Your ultimate guide to nail remote internships

While the world is busy healing itself, everybody is confined to their homes with restricted movement. Where even public transport facilities are closed, companies too have pulled their shutters down, urging all employees to work from home. In other words, our planet is under maintenance, shut until further notice.

Owing to the current situation, students all across the country have been forced to stay put in their homes, even the ones who had their internships beginning in a few days. But here’s not where the story ends. Instead, this is just the start of another chapter in the lives of B-Schoolers, who are about to step into another world altogether, the one that runs online. Yes, we are talking about remote internships. 

What are remote internships?

Remote internships or virtual internships work entirely on the basis of call, online chat or via email. Not only do they offer the flexibility of time and location, but also are easier to fit into, especially if you are a student and have other things to look forward to. Removing the necessity of having to shift to a certain geographical location, virtual internships offer the freedom of working from your respective homes.

And so, where the world is busy cleaning the mess caused by the Pandemic, B-School students are about to step into the corporate world with their internships a few days away. The only difference this year brings is that the exposure is supposed to be virtual.

But while this situation looks like a win-win for many, the scenario isn’t that simple, to say the least. Let us dig a bit deeper to know what B-Schoolers should be looking forward to with Remote Internships. 

What’s next?

The pros of remote internships are many but so are cons. Where the idea of staying back at home and gaining work experience sounds fun, it brings with it a few unavoidable complications that you might have to deal with. With flexible work hours, comes the pressure of performance where you have to prove that you are giving your best, despite the fact that you are at your place. This means that in addition to all the effort that you might have put while in office, would have to be stretched a bit, to let people know that you are doing all you can and are trying to make the most out of the given opportunity.

Remote internships work online, yes. So all the communication with your supervisor and other teammates will either be on a conference call or on video chats, which differs a lot from actually meeting the concerned individual in person. This means that whenever you are in a fix and need guidance, you will have to call up your teammate or supervisor to get help.

And yes, you will be required to give extra time. Not only because you have to prove yourself but also because guidance doesn’t come easy where online internships are concerned. In the current situation, where everybody is working from home, it might take some time until you are actually able to discuss the problems you’re facing in your project. This might delay and go as far as flattening your learning graph. To make sure that does not happen, you will have to pitch in extra hours, research a lot more and make sure you make use of every available resource so that you are able to accomplish the given task with minimal guidance.  

How to make the most of your remote internship?

While the pandemic has ascertained that there is no way out, remote internships have come to your rescue. And if you have one on your hands already, it is time to schedule your days in a way that helps you make the most of this opportunity. Follow the steps below to know what you can do to make this work!

• Set Boundaries

Working from home can become a mess if you do not set boundaries and schedule your day accordingly. So, the very first rule of working remotely is to plan your day according to the work at hand. Define work hours for yourself and remember that even though you are working from home, you still have plenty on your hands and delaying it will only make the situation worse.

Use apps like Google Calendar to schedule your meetings with your mentor or supervisor. This will not only help you keep a track of the day but also will remind your mentor about the upcoming meetings/ discussions, keeping the two of you on the same page.

• Connect with your mentor/s

In office you get to see our mentor and teammates every day and can even rush up to them for help when you find yourself in a fix. But at home, you do not have the flexibility to do that. Of course, there are other ways to connect with your mentor and that’s what we are talking about.

Spend a dedicated amount of time to stay in touch with your mentor on a daily basis. Schedule regular online meetings with him to ensure that you stay on track and they know what exactly you are working on. Apps like Zoom can help you break this barrier. With facilities like video chats and screen share, you will be able to gel better with your mentor as well as other teammates.

• Request for feedback

To grow in your field as a professional, you will need regular feedback from your mentor and this is what you should let them know. While this is particularly easy when you are in office, it isn’t entirely impossible in the case of virtual internships. For this, you can get on a quick call with your mentor and ask for his feedback on your progress, the work you’ve done so far and if or not you are headed in the right direction.

You must also be prepared for criticism and instead of getting demotivated, you must take it as a favour. This is what will help you work on yourself and build yourself professionally before you officially start working. To make things easier for both you and your mentor, use Google Sheets where you can ask them to add their suggestions or comments beside your daily work.

• Keep a track of your achievements

A two-month-long internship that most of you are about to put your foot into will lead to a number of achievements along the way. The project that you will work on will have multiple milestones which, if not recorded, will blur the lines of your learning graph. To avoid that, jot down your progress on a daily basis.

Maintain a record of the work you’ve done and the milestones you’ve achieved. This will help you retrace your project, right back to the starting point, once you are done with it. You can use apps like iDoneThis to log your daily work report and can even share it with your mentor whenever necessary. Time tracking apps like Memory by Timely can also come in handy to up your productivity levels.

Internships, both remote and on-site, come with plenty of opportunities. It is up to you to understand the nuances of both and take essential steps to make the most of it. So, in these crucial days, where the world is dealing with a crisis, take the necessary steps to learn more with your remote internship and put your best foot forward. All the best!