Posted in Internships Recommended Resources on October 15, 2009 at 12:35 am
This is a guest post by my friends Lauren Porat and Cari Sommer, co-founders of Urban Interns.
The job hunt is fierce. But a phenomenal new type of internship is on the rise, and it’s one that will boost your skills while at the same time allow you the flexibility of working from home and on your own clock. Employers are turning more and more to virtual interns, and we’re seeing a real rise in this on UrbanInterns.com. In fact, The Wall Street Journal published a story about this a few weeks ago.
Other advantages of a virtual internship? You don’t have to go to school in a major city to get access to awesome companies, and a lot of these positions are in areas that you’re probably already pretty skilled at, like social networking, blogging and research. We’re also seeing a rise in these positions at small businesses in particular, which is a great opportunity for you because you get exposure to management and get to play an important role as an intern at a small company.
So what’s the best strategy for going about finding a virtual internship? Here are some tips:
Promote yourself as a social networking genius. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other niche social nets are surprisingly foreign to a lot of small business owners. In addition, this type of task is time-consuming –- they need helping hands to execute the strategy and to be the social media face of the brands they’ve worked so hard to build.
Make sure all your online profiles are up to date, but at the same time would not offend any small business owners who might find them. Prospective employers will probably try to research you before hiring, because they can’t meet you in person. Your online presence should be a professional reflection of yourself –- one that employers would feel confident representing their companies.
Be aware of your virtual interview. When you’re applying for a virtual job, your interview could be on the phone or via Skype. In either case, keep the constraints of your interview in mind and be fully prepared. In other words, make sure your phone and Internet connections are good with no static before starting. You also won’t be able to rely on body language to convey yourself or interpret your interviewer’s mood, so be extra cautious with your words.
Now, what are you waiting for? Go to www.urbaninterns.com/login and fill out your profile to get discovered by hundreds of employers looking for virtual interns. In addition, Urban Interns currently has local jobs in NYC and Boston, and we’re rolling out eight new cities (Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta and Washington, DC) very soon –- be the first in line for jobs in those cities as well as virtually! Note: if you’re not in one of those areas, select “Other.”
If you have any questions, please free to email Lauren and Cari at info@urbaninterns.com.
Image: Eric_I_E
I couldn’t agree more with the benefits outlined in this post for virtual interns. I’m in the middle of a semester-long virtual internship with Come Recommended (founder by @HeatherHuhman)and love the scheduling flexibility.
Prior to the beginning of the internship I wondered what it would be like, but with a boss who is technologically savvy, it’s really not much different than a traditional internship. We communicate daily via Skype and e-mail, we have weekly team meetings, and all our assignments are posted within a scheduling program called Active Collab.
College students are increasingly confident using technology to do everything from participating in virtual career fairs, virtual interviews and webinars — so why not virtual internships. I have linked to Urban Interns from both of my blogs at http://www.bullseyecareerblogs.com and http://www.thehbcucareercenter.com.
I actually had the pleasure of meeting these two amazing women over the summer at an Angels pitch. There idea and concept is great as it gives potential interns opportunities which they never would have had.
We actually have numerous virtual interns who we keep in touch with on a daily basis. As a formal interview is hard, most of the hiring decisions were based on our back and forth conversations and what I could find on them online. They work when they have time and are not confined to any one place.
Keep up the great work!
The incline of virtual internship talk has definitely caught my attention, and I know that it’s something a lot of my fellow classmates are interested in as well. And regardless of a student’s location, the time and flexibility factor plays a huge part in how capable a student will be in receiving an internship. This is something, as you’ve mentioned, is a definite benefit through virtual internships.
This post was very helpful in outlining the benefits and opportunities that lye in a virtual internship. Thank you for providing a medium for students to have an opportunity at virtual internships.
I am seriously going to check out this website. Thanks everyone!
I couldn’t agree more with the benefits outlined in this post for virtual interns. I’m in the middle of a semester-long virtual internship with Come Recommended (founder by @HeatherHuhman)and love the scheduling flexibility.
Prior to the beginning of the internship I wondered what it would be like, but with a boss who is technologically savvy, it’s really not much different than a traditional internship. We communicate daily via Skype and e-mail, we have weekly team meetings, and all our assignments are posted within a scheduling program called Active Collab.
As indicated in the post, I found out about the internship through Twitter and also LinkedIn. My profiles on both networking sites are professional (versus personal) and up to date. My interview was over the phone, but based on the questions and discussions that occurred during the interview, I know Heather researched my profiles prior to the interview.
As a current virtual intern, I definitely recommend it to others.