Remote Internships
Internships offer a myriad of benefits, along with some unique challenges, to the students who complete them and for the companies who host them. Internships provide a practical way for students to acquire and refine knowledge centered on their professional path, and companies get a first-hand opportunity to review and mold potential talent for their organization. Traditionally, internships have been onsite opportunities. However the growth of remote internships has multiplied, due mainly to the rise and mainstream use of online and hybrid work models.
Remote internships tend to occur in certain professions more than others. Technology, graphic design, and product development areas have a higher proportion of remote internship opportunities as compared to healthcare and education fields since those areas tend to rely on face-to-face, hands-on education. An internship is an essential piece to the formulation of business acumen for soon-to-be college graduates entering the professional realm, and companies who offer strong remote internships can fulfill that essential piece for those students.
Remote Internship Benefits
Remote interns bring a variety of skills that can be utilized in the virtual work environment. Often, remote interns tend to be more tech savvy and can navigate technology well. Remote interns can support employees in their daily tasks. Idle, yet important, projects can be tasked to interns for completion. The purpose of internships is to show and grow soon-to-be and new graduates the intricacies of the work world with hopes that the intern potentially be a successful hire for the company. Some tasks assigned to an intern might be considered mundane while other tasks test creativity and problem solving skills.
Employees complete tasks of all sorts daily so a solid internship will include both mundane and challenging tasks. Interns want to show their professional insight they have acquired through their learning experiences so companies must give them opportunities to demonstrate their skills. Assigning solely “grunt work” tasks to interns only stifles the growth of the intern. This could leave a negative impression on them that they could communicate to other prospective talent. Give them a challenge, and let them accept it!
Remote internships truly eliminate geographic barriers. Interns can come from any state or country providing a new, fresh perspective to the team. Students can intern for domestic and international companies while studying at their university, home, or any remote location. This saves companies money as they do not have to provide an onsite workspace and supplies. The student is tasked with ensuring that they have the resources and workspace necessary to successfully complete the internship. Companies should ensure that interns have the software essential for tasks and provide support in learning the tools needed to achieve in the role.
Financial Savings of Remote Internships
Remote internships offer financial savings for college students too. With the rising price of investing in higher education, students are taking more loans out to cover costs. Remote internships eliminate travel and commute expenses. Professional clothing costs might be reduced; however, the company should clearly communicate to the intern what type of professional attire is required for the workday. While many remote employees might have had a day or two of working in PJs, especially during COVID times, displaying a professional appearance is still important for employees and interns both.
Flexibility
Flexibility increases with remote internships in contrast to onsite internships. Remote interns often are working with a remote intern supervisor(s) and team. Flexibility when working the internship can allow the intern to complete other classes and/or certifications. It can offer them opportunities to expand their professional network as well. For companies, interns can help fill gaps of employee coverage. Companies hosting interns must clearly define work expectations, specifically which hours the interns must be online working if there is a set schedule, to reduce any confusion about the requirements of the internship. Companies must keep in mind that for many college students, this might be the very first professional role they have ever had so what the internship supervisor(s) assumes the intern knows very well might not be known and understood by the intern.
Remote Internship Challenges
Not being face-to-face with their colleagues and internship supervisor(s) at the company is a huge downfall to some interns. When being onsite, interns tend to get more immediate feedback necessary for professional growth. Without immediate, guided feedback, interns might struggle to learn what is going well and where there is room for improvement. To offset the potential lack of essential feedback, interns should proactively ask for feedback and meetings to acquire the internship supervisor(s)’ insight on their performance.
To foster connectedness with colleagues, internship supervisor(s) should create virtual team building activities. Solicit ideas from the intern on ways they would like to see themselves grow. To provide guidance to interns, companies should provide mentors. Often, the intern will report to the internship supervisor of the company, but that person can frequently be a manager where their time can be diverted to address higher-level situations leaving the intern on their own more than desired. Pairing an intern with a seasoned employee can provide the intern with another perspective to learn from to complement the budding professional relationship with the internship supervisor(s).
Distractions
Remote interns must learn to block out the noise. In this case, noise can be any distraction that would prevent them from completing the work assigned by the company. To help eliminate distractions, remote interns must consider the role as an actual job, even if it is unpaid. Create a dedicated workspace in their living arrangement to maintain professionalism during the workday. Remote work, whether it be an internship or as a paid employee, requires discipline, time management skills and stellar organization, and those skills can take time to refine. If an intern cannot manage their time and focus on completing the tasks at hand, they might leave a negative impression on their internship supervisor(s) that could follow them into the professional world post-graduation.
Diversity
Emphasizing the value of diversity to the intern is very important. For some interns, this will be their first opportunity to work with professionals from other geographic areas. This interaction can expand interns’ global business perspectives. It is important that new interns be aware of the benefits and valuable perspectives that colleagues from other cultures provide in the mutual quest to achieve the company’s mission. Learning to more effectively use inclusive language when communicating is a skill for everyone. Cultural awareness, for onsite and remote internships both, benefits all those involved and acclimate individuals to the beauty of other views.
Conclusion
Offering remote internships can attract a target audience of soon-to-be graduates that can bring new insights to an organization. Remote internships must be carefully monitored and crafted by an organization before bringing remote interns onboard. However, once a remote internship program is implemented, a company will be able to welcome new interns that very well could become moldable talent to be hired as full-time or part-time staff to help the company attain their goals. Finding talent to fill vacant positions is a challenge for most organizations. Interns can be key resources to filling a company’s talent pool. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to work with impressionable and enthusiastic talent! If your organization is looking at hiring interns but is unsure where to start, reach out to ExactHire’s Full Service Hiring team. We can help you post and screen potential talent to fill your company’s hiring needs.
