How to Be an Amazing Virtual Intern

The summer internship season is upon us! If you haven’t yet secured an onsite engagement, take heart: you still have valuable internship options at your fingertips.

Many companies are adding programs that include (or are exclusively designed for) virtual intern positions. So, you can still obtain experience and marketable skills, and you can do it from your kitchen table or from halfway across the world. Not a bad deal, right?

You might be aware of the various websites that offer remote internships or returnships, created specifically for those looking to reenter the workforce.

For individuals who have embarked upon this new (if somewhat unconventional) professional chapter, congratulations!

Here’s some practical advice to make a virtual intern engagement a success for all involved:

Communicate Proactively

This includes all kinds of healthy work habits: checking in with your virtual supervisor or mentor, volunteering yourself for projects, and readily asking questions whenever you don’t understand something. Your written communication skills will improve greatly, as the majority of interaction and information exchange tends to take place asynchronously via email and messaging apps.

If you’re a digital native, you might think that a lifetime of texting means that you’re a natural for this kind of communication. Keep in mind that exchanging ideas clearly, concisely, and courteously is a skill honed over a lot of time and experience; there truly aren’t shortcuts here. Know that when you do reach out, you’ll not only demonstrate your desire to learn, but you’ll ultimately position yourself for bigger responsibilities and more exciting opportunities.

Operate Independently

It’s been widely stated that remote work is a meritocracy, and that your output counts more than your political savvy or social capital. As a remote intern, you’ll also want to demonstrate that you’re capable of operating autonomously. If you seem to need an excessive amount of hand-holding after the onboarding process has ended, you run the risk of coming across as less than self-sufficient. (This is an absolute no-no if you’d like to someday work for this company, as autonomy is highly prized by remote professionals.)

So how do you strike the right balance? Commit to gaining as much knowledge as possible in the first two weeks in your role: test out the company’s preferred tech tools, figure out how positions and departments interrelate, and ask others how they envision you fitting into the big picture. Then you’ll be able to gauge the rhythm of your remote company and start making progress on your own, reaching out when appropriate rather than 24/7. When you start shipping deliverables without significant involvement required from your boss, you’ll make a strong impression.

Learn Continuously

Don’t forget that this experience is an extension of your own education. Approach it strategically, and it will yield a wealth of knowledge that won’t just help you in this role, but in the career ahead of you. Absorb as much as you can from teammates, your supervisor, and company leadership (as available). If you’d like for another staff member to mentor you outside of your role, say so. If there are materials you can review that will help you gain further context about the company’s history and its vision for the future, check those out. If you want to obtain deeper insight into the product roadmap or approach to providing services, request time-bound meetings with the right people, and arrive prepared with a set of questions.

Take this opportunity to gather domain-specific and competitive intel on the field at large, and specifically on how this company operates. If you’re respectful of others’ time, you’ll find that they’re more than happy to advise and guide you. Everything is a case study; the lessons are there for the taking.