Remote Internship Programs: Benefits and Best Practices
We cover everything you need to set up a remote internship as an employer & share tips to land the remote internship of your dreams as a student.
Remote internship programs offer incredible perks for both employers and employees.
So how do you set one up?
And if you’re an aspiring remote intern, where should you look for legit virtual internships?
We’re answering all these questions and more in our comprehensive guide to remote internships for employers and employees. Here’s what’s on the agenda:
- The basics and benefits of remote internships
- How to set up a remote internship program
- Finding and hiring remote interns
- Landing a remote internship in your field
Let’s start by making sure we’re all on the same page about:
What is a Remote Internship Program?
Remote internships are structured programs or temporary positions that provide practical virtual work experience in a specific field or industry.
Companies, organizations, non-profits, and government entities of all sizes create remote internships. And a company does not have to be remote to offer virtual internships; its workforce can be fully distributed, entirely on-premise, or in a hybrid work model.
One of the biggest differences between working from home and the office is that interns can log into online, cloud-based software or apps from anywhere in the world rather than commuting to a physical location.
This allows interns to work for companies in different states, countries, or even continents. It also means organizations can tap into the world’s top talent.
Do You Get Paid for Remote Internships?
Internships may be paid or unpaid, depending on the organization’s policies and local laws and regulations.
Paid internships include financial compensation but may not offer employee benefits. High school or college students often leverage unpaid internships for credits.
How Long Do Internships Last?
All internships have a defined duration. They typically last a few weeks to several months. A general rule of thumb is three to six months. Interns can work part-time or full-time during that time.
Benefits of Remote Internship Programs for Employers
Companies offering remote internships gain:
1. A Competitive Hiring Edge
Stats tell us that 98% of people want to work remotely, at least part of the time *. Offering remote internships is one of the best ways to attract in-demand talent. Organizations that don’t support a virtual work environment will miss out on the most promising interns (and future employees in the job market).
2. Diversity of Thought To Spark Innovation
Remote internships erase the geographical boundaries of your candidate pool to make hiring for diversity more likely.
When you tap into underrepresented areas around the globe, you’ll find talent with different cultural backgrounds, experiences, skill sets, and perspectives. Their insights may challenge your team’s conventional thinking, leading to more creativity, innovation, and problem-solving.
Interns may also be the youngest members of your team. Their fresh eyes may provide new tools or approaches to solve old problems, a better understanding of underserved customer segments, or clues about the next big trends.
3. Access To 24/7 Worker Bees
Want to double your work day without burning out your employees?
Consider hiring remote interns in opposite time zones. They can churn out tasks while your employees snooze to keep your projects on schedule. Your business can also leverage them to capture all the benefits of 24/7 remote customer support.
Benefits of Remote Internships for Workers
A remote internship helps current students, recent graduates, and professionals seeking a career change:
1. Gain Professional Work Experience
Internships allow you to explore remote career paths and enhance your job prospects post-graduation.
You can land an entry-level remote job in your field with relevant work experience from your internship and keep building your career until you’re in one of the highest-paying remote jobs.
2. Add Remote Work Skills To Your Resume
A virtual internship is your ticket to earning all the must-have tech skills for remote work. Excelling in a WFH environment takes:
- Discipline and self-motivation
- Time management
- Asynchronous communication
- Project management
- Remote collaboration
You’ll have a chance to perfect these skills and go from beginner to pro level in no time.
3. Grow Your Professional Network
Spruce up your LinkedIn profile and update your headshot!
Remote internships help you network with professionals you may never get to meet in person. They can connect you with experts in your desired field, write recommendations to get your foot in the virtual door, and progress your career from the ground up.
4. Work a Flexible Schedule (or Even Travel While Working Remotely!)
Creating your personal WFH schedule lets you easily balance your social, personal, and academic commitments with your work duties.
Daydreaming about becoming a digital nomad? Secure a stable, reliable internet connection, and you can clock in from your family vacation, road trip with your besties, yoga retreat in the jungle, or anywhere else on your bucket list.
