Many jobs and internships are switching to completely virtual for now, and for good reason since there is a pandemic. Working remotely may be an adjustment for some people, as it may initially feel peculiar to be working at the kitchen table, in the basement, or on your bed. Many internships for college students are likely switching to virtual as well. If you have a remote internship this summer instead, here are the pros and cons:

Pros

No Commute

The only traffic jam you may encounter is if the bathroom at your house is occupied in the morning. Or else, it’s a rather smooth (five-second) commute to your “workplace" at home. With a remote gig, the hassle of traffic jams, waking up another hour early, and paying for gas becomes eliminated. The best part is that you can go straight to TV, Netflix, or dinner without having to drive back home after work.

Sense of Comfort

You may feel more comfortable working on your bed rather than a cramped office space. Your home can provide a sense of comfort in regards to working, and that may fuel more productivity, thinking, and creativity.

Cons

Hard to Build Strong Connections

Working remotely means interacting rather infrequently with colleagues. Most of the time, it’s held to email, text, or weekly Zoom meetings. This makes it hard to get to know your co-workers. In person, you are always meeting colleagues everyday and working right alongside each other, so that casual talk and collaboration is there. With remote internships, long conversations with anyone from work are usually seldom and you likely cannot hang out with co-workers after work because of geographical distance.

Not Working Face-to-Face

Remote working is rather quiet. Again, the casual banter, asking of questions, and conversations are usually very minimal. Not working face-to-face with others for several hours a day can become slow.

Distractions

When not working in an office, there is nobody to tell you to get back to work after exchanging some jokes. In fact, it’s quite easy to get distracted when working remotely because your phone is likely next to you, there may be somebody else in the house, or you could end up taking more breaks than allocated. Trust me, I know you work hard and deserve those breaks, but it’s likely true to some extent that we end up taking more breaks while working remotely (to check those phone notifications most of the time).

Remote internships are going to become the norm for the foreseeable future and there are pros and cons to it. Nevertheless, you are still getting the same experience that you would in the office, so that is a major plus. Understanding the goal of learning new skills and gaining valuable experience is a great motivation tool when completing a remote internship. With that strong focus, you could set yourself up for a great gig at that same company (or another one), this time at their office.

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