It’s no secret that online work opportunities saw a massive uptick in popularity in 2020. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies worldwide began closing their offices and moving their teams to work from home.
But the fact remains that online working started gaining traction in many fields like IT, finance, and marketing many years ago. Perhaps Covid has just shown us how accessible online working is, and how it can afford students and professionals the skills, experience, and discipline needed to succeed in their professional endeavors.
In many industries, remote work is here to stay.
Those who work remotely (over the computer and without being in a physical office space) understand that this form of work requires a unique set of skills. Building discipline, being able to manage your time, staying proactive, and working autonomously are all skills that will help you throughout your career. Along with building skills, how can an online internship benefit your future career prospects? In this article, we’ll be exploring some of these benefits.
How do I find online internships?
There are many avenues for seeking out and finding remote internships within your field of interest. Some involve contacting a company directly, while others involve taking part in an internship program organized through a provider or through a university.
- Apply directly to a company. If you’ve always wanted to work for a specific company, check their website or LinkedIn page to see if they have any openings for internships. If you know someone who works at that company, be sure to contact them to ask if they can give you any advice for your application. Many companies also use recruiting sites like Indeed or Monster to promote their open positions.
- Seek out an internship provider. Companies like CRCC Asia specialize in connecting students to internship opportunities in their field of focus. Providers often have established networks of host companies in many fields and countries. The benefit of working with an internship provider is having an extra level of support through advisors and coaches, in addition to your company supervisor and team. Providers can also help with finding an internship in a country you are unfamiliar with, or if you don’t have any prior work experience.
- Enroll in a university program. Most universities around the world have some form of student internship program. This involves a student either finding their own internship, or being connected with a company through the school’s network or through a partner provider. The benefit of many university internship programs is the opportunity to earn university credit based on hours worked.
READ MORE: 9 Coolest Online Internship Opportunities (with Reviews!)
7 ways an online internship can benefit your career
Online internships can prove incredibly valuable for gaining skills, knowledge, experience, and confidence in your desired career field. If you’ve always wanted to take that first step into your field, but still don’t have the experience to land an entry-level job, an internship is certainly your best avenue for getting there.
An internship not only allows you to explore your field and learn the ins and outs of a company, but it also allows you to see what you like about your field and what you don’t like. When it comes to the ways an online internship can benefit your career, consider the following.
1. Boost your resume/CV
An online internship is, after all, a tangible work experience. This means your internship is an opportunity to add new work experience to your existing resume/CV. If your internship is with a company outside of your home country, this can be even better as international work experience (even remote work) is a great way to stand out to employers.
Your online internship might just set you apart from the rest.
“This is something that will really set me apart from other people going for the same jobs, because I’ve had experience working with people from other places. [Online internships] give you that edge over the competition,” said Sam Pilkington, a University of Birmingham student who completed an online internship during the summer of 2020.
While performing well in university and achieving high marks are pivotal, having internship and work experience on your resume/CV is incredibly important when it comes to companies seeing you as a quality candidate.
2. Gain confidence
It’s very difficult to be confident in your own skills, abilities, and knowledge of your field when you don’t have any experience actually working in your field. While your university classes and degree may have taught you a lot about your career field, the practical knowledge and hands-on experience you’ll get from an internship are second to none.
“The highlight of my experience was when I first accomplished my coding tasks. I felt immensely proud of myself because not only was this a new field that I had never attempted before, but I was also doing it remotely. I felt very proud of what I was able to achieve, as well as when my supervisors told me that the work I had done was very meaningful,” said Brandy Yuan, a University of Pennsylvania student who completed an online internship during the summer of 2020.
As you are able to build and develop yourself through an internship opportunity, you’ll find yourself learning more about your company, career field, and yourself. As you complete projects, meet deadlines, present your work, and network within your company, you will find your skills and confidence growing as a result.
Having confidence in yourself as a qualified applicant can make all the difference when applying for, and landing, a job.
