Advice for Employers and Recruiters
Why September Is the Best Time to Apply for and Hire Gig and Freelance Interns
September marks a crucial period for businesses and students alike in the world of gig and freelance internships. Industry experts highlight the unique advantages of early recruitment during this time, emphasizing the opportunity to secure top talent before the competition intensifies. By aligning hiring strategies with the academic calendar, companies can tap into a fresh pool of motivated candidates eager to start their professional journeys.
- September Recruitment Secures Top Talent Early
- Align Hiring with Academic Year Start
- Capitalize on Fall’s Influx of New Students
- Balance Work and Studies in Early Semester
- Leverage September’s Academic and Business Cycles
- Tap into Post-Summer Student Enthusiasm
- Access Motivated Candidates Before Schedules Fill
- Seize First-Mover Advantage in Talent Acquisition
- Recruit During Peak Student Job Search Period
- Secure Interns Before Competition Intensifies
- Connect with Eager Students Returning to Campus
- Avoid Playing Catch-Up in Spring Recruitment
- Maximize Options in Fresh Talent Pool
- Match Student Availability with Business Needs
- Beat the October Rush for Intern Applications
- Harness Student Energy at Semester Start
September Recruitment Secures Top Talent Early
September marks the final opportunity for businesses to recruit freelance talent before the holiday rush begins. We’ve learned that hiring in September gives us just enough time to properly onboard and train temporary staff before our online sales double or triple during Black Week through January.
Starting recruitment now ensures we have qualified people ready to handle increased customer service inquiries, content needs, and logistics challenges when consumer demand reaches its peak. Students and freelancers benefit equally from this timing — they secure positions ahead of competition, gain valuable experience during our most dynamic season, and frequently turn these temporary roles into longer-term arrangements after proving themselves during this critical period.
Trond Nyland
CEO & Owner, Tudos.no AS
Align Hiring with Academic Year Start
September is a critical time to start recruiting for gig and freelance internships because students are just beginning a new academic term and are still shaping their schedules. At this stage, they tend to be more open to new opportunities and are actively searching for ways to gain relevant experience early in the semester. Reaching out during this time allows me to connect with motivated candidates before they become overwhelmed with exams and heavier coursework.
I’ve also noticed that by starting the recruitment process in September, I gain access to a larger and stronger pool of applicants. Many employers wait until later in the fall to begin their searches, and by then, some of the most talented and ambitious students may have already committed to positions. Recruiting in September gives me a competitive edge because I’m able to secure strong candidates who might not be available later on.
My advice to other employers is to treat September as a planning and strategy month rather than waiting for the busiest time of the year. By being proactive with postings, outreach, and interviews, you can secure great talent early and give yourself more time to properly train and integrate them into your business. This not only helps the intern succeed but also ensures your organization benefits from their contributions during the entire semester.
Liam Derbyshire
CEO / Founder, Influize
Capitalize on Fall’s Influx of New Students
The biggest reason September is important for employers to start recruiting for part-time roles or internships is because of the influx of new talent.
In fact, according to a VirtualInternships report, the majority (60%) of college students apply for internships in the fall in September.
Every year from August to early September, colleges begin their new academic year, and this attracts a pool of new students. This is one of the best and most strategic times to hire dedicated students who want to make a living and get a head start in their industry.
For students applying to internships at the start of the academic year in September: Don’t compromise one thing for the other. If you think you can’t handle the pressure that may come along with being employed, even part-time, and studying, focus on studies alone. Don’t let your work affect your academic performance and vice versa.
Prepare a schedule that helps you manage both effectively. It’ll be hard at the beginning, but with proper time management, doing both will become a piece of cake.
Stephen Greet
CEO & Co-Founder, BeamJobs
Balance Work and Studies in Early Semester
September is a month that should not be overlooked when it comes to employers taking on gig or freelance interns, and the reason is clear: it can be used to recruit students at a time when their academic schedules are still relaxed but not yet in the stressful stage.
I have firsthand experience with this through a project that sought my assistance in converting thousands of paper records to be compliant. In September, we obtained a college student who was primarily interested in the prospect of a flexible schedule. She was new to the course and thus could develop the habit of working with us, and she remained very consistent even when her course load increased later in the term.
