Rise of work from home internships

In 2020, with the Covid-19 outbreak in India, came the pressing need to adapt to the challenging circumstances it posed. One such major challenge was for organisations, students, and professionals to switch to remote working and learning.

Internships too were not immune to agile developments. Work-from-home internships were not a foreign concept for Indian internship seekers or recruiters. However, in-office internships were more popular before the pandemic. This, nonetheless, changed after the Covid-19 outbreak and resulted in a rise with 76% of the internship seeking students applying to work-from-home internships in the last year.

How to find them

For the students looking for internship opportunities during the current times, the best bet is work-from-home internships. The best way to find such opportunities is to apply through online internship platforms where employers from various professional fields post their internship requirements.

In the past year, 60% of employers hired interns for work-from-home roles only. And, the remaining recruiters conducted their process of recruitment through online means and deferred the joining for in-office internships until the Covid situation improved in the nation.

Based on a survey of employers looking to hire remote interns, four skills are sought after.

High ownership skills: During a remote internship, employers cannot supervise interns all the time and there is an absence of constant communication with the team. Therefore, the responsibility of staying motivated, managing your time well, and executing all the work on time lies with the interns themselves.

Tech savviness: Remote working is entirely dependent on technology and almost all the major functions happen online. To complete even the smallest of tasks, to communicate with your team and clients and to collaborate on projects, utilising the latest technology is a must.

Agility: The pandemic has forced us all to adapt to the circumstances. Therefore, with the constantly changing work environments, you would need to be able to adapt according to the dynamic situations. For example, changes from working in the office to working virtually.

Good communication skills: Both verbal and written communication skills are an essential requirement in remote work environments. It can be challenging to present your ideas and inputs politely as the receiver may not be able to interpret your tone properly. Therefore, it is crucial to have proficiency in your communication skills.

With the increasing competition among internship seekers, recruiters have less amount of time to closely review each resume, customising them can help. A recruiter spends an average of 7.4 seconds on a resume. Therefore, your resume should reflect how you are the right fit for the company.

( The author is the founder and CEO of a recruitment and training platform)