Got a small project and a small budget? For some companies nowadays, the solution is simple: Rent an M.B.A. to do the work.
A new breed of job sites has cropped up to match M.B.A.s and business-school students with companies seeking short-term help and project work. The companies get trained talent to help with marketing, financial modeling and investor pitches for a fraction of what they would have to pay big firms like McKinsey & Co. or Boston Consulting Group Inc. For the M.B.A.s, the weeks- or months-long freelance projects can sharpen their skills before they start a full-time job, provide some extra cash on the side or, for a few, offer a flexible alternative to a corporate career.
Fledgling startups were the first to use these services, but big companies—among themAmerican Apparel Inc. APP +5.00% and Ogilvy & Mather—have become customers, too.
“If you can bring in external expertise affordably, why would you not avail yourself of that?” asks Ryan Holiday, the marketing director at American Apparel. Last fall, his team used HourlyNerd Inc. to streamline a weekly marketing spending report. They offered $1,400 for about 20 hours of work and got a Harvard Business School grad to do it.