The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a new challenge to the people where they have been forced to get out of their comfort zone and take up new challenges.
Whether getting used to staying indoors, taking precautions when stepping out or the fact that you need to get your job done away from your office, even students have had to get accustomed to the concept of a virtual internship to gain work experience.
If you are someone pondering if a virtual internship is as effective as a regular internship, then here are a few Pros and Cons of virtual internship for you to understand better.
Let’s begin!
Pros of a virtual internship
To begging with a virtual internship is not very different from a regular internship. Everything has its positive and negative attributes, here are some positive aspects of a virtual internship for you to consider.
First-hand experience of the real world
An internship helps you to prepare for real-world experiences. Given the condition, it is important to get used to working remotely, and a virtual internship prepares you to handle work effectively from a remote location.
A virtual internship requires a lot of communication via emails, texts, and calls, preparing to help in improving your communication skills along with other soft skills.
Flexible timings
Timing is one of the top perks of a virtual internship for anyone to consider. With the factors of traveling and being physically present in an office premise out of the scene, you can balance your virtual internship and your studies with equal importance.
How? Your weekly or monthly targets are set and in front of you by the end of the last month. This will help you to plan out your work schedule for your virtual internship and study schedule.
You can choose to work within your most productive hours of the day for your work. The rest you can balance between leisure and studies.
However, do be attentive towards your work emails and communications and respond to them in time. You don’t want your boss to think that you are not taking your job seriously.
More independence
A virtual internship will let you work more independently as you won’t have to report to your manager frequently throughout the day.
You will be more or less on your own and have to manage your work research, time, etc on your own. Working independently gives you more confidence to make decisions at work as you feel less dependent.
However, ensure you communicate properly with your manager if you face any hiccups or in case of confusion.
Also, you can choose a corner of your home that inspires you the most to do the best in every task assigned to you.
Profitable from a financial point of view
A virtual internship is much more profitable for students from a financial perspective. Not all internship programs pay a very high package and with virtual internships, you save on travel and other extra expenses that you have otherwise incurred.
Better productivity
Your internship period is the best time to start learning the basic tips and tricks of the industry, for which you need to be at your productive best.
With flexible timing during a virtual internship, you can choose to work during the hours where you’re maximum productive. Adding to it, a familiar environment adds to your productivity by keeping you calm and motivated.
Cons of a virtual internship
Everything has a flip side, even a virtual internship. Here are a few downsides of opting for a virtual internship.
Lack of in-person experience
A great part of the work culture takes place with face-to-face interaction with the rest of the team.
In a normal internship, you get to learn a lot more as you see how the work is executed, the process, etc. These few things are missing during a virtual internship and are extremely crucial in your learning process as an intern.
Restricted teamwork experience
Team building and teamwork are crucial aspects of a workspace, but a virtual internship lacks them. Sure, you are getting your part of the work done, but you’re missing out on how to achieve targets together as a team or brainstorm new ideas.
More distractions
Another disadvantage of a virtual internship is the distractions at home. Staying with the family has its own distractions like chores, parents calling you, etc, diverted attention can affect your productivity at work.
So, you can set a few ground rules to help you balance your work and help around the house.
Missing out on networking opportunities
A crucial aspect of a successful internship is building connections and a disadvantage of a virtual internship.
You don't get to converse or share ideas with the people you share the same career interests. This majorly affects your possibilities of greater learning as well.
These pros and cons of a virtual internship can help you prepare better to make the best of it. You can also find out how to ask for an online internship to go about it.
All the Best!