3. Receive valuable feedback
Most companies institute some form of feedback process to help their employees grow and develop professionally. This can come in the form of performance appraisals, feedback sessions, peer-to-peer review, and even employee self-evaluations.
You’ll get the chance to meet and learn from your coworkers from afar!
Your supervisor and other mentors within your company will be able to share their experiences and knowledge with you, in addition to providing advice and constructive criticism. After all, being able to receive feedback on your projects, communication, attitude, and day to day performance is arguably the best way to grow as a professional.
The opportunity to receive this valuable feedback is the hallmark of many internship programs, and can truly be a career-enhancing experience.
4. Show proactivity
Many students opt to take online internship opportunities along with their online classes, while others wait until university break period when they have more time to devote to their internship. Whenever you decide to undertake an online internship, by doing so you are showcasing one very key trait—proactivity.
Being proactive and actively seeking out beneficial opportunities is one of the key traits that makes an outstanding employee. Students who don’t let their summer break go to waste, and instead seek out an online work experience to fill some of their free time, are showing great effort to build their professional profile.
Companies will be impressed when, during an interview, you tell them how you used your university break period to undergo a full-time internship experience, rather than just sit around and do nothing.
5. Challenge yourself
There is no doubting that there are many challenges when it comes to succeeding in an internship, especially an online one. You will need to be very disciplined with your time, and make sure you’re devoting the right amount of effort towards your work and projects.
If your company is in another country or time zone, you may need to adapt your work hours, schedule, and daily routine accordingly. If you’re working from your bedroom, there are many distractions that could potentially get in the way of being able to stay focused on your tasks.
Those who choose to undertake an online internship are showing that, despite some of these challenges just mentioned, they’re committed to performing to the best of their ability and succeeding in their internship.
Successful people are those who, instead of avoiding challenges, choose to tackle them head-on and trust in their own abilities to work through them. Employers will respect an applicant who can show that they’re keen to challenge themselves with new and unfamiliar opportunities.
6. Explore your field
You can gain valuable work experience with your pal by your side!
As discussed in the beginning of this article, one of the foundations of any internship is career exploration. Being able to take the knowledge you’ve gained through your university studies and finally apply them to a real-world work opportunity can be a very enriching experience.
The ability to work in a company in your field of interest, learn their business model, research competitors, survey the market trends, and understand the types of opportunities that exist within this field will be great for your professional development. In addition to figuring out what you enjoy doing within your field, you will often get to experience things that you might not enjoy doing.
Perhaps you’ve been studying marketing in school, and after completing a 3-month online marketing internship, find out you are much more interested in the creative and content avenue, rather than the data and SEO portion of the field. You can then use this newfound knowledge to pursue your next opportunity in a creative agency and further explore your passion!
7. Build your professional network
It is often argued that the single best way to land a job is through networking. This means meeting people in your career field and building relationships which can lead to opportunities down the line. This is described by the old adage “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.
Connecting with other professionals through events, online forums, and mutual contacts are some of the best ways to network with others. Another phenomenal way to build your professional network is through, wait for it...an internship.
As an intern, you will likely be introduced to a variety of people within your company. You’ll have your direct supervisor, perhaps other interns on the same team, and may be introduced to other key players and staff throughout the duration of your internship. As you meet new people and build relationships with them, be sure to ask questions and learn about their career journey, previous positions, and any advice they have for someone pursuing a job in the field.
Ensure that you keep these relationships going even after your internship concludes, as they could prove very valuable later on in your job search and career!
Get matched with 5 online internship opportunities through our Online Advisor—it’s free!
Are online internships beneficial? Find out for yourself!
It should go without saying that the best way to reap the many benefits from an online internship is to actually go for it! Perhaps you’ll discover new benefits, challenges to overcome, and ways an online internship can help put you on a successful career path.
As with anything in life, the only way you’ll know for sure is by trying it out for yourself!
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