Super long post.... sorry for the delay in getting this to everyone:
Virtual Internships – how to ensure success (part 1)
With many vacation schemes and internships now being delivered online/virtually this summer, I thought it would be useful to download my thoughts on some advice on how to ensure you have a successful one.
To start with, there are several different ways in which “internships” are being managed and delivered. These include:
1. Online seminars/webinars: much more like e-learning rather than an internship (e.g. you don’t have any responsibilities to deliver any actual work, you are just expected to turn up, listen in and make notes).
2. Simulations: these are sometimes delivered via virtual platforms like Sherpa. You have responsibilities to deliver work, whether individually or in groups, but the work is a simulation of the type of work you would do. Everyone who is taking the internship is also delivering the same project as you.
3. Internship: you are delivering real-life work for a business. You are working with people to deliver real-time projects/services, it is just on a “work-from-home (WFH)” basis or being conducted remotely due to Covid-19.
Many internships are also hybrids of the above, with a mixture of different activities and responsibilities over the period of the internship. Some of the advice below will only apply to the “internship” category, but hopefully there will also be some useful pointers for any type of internship.
Things to consider:
Set up:
Make sure you have somewhere productive to work from. Ideally you should work from a desk/table with a chair with good support for your back. Try to give yourself as much desk/table space to work from as possible. Try to ensure you have adequate lighting/sunlight too. Think about the background behind you for video calls – it doesn’t really matter what it is, just make sure it is tidy (no one wants to see a sink full of dishes or your cat’s litter tray).
Technology:
If you are not using your phone as a form of communication with your employer (e.g. you aren’t expecting people to contact you via your mobile phone or via apps on your phone), think about turning off notifications or using the “do not disturb” function to limit your distractions. The same goes with your laptop. Try not to have various other tabs/website pages running in the background. Your social media/WhatsApp messages can wait until you have a break.
Technology is never 100% reliable. Even if it were, a cut in the electricity supply would likely stop many people’s Wi-Fi. Don’t panic if your technology fails on you. If it is a simple case of rebooting your computer and logging back in, that will be fine. If for any reason your technology is failing over a longer period, notify your supervisor/HR via your phone. Everyone has experienced these failings at some point, especially over the last 4 months, so don’t get concerned about them. These things happen from time to time!
Organisation:
Organisation will be very important. Make sure you are using all the necessary tools to keep your calendar and to-do-list up to date. This is somewhat easier if you have been given a company email account by your employer with software like Outlook, but if you haven’t got this, think about how you will record and plan your time each day of the week. You want to make sure you don’t miss any meetings/seminars/deadlines.
When working remotely think about how you want to ensure you record things. In the workplace, you’d probably always carry a notebook with you to write down information. Think about how you will replicate this at home. You are fortunate that this could be done in many more ways than in an office, so don’t be afraid to be creative with this. You may find it difficult to do this on your laptop, as your screen might be occupied by video calls/seminars or working from documents. You therefore may want to consider a secondary device or a notebook to help record things separately.
Learning & Development:
If your employer doesn’t give you one, I would recommend running a learning log throughout your internship, no matter what format the internship taking. The learning log can take a very basic format of a Word document or Excel spreadsheet with something like the following columns.
- Date/Time
- Activity
- Hours taken
- Reflections
- Feedback
- Further actions
The reflections should be about how you feel the work went. What you found easy/difficult, what was surprising to you, what you learnt etc. The feedback should be the feedback you receive you’re your colleagues on how you did. Further actions should include any further work that was needed to finalise the work or if there are any development/training opportunities you could seek to improve your ability to do similar work in the future.
You could also use this learning log to record any questions you want answered at a later stage of the internship.
This learning log could really help you reflect on your time on the internship and also your own personal development. It could be a great document to use in the future should you have interviews that ask you about your previous experiences.
Looking after yourself:
Make sure you look after yourself during the period of the internship. Try to get enough sleep, eat well, and stay hydrated. Ensure you take breaks from your computer, even if just to stretch your legs/make yourself a drink. Take a lunch break at the appropriate time. Don’t feel that you need to be by your computer screen at every moment of the day/week – remote working is great that it provides much more flexibility of how and when you work, but many take that they then need to be “on-call” all the time. That shouldn’t be the case. You will be far more efficient and focused if you take care of yourself and ensure you create the balance between work and life outside of it.
Communication is key:
Many people don’t like certain forms of communication. Some fear calling people and speaking to them on the phone and will avoid it. Some hate video calls and so will do anything they can do put them off. This can often mean an over-reliance on emails. Emails can be an effective method of communication, but at the same time they can be the worst form. If an email takes you 30 minutes to draft, takes 10 minutes for the recipient to read and then another 20 minutes for them to respond to, it might be likely that a phone call/video chat is far more productive for both parties. The same goes for difficult conversations. These would usually be done in person in an office, but without that luxury, it is likely that this will be better done by a video call rather than an IM or text message.
It will also be important to remember that everyone has a unique situation at home, and some of your colleagues may require flexibility in the way you communicate and when. It is important to get clarity on when people will be available and when they won’t. This allows everyone who is working together to create better expectations of how and when you will get a response. Under current circumstances, this is more important than ever as many people are juggling home schooling and other home commitments. This means the 9-5 job has become much more like “7-8 hours between 6.00am to 10.00pm”. You may find your Supervisor is up early doing work before some home-schooling, while your Trainee/Grad Buddy is working later in the day and into the evening as their housemate is also working from home and there isn’t enough space for them to work at the same time. They are allowed that flexibility, but so are you – you aren’t expected to be working at 7.00am just because your supervisor is, nor expected to work through to 10pm just because your Trainee Buddy is. Ensure there is two-way communication so that work patterns work for everyone.
Because of the above, don’t always expect an immediate response to a query you have, especially if something is not urgent. You will need to factor this into your plans for delivering work. Because of this, work may take longer than expected. Given that, it will be important to ask questions upfront when the work is given to you. These questions could include any of the following:
- What is the deadline?
- How long would you expect this to take?
- How long should this document be?
- Is there a template/structure I should work from?
- What’s the most important objective(s) with this work?
- Are there any sources of research you would recommend?
- What should I prioritise?
- When can we catch up about this again?
- Who else would you recommend I speak to?
Don’t be afraid to ask these questions to a supervisor – they will generally see it as positive as they want you to deliver the work well rather than going off on a tangent or missing the point. If you ever need further clarity (or you can’t get hold of your supervisor) try to get the views of other interns or current graduates/trainees.
