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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jessica Booker" data-source="post: 31452" data-attributes="member: 2672">Virtual Internships – how to ensure success (part 2)What else can I do:Although many interns may find themselves fully occupied throughout the period of their internship, it wouldn’t be surprising if many also find that they have spare time during the day or are waiting for work to come in/sessions to start.In those periods, it is important for an intern to be proactive and think about how they can occupy their time. It is not the employer’s or supervisor’s responsibility to keep you occupied every minute of the internship, and it is very much your own responsibility to ensure you make the most of the opportunity.Even with face-to-face internships, interns could often experience times of not doing much. This is likely to be exacerbated by remote working and people not being able to physically see you are not doing much.If you have spare time, think about the following:Ask for more work: if you have capacity, ask for more work. If your supervisor can’t give you more, think about speaking to other interns or current grads/trainees to see if you can support them. Ensure you run past things with your supervisor though, as they may not have any work now but may have work to give you later that could conflict. Those who you are working with may have a list of “would be nice to get to this if I had time” activities/responsibilities on the bottom of their to-do list. This might be writing an article for business development purposes, it might be researching a potential new client/service, it might be some competitor analysis. These are the type of activities that are non-urgent but could be ideal for an intern and give you some interesting work to do at the same time.Push you own self-development or learning: spend time completing your learning log, read up on subject matters you didn’t quite understand, find some e-learning that might help you get more confident with the technology/software you are using, read up more on a client you are working for. Whatever it is, think about how you could utilise your time and show you have proactively sought out/completed learning opportunities.Network: try to utilise your time to speak to other employees. Organise virtual coffee meetings, ask people about their experiences. It will be important for you to gain a perspective about the firm/employer and its culture to help you make the decision as to whether it is somewhere you want to spend your future career.Help others: apart from supporting others with their the day-to-day work, other ways in which you could support the employer more generally include things like writing an internship experience blog, asking the graduate recruitment team if they need any photos/content for their social media.Other bits of advice:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you are doing real work, remember that your work could be confidential. Be mindful about the conversations you are having, particularly if you are working in an environment with other people (even family!). Also, if you are printing documents or saving them to devices that are not company property, think about whether this is 1) appropriate and 2) how you may dispose of them afterwards. If you are unsure about this, speak to your supervisor or HR contacts to find out the best way to manage these processes so you ensure confidentiality and data protection are maintained.</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Most interns fear asking questions because they think it will make them look stupid. 9 times out of 10, that won’t be the case and not asking the question might be a greater risk. Questions generally help you deliver work to a higher standard, meet expectations better and show your interest in the subject matter more. Just ask yourself whether you are asking the right person the question (e.g. HR can’t help you with IT issues, your supervisor can’t help with HR issues).</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you realise you are not going to meet a deadline, the earlier you flag this the better. Try to seek solutions first (e.g. can you get support on the piece of work from other interns/grads, or could you push back other deadlines) but if it is clear you will miss a deadline, it will be much better if you tell someone sooner rather than later.</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Do all your work well. Triple-check and re-read everything before you send it out (including emails). If necessary, print it out and go over it in hard copy line by line - it's usually easier to spot typos this way.</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Don't knock any work that's given to you, even if it isn't very intellectual (proofreading, due diligence, research, filing). Take everything with a smile, and make sure you do your best, even if you don't find the work all that exciting.</li> </ul> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Think about how you could replicate or replace the social aspect of the internship. Sometimes employers put on social events for their interns, sometimes groups of interns will socialise outside of work anyway or go to lunch together. Don’t be afraid to replicate that activity online to ensure you get a feel for the people you could be working with in the future if you were to join the firm as a graduate.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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