Rahul was worried about his future and was scared when he looked to global meltdowns and cut throat competition of job market. Being unable to secure admissions in IITs or NITs he was worried that not carrying a brand name on his CV will be worsening his chances to get a good job. He came from a small town and was also not having good communication skills which hindered the path of a bright future. Then he discovered that his laptop which has been his soul mate since the starting of his college life can be a solution to all his problems. He started searching about work from home internships about which he came to know from his seniors. After few rejections at last he was able to secure a social media marketing internship and from that point he never looked back and ended in getting a job in a multinational. His parents as well as his friends were amazed by his transformation. The only reason for his success was that he kept the learning process running during his online internships and developed his skills alongside.
So just what are Virtual Internships? Virtual Internship is just like any other internship just that in a VI a student will never have to set foot into an employer’s office. They can complete their internship right from their comfortable couch at home or from their lazy bed in their hostel!
By this get more internship experience on to your profile.Sit in some remote town in India, and intern for the UN or NASA or some NGO in Africa. How cool is that!
So I will discuss what the benefits of doing an internship from home are and what can be its disadvantages (Don’t worry they are very few and can be overtaken very easily).
Benefits of Virtual Internships
- The biggest advantage is that you don’t have to wait for your summer vacations for these internships. You can join them 12 months a year and you can join as many as you can(Yes you heard “as many”).There is no restriction on how many such internships you can join if you can devote your time to each of the projects and complete the task given in each internship.
- You get to work with the start ups where you have ample opportunity to learn, make mistakes and then again learn from your mistakes. As these start ups are mostly owned by fresh college pass outs you can communicate in a better way with your coworkers as they have just left the college life in which you are right now and will be able to understand your problems and provide their solutions more efficiently.
- You just need your laptop and an internet connection. You don’t have to worry about how to reach to your workplace as you will be sitting in your hostel room, enjoying maggi and doing you work. You also don’t have to worry about the dress code as to which tie to wear and are your shoes polished or not. You can work wearing cool shorts and a T-shirt or while you are in a towel just out of the shower.
- If you are working as a content writer you get to improve your communication skills exponentially as you get regular feedback from your readers and recognize your weak areas. If you are doing a research internship you broaden your knowledge base as you are exposed to a variety of topics from different areas of study. So by doing this, you increase your knowledge as well as you are able to develop a viewpoint regarding various affairs.
- You are able to meet people and students from across the country. You are able to know what they are doing. You get to know the founders of different start ups and build contacts which can even turn into a job offer if your work is extraordinary.
Disadvantages of Virtual Internships
- As you are working from home there is no one to keep an eye on you. The progress reports are viewed regularly but still if you become careless there is nothing much someone can do about it. Still if you work and leave your casual attitude, this internship can be a proof of you self-discipline and responsible attitude.
- You will be not exposed to real office-environment. This is a drawback but the other side of the coin is that you have a choice of working around the year and that also in a number of companies.
So keep working and if you have not started yet, start immediately as there are a lot of opportunities to learn and develop your skills. Give these internships your very best and you will surely pat your back for taking such decisions in future. So start working and work hard as you never know when a work from home internship gives you a full time job opportunity.
Good luck!
This post has been contributed by Varun Upadhyay.