This was great in the sense that had we done it in January, her time would have been divided between exams, and we would have wasted time on the project. The timing was not only important to her output but also to her confidence, as she could visualize her contribution as a positive addition before the academic pressure took effect.
The final argument is that employers will leverage the benefits of such an early rhythm since projects will be completed in a gradual fashion, and students will understand how to balance their studies with work before peak deadlines are upon them. September is not just one of the months in the calendar but rather the month where flexibility and motivation converge, and hence it is the most appropriate month to hire freelancers.
Mark Friend
Company Director, Classroom365
Leverage September’s Academic and Business Cycles
I oversee projects from their inception to completion and supervise a team that has already completed over 20,000 architectural renderings. Close communication with freelancers and interns in various time zones is part of my job, which has made me very conscious of seasonal trends in recruitment and the flow of projects.
September is an opportune month to hold internships as it coincides with the academic year and the business cycle. Most businesses start their budgets and project pipelines in September of the year before. That leaves gaps where students and freelancers can fill in assignments with employers still able to move resources around. Meanwhile, students have returned to school and are seeking ways to put into practice what they are learning. This forms a natural window of balance between demand and supply compared to other seasons of the year.
It has occurred to me that the projects planned in September have better definitions and schedules than those planned mid-year. Employers are better structured, students are more motivated, and deadlines can be established to fit semester holidays or vacations. This gives both parties the most productive time without the stop-and-go delays that tend to halt internships initiated later.
Alex Smith
Manager & Co-Owner, Render 3D Quick
Tap into Post-Summer Student Enthusiasm
September can be an effective month to hire gig or freelance interns because it is immediately after summer releases and before the more substantial winter schedule. This means that most students spend their summers gaming, engaging in side projects, or operating small community servers. When they return to university, they are seeking flexible paid employment that accommodates classes, and they bring with them new practical experience from those summer projects.
We once had a computer science student who had just run his own Minecraft community over the break. His joining at the beginning of the term meant that we could assign him to a short, three-month project developing monitoring scripts on our NVMe-backed servers. He was passionate and had time to do it, and we could test his work during lower traffic months in UK and Singapore nodes.
That project resulted in a usable tool that reported latency spikes before they reached the user, and we later deployed it in production. He would not have had the same time later in the academic year since exams would have taken place by then.
The conclusion is that September is the ideal time since it will catch students when they are receptive, and companies can experiment with short projects without straining their full-time employees.
Hone John Tito
Co-Founder, Game Host Bros
Access Motivated Candidates Before Schedules Fill
September is the most important month, as students arrive on campuses with new schedules and are actively seeking flexible opportunities to accommodate them. Employers who create gig and freelance internships early in the semester have an advantage since they are able to reach candidates prior to their schedules filling up with other activities. This timing helps to build a superior talent supply because driven students are enthusiastic to obtain roles which offer revenue and experience without creating long-term commitments. Hiring in September will ensure that businesses can attract the best candidates because the demand for short-term, flexible employment is the highest.
Wayne Lowry
CEO, Scale By SEO
Seize First-Mover Advantage in Talent Acquisition
September is a critical time for employers to begin recruiting gig and freelance interns because it aligns with the start of the academic year when students are actively looking for flexible opportunities that fit around their class schedules. Many are eager to secure experience early in the semester before their workload intensifies, which gives employers access to a larger, motivated pool of candidates.
For students, applying in September means they can lock in opportunities ahead of peers while still having enough time to balance coursework and meaningful project work. In industries where projects ramp up toward the end of the year, early recruitment also ensures interns are onboarded and trained in time to contribute during peak demand periods. This timing creates a win-win: students gain valuable experience without scrambling mid-semester, and employers secure talent before competition increases later in the year.
Joshua Davis
Senior Vice President Operations, StorMark Self-Storage
Recruit During Peak Student Job Search Period
September is a critical month for freelance internship recruitment as it coincides with the academic year’s budget planning process. Many companies are putting the finishing touches on their Q4 plans, and they could use a helping hand to support their year-end campaign. Forward-thinking employers hire high-quality student freelancers before their competitors do.
