- Research the organization thoroughly before applying to work there. Confirm the active status of your chosen organization and see what feedback this organization receives from current and former employees, partners, and donors.
- Arrange a specific start day and end day for your internship. You need to clearly organize with your internship supervisor when you will start the internship and when you will finish, so that you minimize the risk of misunderstanding and miscommunication. You do not want to end up having extra tasks to complete for your internship in the middle of final exam week at Pitt, and you do not want to continue working in your internship after you graduate, when you will no longer receive academic credit for that position. Arrange to start your internship early in the semester and to finish your internship sometime before final exam week, so that you have time to study and do well in your courses.
- Set up a weekly check-in with your supervisor. If possible, communicate with your internship supervisor to arrange a specific day each week when you will call, email, Skype, or text each other. This check-in should include a discussion of the assignments that you have turned in most recently, your work performance overall, upcoming assignments, and goals that both you and your supervisor have for the remainder of the internship.
- Take full advantage of your mentors at the University of Pittsburgh and at your internship. Assuming that your internship is counted for credit through the University of Pittsburgh, you should check in regularly with your professor or mentor at Pitt who helps you with this internship. Discuss the position, your work, and the nature of the organization and your impression of it. Ask for help with assignments when you need it.
- Leverage your new network of professional contacts! This really matters. When you have a great internship at an interesting company, make sure that you keep up with your contacts at that organization. Make sure to also connect that network with your Pitt network. These networks will help you find employment after you graduate, because even if these networks don’t lead you directly to a perfect full-time job, they will probably introduce you to other people who are new to you and organizations that you were not aware of. Those organizations might offer you a job.
- Be flexible! Especially when you work remotely, you should expect that the internship position may change over time. Conditions change. The priorities of the organization and the people involved change. So, if your supervisor needs to postpone the check-in call one week, go with it! Communicate regularly and make sure that you fully understand each assignment and what goal it helps the organization achieve, because that will help you adapt to modified assignment parameters or deadlines.
- Keep track of the assignments that you complete, the documents that you create, and the skills that you learn. Over the course of one internship, you will probably create or edit a few documents, complete assignments of different kinds, and learn a wide array of new skills. These assignments, documents, and skills will come in handy when you apply for future internships and jobs, so remember what you did and keep physical records whenever you can! If possible, you will benefit from developing an electronic or physical work employment portfolio, like this website. An employment portfolio contains your best academic and professional work in various fields and subjects. You can tailor your portfolio to each internship or job application to showcase your most relevant work to that potential position. A portfolio will help you stand out with potential employers, and it will help you build a unique personal brand.
- Look for ways to enrich your internship and benefit both your organization and yourself by completing additional tasks. Think about what your internship organization does, how that relates to what you do and your interests, and see how you could combine them. Keep an eye out for possible side projects that you could take on to this end.
- Set aside specific days and times each week to work on tasks for your internship. Many remote-work internships naturally have less structure than in-person internships, because you do not need to go to a physical office on certain days every week. So, you should create a structure for yourself. Otherwise, you may risk forgetting or procrastinating on certain assignments. Creating your own structure is also part of the recipe for success for people who work from home in their jobs, or for people who are self-employed. You could connect with fellow remote-work interns in many different places and ways. The Public and Professional Writing Internship Seminar course is one place where you could meet and talk with other students completing remote-work internships. Before or after class one day, you could offer to make a group chat in Facebook Messenger or GroupMe. You could also meet other remote-work interns by asking around at the University of Pittsburgh Career Center or by posting a message in the Facebook group for your year’s class at Pitt.
- Connect with other students completing remote-work internships, especially if those internships are in related fields. Get a bigger picture of trends, best practices, what companies are out there, and what interns typically do in remote-work internship positions. Even better, you should try to connect with people conducting remote-work internships in fields very similar to yours. That will help you make the most accurate comparisons. These connections with fellow interns can bolster your academic and professional networks by showing you where else you could work and what the work might be like. You could connect with fellow remote-work interns in many different places and ways. The Public and Professional Writing Internship Seminar course is one place where you could meet and talk with other students completing remote-work internships. Before or after class one day, you could offer to make a group chat in Facebook Messenger or GroupMe. You could also meet other remote-work interns by asking around at the University of Pittsburgh Career Center or by posting a message in the Facebook group for your year’s class at Pitt.
