How to Succeed in Your Remote Tech Internship
Congratulations on getting an offer! Interning during a pandemic means you won’t be able to go to the office. However, there are still exceptional opportunities to learn.
After completing my remote internship last summer, I wanted to share the 5 ways to make the most out of YOUR remote internship.
This article will also include some 💡 actionable tips that you can employ to help you stay engaged, demonstrate your dedication, and evaluate your experience.
About my remote internship in summer 2020: I worked as an engineering analyst intern at Goldman Sachs, received a return offer, and decided to join the firm full time. I worked from my home in the Greater LA Area for a team based in Goldman’s New York office.
If you want to learn more about my internship experience, check out this article!
Without further ado, let’s jump in!
☕️ Networking + Coffee Chats
Everyone has been told to network, but how do you actually do it?
It’s as simple as sending someone a DM, asking them for a 30 min coffee chat, and prepping some questions.
Your questions can be about something specific, like a current project they might be working on or their day-to-day tasks. It can also be something broad like their career journey. You may also want to reach out to your university alumni at your firm to learn about their experiences. Reviewing one’s LinkedIn or company bio are excellent ways to get familiar with someone’s background.
The goal is to get to know someone professionally via a conversation. There’s no need to stress about getting something actionable from the coffee chat. You will gain a better understanding of who they are and what value you can provide them during the internship.
⭐️ Tip: Start with people on your team and talk to people who are in different roles than your own.
After getting to know your team, it’s very likely that you would want to expand your connections. You may wonder: what’s it like to work on X? Can I talk to someone who does AI/ML? Someone who went to business school after getting an engineering degree?
Your recruiter would actually be a great person to talk to for these questions. Chances are they know many more people and teams at the company and can introduce you to someone who matches your interests.
⭐️ Tip: Talk to your recruiter to see if they can connect you with someone when you have a specific background you are looking for.
Lastly, most mid-sized and large companies will have affinity networks that aim to support a group of employees sharing an under-represented background or identity. As a woman in tech and first generation college student, I struggled with finding relatable mentors throughout my tech journey. Being a part of Goldman’s Women’s Affinity Network was very helpful in learning about other successful womens’ careers.
⭐️ Tip: join affinity groups if your company offers them. If not, look for online communities/nonprofits for college students to seek more experienced mentors. For example, RTC, Intern.club, and Product Buds
🗣 Maintain and Emphasize Communication with Your Manager and Colleagues
Communication can look very different when working remotely. Your buddy/mentor is not sitting right next to you, and your manager cannot see what you are doing.
Most communication will be done via chats, emails, and comments on a project or code. Even with the help of Slack or other DM platforms, it’s imperative that you gain and provide clear communication.
✅ Effective remote communication is:
- Consistent: sticking to a scheduled time, try not being late to chats/meetings
- Specific: refer to the subject instead of using words like they/them/this/it
- Organized: start with something broad, provide some context, end with an actionable request
People will also have their own communication preferences. Ask your buddy/mentor, manager, even co-interns how and how often they prefer to communicate.
One important lesson I learned is to report blockers in a timely manner to my mentor (or whomever directly oversees your project and can help you). Blockers are anything that prevents you from making progress on your project, and sometimes they are out of your control (i.e. authorizations). While it’s always good to troubleshoot independently first, it’s important to ask for help instead of waiting and potentially falling behind on your project.
⭐️ Tip: Talk to your mentor/manager about what you plan to be working on for the day.
Ask about the goals of your project and suggestions. Doing this earlier on will help you avoid working on something with an incorrect approach and then having to start over.
⭐️ Tip: Schedule a 10–15 minutes check-in at the end of each work day to communicate your progress or report any blockers.
An internship is an opportunity to learn; thus, you should also proactively seek out and implement feedback. If your mentor/manager doesn’t directly offer feedback, ask for it.
⭐️ Tip: schedule a weekly feedback session with your mentor/manager.
