January 27, 2021, by Jackie Thompson
What Is It Like to Conduct a Remote Internship During the Pandemic?
By Margaux Seeuws, International Commercial Law
Last May I received exciting news from the School of Law, that I was the successful candidate for an internship at the World Bank Group in Washington DC. Little did I know that the experience would not play out exactly as planned.
With the uncertainty created by the pandemic, restrictions on travel and the imposition of national lockdowns, it appeared safer to conduct the internship remotely. Despite my initial disappointment resulting from the inability to travel to Washington, I was quickly reassured by my supervisor at the bank about any concerns I had on the internship having to be conducted remotely.
Engaging with the team
Prior to my first day, my supervisor organised meetings with members of the team for an initial introduction to the them and their work. Also, each and every one of the members of the team engaged with me separately either by email or on the phone during my first week to get to know me and have a sense of what were my expectations for the internship.
Although you may not be able to meet in person the members of the team you will be working with, this does not mean you shouldn’t engage with them either by phone, by email or through Visio. It is important to establish relationships with your colleagues in order to feel ‘connected’ as much as possible. Don’t hesitate to ask your colleagues through which means they prefer to be contacted. While some of my colleagues preferred to be contacted by WhatsApp, others favoured phone calls to explain tasks and projects.
Adapting to the situation
People often don’t feel comfortable asking questions through email and I was one of them. While I usually ask questions spontaneously when in person, during the internship I would conduct research prior to asking any question. My supervisor and members of the team stressed that I should feel free to ask questions at any point and I gradually started to follow their advice in order to save myself some time.
If you don’t feel like your question is “important enough” to require an email I would recommend using the chat apps at your disposal (for example, at the bank we had a chat app, I thought it was easier to engage with members of the team through this app).
Meeting regularly
My internship supervisor also offered to organise weekly ‘catch-ups’ through Visio. I welcomed this offer as it was the perfect occasion for her to follow-up the projects I had been working on and to make sure I was keeping pace with the workload. I was also able to express any concerns I had and to emphasis what type of work I enjoyed the most. These sessions were great because they prevented me from feeling ‘disconnected’ from the team and represented a great boost whenever I experienced a decrease in motivation.
Working hours
If your internship is due to take place in another country where there is a significant time difference (as was my case) with your location, I would recommend working out with your manager the hours that will be the most suitable for you and the team.
As there was a six-hour time difference between Paris and Washington DC, it was important for me to communicate to the team my working hours and the hours they would be able to reach me. You may want to give yourself at least a week to figure out what works best for you.
I remember engaging with colleagues mostly during the afternoon (their morning) and they would sometimes send me tasks during the evening time (their afternoon) so I could start working on them the next morning. This is a rhythm that I felt comfortable with but the good thing about working remotely is that you have additional freedom to organise yourself as suits you best.
Getting a balance
One of the greatest challenges I faced while working from home was to learn to make time for myself and cutoff from work, especially given that the end of my close of business was not the same as theirs.
To avoid this, I would recommend where possible to create a dedicated workspace separate from your bedroom, for example. Again, while you can be flexible at times, it’s always good to stick to fixed working hours. Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to your manager whenever you feel overwhelmed. In fact, I personally turned to me supervisor when I had overlapping deadlines that did not feel manageable. In that regard, I would recommend keeping the team regularly informed on what projects your working on because remember that they also may be working from home and may not be aware of what assignments other colleagues have given you!
Making the most of the experience
Finally, despite the internship being held remotely, I really feel like I made the most out of this fantastic experience thanks to the team, which made sure to keep me busy and involve me in their various projects as much as they could. One of the perks attached to working remotely was that it enabled me to assist at more meetings since everyone is in the same ‘boat’ and meeting have to be held through Visio conferences.
If you’re looking to gain some work experience this summer, take a look at our work experience pages including our online work experience page. Not sure what you want to do, please talk to our advisers by booking an appointment on MyCareer.
Thanks for sharing such great article here.