Recruiting in September allows employers to identify exceptional student talent before they join a different company or become bogged down in academics. Applicants at that time of year tend to be more organized and forward-looking, so we can pick out better candidates who are able to juggle life and studying effectively.
The benefit is getting access to talented students before other agencies kick off holiday hiring. The early funnel allows us to play a first role in a student’s time at school. For our most motivated students who are interested in outreach and professional development, we build a pipeline of freelancers that gain great experience and relationships with us over their school career.
Matt Bowman
Founder, Thrive Local
Secure Interns Before Competition Intensifies
September is a critical month for employers to recruit gig and freelance interns because they have a first-mover advantage. Students are returning after summer, finding their way back into classes, and starting to seek opportunities. Employers who advertise jobs early have access to the most ambitious and organized candidates earlier, before the volume of postings grows in October and November.
There are fewer competing offers in this window, and the applicants are therefore more committed and responsive. Also, it is the time of the semester when they have more freedom to build internships into their schedules before fully settling into their workloads for the semester. For employers, this means they will have a stronger applicant pool, and they will be able to hire more quickly. By acting in September, employers lock in talent pools that are eager, available, and not yet spread thin across multiple commitments, creating a better foundation of contributors when pursuing projects that require shared and consistent contributions and accountability.
Chris Kirksey
CEO / SEO Specialist, Direction.com
Connect with Eager Students Returning to Campus
September marks the beginning of a new academic year, making it an ideal time for employers to recruit for gig and freelance internships. Students are excited to develop their careers and obtain practical experience as they return to university. Companies trying to fill these positions can connect with new talent that is prepared to contribute because of this urgency. Employers who begin the hiring process early not only draw in driven individuals but also build a pool of qualified applicants who can infuse their teams with creativity and vitality. Finding internships in September can be essential for students looking to advance their careers and build valuable industry relationships.
Khurram Suhrwardy
Founder, Caption Easy
Avoid Playing Catch-Up in Spring Recruitment
September is key because it’s when students are actively looking to line up flexible work that fits around their class schedules. For employers, this is the moment to tap into that energy and bring on interns who are motivated to build experience without waiting until summer. Starting early means you get first pick of talent before everyone else starts recruiting later in the semester.
Patric Edwards
Founder & Principal Software Architect, Cirrus Bridge
Maximize Options in Fresh Talent Pool
September recruiting is not about getting ahead; it is about not falling behind. Fall semester is when colleges are engaged in career fairs, when students finalize their course load, and internship decisions begin to snowball. I have watched companies lose this window and spend the spring playing catch-up, hiring for roles that have already been filled with the top applicants. Students who make an application now will be in a better position to secure desirable jobs, not the last-minute positions that no one wants.
On our engineering side, internships aligned with recruiting schedules have the effect of translating to better applicant pools and more fruitful mentorship cycles. A September start will also allow more time to vet, train, and onboard. This is not early; it is normal when you want talent to stay.
Mircea Dima
CTO / Software Engineer, AlgoCademy
Match Student Availability with Business Needs
September is critical because it’s the start of a new academic cycle, which means students are actively looking to gain experience and employers have the best chance to access a fresh pool of motivated talent. Recruiting early gives businesses more options and ensures they secure top candidates before the market gets crowded later in the semester.
For students, applying in September increases their chances of landing meaningful opportunities, since many of the best roles are filled by those who start early.
Harlan Rappaport
Co-Founder, Hire Overseas
Beat the October Rush for Intern Applications
September is a key month for gig and freelance internships. It’s when students get back into their school routines and want hands-on projects to complement their studies. At the same time, many businesses are gearing up for Q4, their busiest time of year. If companies start recruiting now, they can secure eager interns before things get too hectic. Likewise, students can find good roles before the semester becomes too competitive.
Cameron Parsinejad
Owner, Bay Area Board Up Team
Harness Student Energy at Semester Start
College students begin planning their semester in September after they shake off the summer haze, while their routines become solid and everyone starts thinking about their future. The freelance content role application surge occurred during the exact time our client posted the position last fall.
The month of October brings either midterm chaos or an overwhelming number of intern listings for students. Early application allows you to reach potential candidates before the competition begins.
Vincent Carrié
CEO, Purple Media
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