Setting Up a Remote Internship Program: Best Practices
Follow this roadmap to set up your remote internship program:
1. Create a Remote Work Policy
A remote work policy outlines your company’s:
- Standard operating procedures
- Communication guidelines
- Internet privacy issues, NDAs, etc.
- Tools, software, etc., employees will use
- Employee conduct protocols
- Performance metrics
Share your work-from-home policies with your interns during their virtual onboarding or along with their welcome packet before their first day.
2. Establish Clear Communication Rules & Work Expectations
Draft a document specifically outlining your company’s communication preferences and your work expectations. This highlights intel like:
- Which communication channels your team uses, and when it’s appropriate to use each channel
- Ideal response times for asynchronous communication that happens via Slack messages, email, or comments in a project manager
- When interns should be available for synchronous communication, such as weekly video conferences or monthly one-on-one check-ins
- Guidelines for working across time zones
- A complete scope of work or project timeline, including milestone deadlines and feedback/performance check-ins
After onboarding, send each intern their login credentials for all the tools your team uses, such as email clients, project management tools, instant messaging apps, etc.
3. Host a Killer Virtual Onboarding Experience
A comprehensive virtual onboarding process introduces interns to your remote company culture, core values, mission, and goals.
Conduct your virtual onboarding solo with each intern, or hold a group onboarding with all interns using your favorite video conferencing platform. You may need to schedule multiple sessions for interns in different time zones.
It’s always a good idea to send your interns a welcome package full of company swag before their first day. This helps increase feelings of belonging and excitement. Think: company-branded water bottles, desk accessories, healthy snacks, etc.
4. Schedule Welcome Sessions and Meet & Greets
Introduce your interns to their coworkers, direct supervisors, and members of the C-suite via video chat.
Face-to-face meetings are ideal for building relationships and facilitating seamless team integration. They don’t have to be long (especially for busy higher-ups) to make a big impact.
Assign a welcome buddy or mentor. It’s helpful for interns to have an “inside” go-to when they have questions. Assigning them an onboarding buddy also gives them a friend at work on their first day.
5. Encourage Networking, Collaboration, & Communication
Virtual interns may feel more lonely and isolated than their in-office counterparts. To encourage belonging and reduce siloed work environments, be sure to:
- Schedule non-cheesy remote team-building activities.
- Hold lunch-and-learns to improve team communication or enhance collaboration.
- Create water cooler chat spaces for your interns to interact with the team about non-work-related topics.
- Provide opportunities for cross-training with employees in different departments to build new skills and professional connections.
The best practices for managing remote teams create a sense of community and belonging for interns. They’re kind of in a limbo state between employees and contract or freelance workers, so every outreach opportunity helps.
6. Always Be Teaching
Interns are in the learning phase of their careers. The more intel you share, the more value they’ll add to your team.
To help employees grow while WFH:
- Invite them to virtual training sessions, webinars, lunch-and-learns, etc.
- Allow them to sit in on meetings with the team and higher-ups
- Provide access to online courses and other resources
If you aim to hire interns for full-time roles later, these early learning experiences will give them a leg-up on other junior staff and help support career growth. Add these perks to your remote job listing, and you’ll have an avalanche of applicants.
7. Promote a Healthy Remote Work Environment
Your internship may be someone’s first experience working remotely. To develop a healthy virtual environment:
- Encourage flexible schedules and taking time off. Discourage overtime and never glorify employees who overwork to the point of burnout.
- Promote self-care and mental health support.
- Offer interns health and wellness perks, such as meditation classes, fitness club memberships, wearables to track their steps, and more.
- Foster an inclusive remote workplace.
- Encourage curiosity! Interns should never feel they’re bothering or imposing on someone when they have questions. Set up a self-serve knowledge base where they can find FAQs and ensure their mentors are both proactive and receptive.
- Recognize and celebrate interns’ achievements. Dole out kudos via Slack or email to boost morale, foster a strong sense of engagement, and strengthen their connection to your organization.
Now that you know the benefits of adding remote interns to your team, and you have a seven-step game plan to make that idea pay dividends, you’re probably wondering:
How To Find & Hire Remote Interns
Every remote hiring strategy