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Market Research
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Competitive Analysis
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Market Research
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Data Analysis
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Product Analytics Summaries
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User Survey Data Analysis
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Product Team Support
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User Story / Backlog Cleanup
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Documentation clean-up and categorization
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Product Discovery
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Feature Development
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UI / UX
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Product Positioning
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Content Creation
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Value Proposition Validation
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Product Positioning
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Go-To-Market Planning
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Custom
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Custom project based on company needs
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Shyfternships typically last between 2 and 4 weeks, depending on the amount of work needed.
Most of our Shyfterns are full-time students and can spend about 10 to 20 hours per week on your project. We recommend that larger pieces of work be separated into smaller tasks and deliverables so that the work is focused and delivered timely.
All Shyfterns go through a thorough application process before being accepted into the program. Most Shyfterns are students at US-based universities.
After being accepted into the program, Shyfterns have access to Shyft Academy training and resources and are assigned a dedicated coach to help them succeed in their Shyfternships.
You can rest assured that Shyfterns, while new to the world of product management, are vetted, trained, and supported throughout their work with your team.
Most Shyfterns are full-time or part-time students at universities around the United States. As such, Shyfernships are primarily done remotely and asynchronously. Your team typically meets virtually with the Shyftern once per week to check in and answer any questions needed to continue progress.
If your team happens to be based in the same city as a Shyftern, we can certainly discuss whether any in-person meetings would be valuable.
Shyfterns primarily work remotely and asynchronously, so there is little oversight needed from your team. However, we like to adhere to two ceremonies during the project: Weekly Reviews and Deliverable Demo. This equates to roughly 30 to 60 minutes per week of commitment from your team.
We ask that your team designates a Sponsor to be the main contact for these ceremonies or other needs during the project. Anyone from your team is also welcome to join these meetings, of course.
The 30-minute Weekly Review helps ensure the work done by the Shyftern is on track and to your expectations and helps guide the work for the following week.
The 60-minute Deliverable Demo at the end of the project is where the Shyftern will present the final deliverable findings, recommendations, and disposition to your team.
You do not hire the Shyftern as either an employee or as a 1099 contractor. You hire Shyft PM, LLC as a vendor. We invoice you for the agreed upon engagement cost, and we, in turn, pay the Shyftern. So there is no hiring or employment hassle for you. Working with us is a simple as setting up a vendor relationship.
We have two pricing models: Project-Based and Team Bundles.
With Project-Based pricing, we determine the flat fee for the project based on the estimated hours. Our Team Bundles are valuable if you have multiple teams that would be using Shyfternship engagements or if a team may need multiple engagements throughout the year. Bundles are essentially pre-reserving engagements to be worked in the future.
Sure! That’s the beauty of Shyfternships. If you find someone who works well with your team, it’s easy to bring them back on more projects.
Of course! Whether you have one or 100 projects that need to be completed, we can help you find the right people to get the work done.
Yes! We love when our Shyfterns get hired by our clients. One of our key missions is to connect aspiring product managers with product teams and help sustain the long-term future of the product management community.
And you don't owe us anything if you decide to offer a Shyftern employment. No finders fee. No commission.
Nope! No fee is paid to us. You are free to hire anyone you’d like. We want to remove as many obstacles as possible in you finding the right people for your team and aspiring product managers getting their dream job.
Contact us here to get the conversation started!