Tips For Navigating The Realm Of Remote Internships

With the world shifting to a “new normal” comes the rise of a new form of working, schooling, and interacting. Remote internships, remote learning, and remote work environments have become commonplace. 

As a high school or college student, a remote internship may be a new experience for you to navigate. As ChatterBoss interns, we have completed a remote internship at ChatterBoss and have compiled a list of 5 tips that helped us make the most out of the remote experience! 

1. Use Google Calendar to Stay organized. 

Oftentimes when working from home it may be difficult to remember all of your meetings and keep track of your schedule. The use of Google Calendar is a great way to stay organized and keep track of due dates and upcoming meetings that you will attend. It is very helpful to link your company’s calendar to your personal calendar so that everything is in one place. As well, Google Calendar has the option to see when your co-workers are busy and when they have available time. This is very useful because you will be able to keep track of when you can reach out to them. 

2. Write down reminders for yourself throughout the day.

A very helpful tip is to jot down daily reminders for yourself in any way that is most comfortable for you! This can include using the Notes app, Reminders app, or using a paper and pen to write down important dates, times, and information. Especially during an important zoom meeting where you could start to feel overwhelmed with a lot of information and you feel as though you might forget something, writing some notes down will totally help keep you stay on track! As well, it has been scientifically proven that writing things down can help you remember them better. 

3. Maintain constant lines of communication with team members and advisors. 

Because the internship is not in person sometimes it may feel as if you are unable to feel “present”. Luckily, because of today’s technology you can still emulate an in-person environment! Try to chat with other interns on a weekly basis. After completing your assigned tasks, get to know them better. Knowing someone’s hobbies, interests, and likes can make working more fun. Video Calls on Zoom and Google Meet are great ways to e-meet others.

Also make sure that you are keeping in touch with your advisors. A way to do this is by reaching out to them via whichever messaging software your company uses (Slack for example) and updating them on the status of your projects on a weekly basis. This type of proactive communication helps keep everyone in the loop and it’s almost like you’re meeting in person for a coffee chat! 

4. Network with peers, team members, and professionals that you meet/work with during the internship program. 

When you are in a remote Internship, it is crucial that you network with other professionals, whether it be coworkers, mentors, or guest speakers at events. Reaching out to people is super important because it allows you to expand your professional network. Having a large network is always great when starting your own business venture. Your network is your access to resources. It will help foster your skill set, allow you to be updated with the current industry trends, as well as providing you with access to mentoring and assistance.

5. Try to make the most out of the remote style and challenge yourself

It may be hard at first to get that internship feeling when doing a remote internship, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most out of it. Ask a ton of questions and try to be a sponge whenever there is opportunity to learn from other professionals. Make the most out of every opportunity by pushing yourself to do more and contribute more within the internship. If you ever feel like you want more projects or tasks, just reach out to your supervisor. It’s better that you are challenged from an internship than not. If you ever want to imitate the in person internship feel, there are always different ways of socializing online. You can create social zoom calls, watch movies together, or play a game. Just because it’s a remote internship, that doesn’t mean you can’t make the experience what you want it to be!

Written by Chatterboss interns: 

Ariana Loyfman 

John Huynh 

Ria Vora