March 16, 2021, by Benedict Watson

How To Approach a Virtual Spring Week

Benedict Watson – Student Blogger

With Coronavirus restrictions likely to continue for some time, it seems inevitable that spring weeks will be operated virtually this year. This will of course be disappointing for participants because it will not be as immersive an experience as working in an office or meeting in person.

However, if you approach it well, you can still get a huge amount of value from a virtual spring week, and hopefully impress the staff enough to be fast-tracked to next year’s summer internship.

Have the right attitude

Given that you may be completing the internship from your bedroom rather than the high-pressure office environment of organisations such as investment banks, some participants may take the opportunity to slack off and put less effort in. Don’t let this be you!

While it may be harder for staff to monitor the effort you are putting in online, remember that you are doing this spring week out of your own accord (and often for free!). So, the lack of monitoring should not have an impact on your effort levels.

Make sure you have your camera on whenever required in video calls, and regularly participate in discussions that take place on these calls. This will help you to be memorable to the staff running the spring week, making it more likely that you will be fast-tracked to a summer internship next year.

Connect with the other participants

Different spring weeks may involve different levels of collaboration with other participants, but hopefully they will all involve some aspect of communication with others. Make the most of these opportunities, because you will be surprised at how much you can learn from talking to the other people on the spring week.

Being in contact with others on the programme can be very helpful if you need help with one of the tasks you have been assigned to do, and perhaps need someone else to explain the task to you. Moreover, the fact that they are on the same programme as you makes it very likely that they are thinking about the same career prospects as you, so speaking to them can be very useful.

You might learn of other internship opportunities you weren’t aware of or gain new tips on how to prepare for video interviews. These people are likely to be your competitors for internships and jobs in the future, so it is important to be aware of what they are doing so that you can stay up to date and make sure that your CV will stand out from the competition.

Apart from career benefits, connecting with the other participants can also make the experience more enjoyable, and you never know, you might meet them in person next year at the summer internship!

Enjoy it!

You have done brilliantly to secure a spring week, so make sure you enjoy the experience. It is a great opportunity to get an insight into a specific company and career, and it is something to keep you busy in these strange times.

My final tip would be to make a note of what you are doing as you complete the spring week. This is important because a spring week is a great thing to talk about on your CV and in interviews, so it is important that you can remember what you did.

If you are looking to gain work experience, there’s not just one way. You can gain an insight into the working world and develop your skills in a number of ways. Take a look at our work experience pages and talk to an adviser about your options.

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