Most structured internship programs will have already incorporated some variation of half-way, mid-summer feedback. However, it’s best to set aside some time weekly to gather feedback instead of waiting until your internship is halfway completed, since you would want to implement such feedback as soon as possible.
🗒 Staying Organized
Even if you are not in a traditional office, making an effort to create your own professional space will help you stay motivated. It is especially important to maintain a professional setting when you’re video chatting with colleagues. Make sure to check your background (or use a virtual background) and limit background noise.
⭐️ Tip: Dress as if you were actually going to work, and set up a workspace in your room/residence that resembles an office.
You will come across so many new people, concepts, tools, etc and it’s imperative to write them down so you can review the notes later. Online notebooks are good but sometimes you just don’t have the time to navigate between tabs, especially during meetings. Taking notes will also demonstrate that you are prepared and want to engage with the material.
⭐️ Tip: Always have a pen/pencil and notebook ready on your work desk.
When your office is in your home, having a good work-life balance becomes more challenging. It’s crucial to reserve some time after work to take care of yourself. Doing so will help to boost your productivity for the next day and avoid burning out.
⭐️ Tip: Set time away from your computer after work. Cook a meal, do a workout, or go on a walk.
In addition, take your lunch break seriously and step away from your computer if possible. Especially for new interns who have never worked a 9–5 before, taking advantage of the lunch break can help you transition to this new work schedule.
🙋 It’s okay to ask for help
It’s important to remember that you are an intern, and you are not expected to know everything. This observation is especially true if you work in an industry, like finance, where technology is not the main business focus. A majority of your internship is learning on the job — from your mentor, your teammates, and your project.
While you may feel that asking for help is a perceived sign of weakness, it’s not! In fact, collaborating and asking for help is both expected and happens all the time in industry. You work in teams for a reason. Asking for help when you need it shows that you are self-aware, willing to learn, and a good team player.
⭐️ Tip: Be polite and be prepared. Write down questions you have throughout the day and try to ask them all at once. This strategy will save both you and your mentor/manager time. Have your pen and paper ready to take notes. If you have something urgent, then you should contact someone right away.
⭐️ Tip: Be specific in what you have already done in trying to resolve problems on your own. Doing so will demonstrate that you are willing to work towards an answer rather than expecting it to be handed to you.
❓ Asking for help can look like…
- “ I ran some queries and print line tests for X files in the Y module, but I’m still not sure why the bug is happening. Can we hop on a Zoom meeting so I ask some questions?”
- “I have an general idea on how to approach my project: <insert plan here>. However, I would still like to ask some more clarifying questions before I start coding. Are you available in 30 min?”
Remember that working in industry is different from school: it’s not so much a competitive environment where we are evaluated by grades. You will be working on a collaborative team (maybe even with your project too) where your success is reflected in the team’s success.
👋 After the Internship…
Congratulations, you have submitted your project and delivered your presentation. What should I do now?
Be sure to send a thank you email or message to your managers, mentors, recruiters, and anyone else that has helped you during your internship. Sharing about your experience and giving the company a shoutout on LinkedIn is appreciated, but it’s definitely optional.
Even if you ultimately decide that this company, role, or industry is not right for you, the experience is still valuable. Learning about what you don’t like is just as important as learning about what you do like.
Reflect on the skills you’ve gained during your internship and update your resume with your experiences and accomplishments. Regardless if you are graduating or preparing for the next recruiting cycle, it’s always good to have an up-to-date version of your resume at hand.
▶️ Return Offers
How return offers are handled varies by the company, and it’s totally acceptable to ask your recruiter when you expect to hear back on that decision. Some firms notify interns before they leave the company (usually in the last week), while others can take up to 2 weeks for a final decision.
My best advice is to have patience, and ultimately know that a return offer does not determine your future employment or if you are good/not good at something.
🌻 I wish you the best of luck in your internship and hope you all have a great summer!
