The Rising Popularity of Virtual Internships

Today's technology and the rising use of social media is making the whole phenomena of virtual internships not only possible, but growing rapidly in numbers as well.  Today CNN ran an article, "Internship from your sofa becomes virtual reality",  that talks about the growing popularity of virtual internships and how employers now have the ability to tap into talent from almost anywhere in the world. In September of this year, the Wall Street Journal ran another article on virtual internships entitled, "An Internship from your Couch."

Many employers that I speak with on a regular basis often tell me that given the right student, many of the internships they offer can be done remotely with students never having to leave their dorm rooms. Due to the ease with which college students navigate the internet and their personal experience using  social media, the ability to work from campus offers unique advantages to both themselves and to employers where they wish to work.

Employers can give students projects to work on without having to worry about providing physical space where students are able to do the work; while students get to complete the required work on their own time before, after, or in-between  classes, homework assignments, and the various co-curricular and volunteer activities that they are involved in.  This arrangement for many students and employers is a win-win situation for both parties. Urban Interns, a site that connects small businesses with part-time workers, lists approximately 25% of its internships with companies who are interested in having students work for them online.

The down side to virtual internships is that students do not get the opportunity to work directly with people on a one-on-one basis and this may preclude them from getting experience in developing personal communication and interpersonal skills on the job.  Students also do not get a chance to experience what's it's like working in a corporate  environment and may miss out on developing satisfying work relationships and the chance to build the skills necessary to work effectively with a team.

Students who have the opportunity to do some of the work at the employers site while completing projects from their own computers on campus probably affords the intern with the best experience possible.  They get the chance to work alongside people while also making valuable use of their time by being able to complete some of their projects on their own time and in their own space.