With the pandemic wrecking havoc worldwide, Virtual internship is fast becoming a popular choice for young job aspirants seeking valuable professional experience. Interestingly opportunities are plenty and offer a host of benefits which are often considered more favourable than in-person internships.

What is a virtual internship?

Whether undertaken in between semesters or joined simultaneously with study programs, Internships are an exceptional way of acquiring hands-on experience in professionalism. Another great fact about internships is that they are often paid and thus provide the possibility of temporarily jobs, relevant to one’s branch of study which can turn out to be a priceless learning experience. Top skills that one can learn during a virtual internship are digital skills in a global context, communication, interview techniques, Resume/CV building, building a network, problem solving et al.

With the boom in online education, universities and employers alike are turning to technology to ensure effective and modern means of enhancing the internship process and experience. A legitimate conclusion to their search, most definitely is virtual internships.

A great online opportunity

The only difference between in-person and virtual internships is the setting. Those opting for virtual internship have to do the work remotely and complete assignments and send them over the net through email, video chat, or other online tools. An all round professional development support by means of an assigned coach is often ensured by companies offering virtual internships. Some also offer employability and international focused guidance so that the candidate can make most of the internship.

Recently companies and students have started to explore the ease offered by virtual internships. In a virtual internship setting one has to work with a manager on certain projects expected to build their skills and add experience important for professional success.

Presently, virtual internships are much sought after in the sectors which use technology regularly, for instance the tech and communication organisations.

Benefits of virtual internships

Accessibility

Commuting is a bane for city dwellers and a considerable financial hurdle for job seekers. Virtual internships ensure getting career and global skills from a national or international work experience, without travel. Be it project management, financial analysis, market research, software development or IT- there are attractive projects for those looking for virtual internships and some of them can lead to permanent roles. Virtual internships completely remove the geographical barrier.

Flexibility

Like location, virtual internships are also time agnostic. Students often find it difficult to incorporate an internship in their academic schedule. But with virtual internships they can now manage both study and work by adding flexibility of time. So one engaged in a day shift can complete their studies at night.

Developing important Job skills

Comprehensive understanding of the internet-related skills like digital communication, research, and knowledge of apps and social media platforms come into play while doing a virtual internship. And working remotely is a wonderful way to build these on-demand skills, as candidates will be required to complete their job responsibilities on a system be it – desktop, laptop, smart-phone, or any other device.

That said, those opting for these internships must be highly motivated and organized. In absence of continuous supervision available in office, candidates have to develop the ability to manage time and finish assignments without constant support from colleagues or supervisors. But then online working ensures freedom from office politics and concentrates only on one’s work from the comfort of home.

Build global networks

Networking and creating global connections are now considered utmost important in all sectors of industries. Networking is actually the principal deciding factor for an international career and virtual international internships are an excellent way to enlarge the network globally! Also, a lot of organisations now put in place lasting remote-work policies, which indicates a rise in demand for skilled personnel with remote work experience and skills.

Cross-Cultural Competences

Unlike in-person internships, online ones offer the opportunity to choose a location/country for exploring one’s professional skills and achieve cross-cultural competency.

Final words

The above mentioned benefits indicate that virtual internships can create valuable job skills and experience at the beginning of a professional career. These internships are a great resume booster too, as they build up and exhibit a diverse set of skills which are of immense value and importance to today’s employers.