Will Virtual Internships Help You Get a Real World Job?

Question:

I have done a couple virtual/telecommuting internships, one for a website and one for a magazine, and it seems like there are a lot of virtual internship opportunities popping up everywhere, especially when you look on Craigslist. How do workplace internships compare with virtual ones? Do virtual internships give you the same benefits/experience?

Answer:

Internships are an important key to landing a job. It shows the employer that you have some real-world experience related to your field of interest, and it also helps you determine if you like the industry and the company.

In 2006, 84% of college graduates said they'd completed at least one internship, and only 1% said internships are not important. These numbers are even more telling when you compare them to 1980 when only 3% of college graduates said they'd had an internship experience (Vault.com).

If you look at these statistics, more and more students are getting internships, companies are offering more opportunities, and many students are seeing their internships turn into full-time job offers. Research actually shows that 85% of companies use internships and similar experiential education programs to recruit for their full-time workforces.

Virtual internships are a new concept, but certainly one that is gaining in popularity. They offer the ability to work with a company that may be out of town, out of state, or simply an organization with no “brick and mortar” office.

Currently, workplace internships still hold a bit more credibility than virtual internships – with a few notable exceptions. Here’s why:

First of all, a workplace internship allows you to spend more time interacting with coworkers and with the organization itself. From the standpoint of a hiring manager, “seeing you in action” is a decided bonus. One of the major differences between college and the working world is your ability to master business etiquette. How you act, dress, and conduct yourself in the office is absolutely critical to your success on the job. With a virtual internship you don’t have that same opportunity to show your stuff.

In addition, with a virtual internship you don’t get exposed to how the office operates. You miss out on the culture, personalities, and politics of an actual office. From your perspective, you lose the opportunity to witness a critical component of the workplace experience.

Now, with that being said, a virtual internship is still a good skill to have on your resume. It’s certainly better than no internship or a summer job at your local fast food restaurant.

In some cases, a virtual internship can work just as well as a workplace internship. For instance, if you are going into a virtual field (IT, website writing, etc), this experience can work to your advantage. Additionally, for those of you who may be working in an industry where you have to do quite a bit of independent work, a virtual internship can in fact be a plus.

Ultimately, it depends on what you want to do with your full-time career. If, for example, you are thinking about working in PR for a big firm, then a workplace internship is the way to go. On the other hand, if you would prefer a more independent work environment where you’ll spend a lot of time on your own – perhaps even from home, then a virtual internship could work very well for you.

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