We spoke to Vijay, current University of Dundee MSc Management student and intern at CampusConnect, and Jamie, managing director of Pagoda Projects, about adapting to a virtual internship model and whether online work experience can really match up to stepping into the office.  

By Lauren Valentine

The national lockdown in the UK has seen lectures become webinars, assignments become online submissions, and student socials become virtual quizzes. One important concern amongst students is access to valuable work experience to complement their degree courses. With most companies switching to working from home, and many even having to furlough staff, this may seem challenging. Fortunately, students like Vijay at Dundee University have been able to complete an online internship organised by Pagoda Projects.

Vijay was partway through his second semester of an MSc in Management when the pandemic meant that he had to return home to the south of India. He told us: “Dundee gave the option of an internship instead of a final project, which was one of the reasons why I chose this course.” The university has a long-running partnership with Pagoda Projects, who provide international internships, and has recently embedded their programmes into the Postgraduate Business School. Hence, Vijay found his online internship with CampusConnect.

When asked about facilitating online internships, Jamie explained that “We had always had the ambition to do it, but with our in-person programmes growing so rapidly, starting up online just stayed on the to-do list. This gave us a boost to address it!”

Advantages for Students and Employers

As part of his internship with CampusConnect, Vijay is responsible for a variety of tasks. “I greet new prospective students, respond to their queries and connect them with other offer holders, current students, or alumni, to help answer their questions. I also get to look at the data and analytics of the app to help with engagement.”

He also points out the benefits of working with a small team: “I’ve got to know everyone better and I felt comfortable beginning the work. Daniel and Declan are so supportive and they really listen to my suggestions, which doesn’t always happen in an internship.”

For Jamie, providing online internships has many practical advantages: “Our team would usually be travelling a lot to organise accommodation and events, and help out when things go wrong in a given country. Moving around takes up a lot of time, which the team can now use to monitor the progress of our internships more closely and provide virtual support.”

Similarly, companies like CampusConnect who work across several locations can now take on interns in areas they may not have done before.

How to Make Virtual Internships a Successful Experience

Adapting to a virtual way of working is new for most employers and interns. Vijay offered the following advice for succeeding in this model: “Things move quicker online, so it’s good to complete the work given well before the deadline. You’ll also need to accept changes happening around you since this is new to the companies too. Developing stronger teamwork and communication skills is important when working remotely. For example, we use Asana to keep in contact and staff set me tasks on the platform. We also have weekly meetings.”

Jamie reinforced the heightened need for good communication. He advised employers and interns: “Overcommunicate with all parties: customers, suppliers and the rest of the team. Increase the quantity of communication but also the quality. Use a mixture of emails, video calls and voice messages as it’s easy to lose sight of things in long email threads.”

Can Virtual Work Experience Compete with In-Person?

Naturally, not all aspects of an internship can be replicated in an online format. Jamie highlighted the absence of “coffee machine chats” and social events. “Lots of the learning about company culture happens in the most natural settings: in the kitchen, after-work socials etc. It’s very hard to make up for the lack of in-person interaction.”

Vijay also admitted the difficulty of getting a feel for British working culture: “I’ve been working from home, so I don’t get chance to experience the office culture – my team has told me they usually have apple pie in the office!”

Fortunately, Vijay was able to discover some national and local delicacies before having to leave Dundee: “My favourite food is fish and chips! I also tried a fried Mars bar – it was really good!” He is also linked to a Cultural Mentor, part of Pagoda’s initiative to enable interns who haven’t been able to leave their home countries to connect with an international mentor.

Vijay is enthusiastic about returning to Dundee, telling us that “I loved it there - I just want to go back!” For the moment though, he is enjoying his CampusConnect internship and is close to completing the second semester of his course. Whilst students doing remote internships might be missing out on slightly more than a fried Mars bar, it appears there are still many benefits for both the intern and the company of online work experience.