Internships are becoming more and more sought after by students because they allow them to take the first step into the world of work and develop many skills. This experience allows us to work in a company, to carry out numerous missions, and allows us to boost our CV which makes us much more employable. This experience of being both an in-person and a global remote intern is, therefore, a real opportunity and an asset to prepare us for our professional future.
I am one of these students because I had the chance to do an internship at Virtual Internships as a digital marketing assistant. To undergo this experience, I completely changed my environment and took my plane ticket from my home in France to London, where Virtual Internships are based. I was ready for an incredible experience.
I’m lucky enough to already know the city of London prior to beginning my experience with Virtual Internships, so I didn’t arrive in a new and totally unknown environment. I already knew certain landmarks such as Leicester Square, where I liked to eat after work with my friends. However, I didn’t know the employees I was going to work with, so I was stressed at the thought of going to a new company to do my internship but was quickly reassured to find people smiling and always ready to help me. It’s never easy to arrive in an environment where you don’t have your bearings, but it’s important to go beyond your fears because then everything becomes positive.
As a digital marketing assistant, I had the chance to manage the company’s social networks. I was able to develop my creativity by creating new content for various campaigns and promotions. I was also able to perfect my English since my mother tongue is French.
Completing this mission was very rewarding for me. I was able to really feel the confidence of my employer who let me manage the social networks in almost total autonomy. I also had a lot of support and guidance and I was never lost because everyone was kind to me and ready to help if needed. I was able to develop many skills such as improving my English, learning to listen and communicate with other employees, working on group projects, learning how to make better publications for social networks with catchy texts, and even carry out a marketing plan.
Like most people, COVID-19 has not been without consequences for me. The situation accelerated very quickly, and I suddenly had to leave London and return to France, without knowing what was going to happen to my internship. My internship was put on hold for a few days because Virtual Internships had to deal with complicated situations. After a few days, I came back to work in better shape than ever but with some adjustments – I would now be working as a global remote intern.
Now that I was back in France, I was to continue my digital marketing internship working remotely. I had gotten used to my office environment in London and was working with other employees, but I suddenly found myself working alone from home. I had to adapt and try to transform my room into a workspace by putting my desk in it and get used to working autonomously.
I learned that communication was essential to continuing my internship. So, my colleagues and I found new alternatives to communicate with one another such as using Gmail or Slack. I continued to work and put most of my work on Google Drive so that I could share it with the rest of the team. We also set up video conference calls once a week, using Skype, so that I could give an update on my internship and learn about new projects and tasks I was responsible for. While it was a big change for me to go from working in the London office to working remotely from France, I learned how important it is to face new situations and adapt to them.
After an exceptional 5-month internship with Virtual Internships, combining work in the London office and remote work from France, I was able to develop many skills that are essential for my future professional life. I was able to put into practice what I had learned in business school while learning new things about the fields of marketing and design. I was able to be immersed in a company, respecting working hours, working alongside other employees, and working on assignments while being supervised and given feedback.
I was thus able to become more employable and I am convinced that this experience will enable me to boost my CV. At school, we are supervised by our teachers and have to constantly learn lessons and hand in homework. Doing an internship really allows us to become more mature and independent while putting these lessons from school into real-world practice. We carry out our tasks without anyone being there to dictate everything to us from A to Z, so we need to learn to work on our own, manage our time, and self-motivated.
So, I will remember this internship and especially will remember the kind people with whom I had the chance to work on interesting projects. It was a very enriching experience that brought me a lot of lessons and experiences. Finally, if I could give advice to all the students who hesitate to do an internship it would be: go for it! Don’t hesitate to be ambitious and aim high. Assert your character and personality. Doing an internship will allow you to develop your skills and bring out your best qualities. Don’t wait any longer – become a global remote intern and start your Virtual Internship now!
Content contributed by Virtual Internships Digital Marketing intern, Marine Becchetti.
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