Do you have a virtual internship coming up? Are you wanting to know
how you can network and still build those important professional
relationships, even though you're not going to be in an
office interacting with people every day since it's now a virtual environment?
Well don't worry. It is doable. And I have three very
specific tactics for you in this video, to give you the touch points that you
need in order to make stronger professional
connections and grow your network during a virtual internship. Hit that like
button if you're excited to learn how to apply these tactics at your own
internship, and don't forget to subscribe for new videos
every single week on this channel. Hey there! I'm Jenna Rein from theinternhustle.com,
and this is Initiative Muscle Monday. Helping you
to start each week with an intentional step
toward a successful future. Let's do this! Really quick, before i dive into my tips
for networking at your virtual internship,
I want to touch on a couple other helpful resources. If you didn't catch my
last video -- I kicked off this virtual internship
success tips series with over 15 tips on how to prepare for
a video call or meeting. I focused on Zoom as the platform, since
it is the most popular these days, but the tips will help you optimize your
video call setup on any platform. I have linked to this video below if you
are interested in checking it out, and I've also linked to the virtual
internship success guide that I created just for you. This 10 page, downloadable
guide is full of my best tips to help you
excel at your virtual internship. So don't miss out on getting it, go grab
your copy now. Alright, let's go over the three tactics that I
recommend to help you build relationships at your virtual
internship. And I encourage you to try all three of
these, because each one will serve you in a different way.
The first one is so important. Connect with your manager in a weekly one-on-one.
Don't have a manager at your internship? That's okay. But you can find someone
else to connect with on a consistent basis.
This could be the internship program coordinator for the company,
or a department lead that is mentoring you, or maybe it's the owner of a project
that you've been assigned to work on. Figure out who this person is for you,
and get confirmation of who this person is at the beginning
of your internship, and then make a point to connect with
them consistently throughout your internship.
You should be meeting with this individual one-on-one, on a weekly
basis at a minimum. This gives you a regular touch point to make sure that
everyone's on the same page and that you are moving in the right
direction. So set up a video call for the same day and time each week,
and don't drop this meeting or schedule over it.
If a conflict does arise -- maybe your manager has another meeting that they
need to attend instead -- that's fine. But work with them to find a
new day and time for your one-on-one that week.
Now these one-on-one meetings are crucial for your success at any
internship, but even more so at a virtual internship
where consistent connection with someone in a
mentorship or coaching relationship can provide you with the context
AND confidence that you need to do a good job. It should be a meeting that you
look forward to each week, because it gives you a platform
to share your wins, and ask questions and build
understanding. And if you do these meetings right, this person
who you're meeting with should become a trusted advisor and an advocate for your
professional development and success at this company. They will become an
important part of your professional network. When you meet with this
individual (weekly), you should use the time to present
project updates for things that you're working on,
get feedback from them, ask questions, pitch new ideas, and review progress
towards any goals that you set when you started out this internship.
I always recommend that the intern lead these one-on-one meetings. That means you
create the agenda, and you keep the meetings productive and
on track with a simple one-on-one meeting worksheet. And a
one-on-one meeting worksheet is a standardized document for you and your
manager to collaborate on. And it encourages communication and
results. I will talk more about this one-on-one
worksheet and what should be included on one in a
future video about tracking your experience during your virtual
internship, so make sure that you are subscribed to
this channel so that you don't miss out on that future video. Now, the second
tactic that I recommend you implement at your virtual
internship, to build relationships with even more people at the company
outside of the manager you're having one-on-ones with, is to schedule virtual
coffee chats with employees. I've talked about these virtual coffee chats
before, because they're so valuable. One of the great benefits of an
internship is getting to interact with people who work in a variety of
different departments and roles at the company.
And these interactions allow you to expand your understanding of a company
and an industry, and create connections that grow your
professional network, and also explore new projects that you
could potentially get involved with to add even more experience and skills to
your resume. And I know I'm stating the obvious here, but at a virtual internship
you don't get to greet a new person by the coffee machine each morning and
ask them questions about what they do at the company, or what projects they're
currently working on. That's why I'm suggesting that you set
up virtual coffee chats with people. Virtual coffee chats are
15 to 20 minute phone or video calls that you initiate with employees at the
company. And depending on how big the company is,
I suggest going for two to five of these each week.
Identify people that you would like to learn from,
and then reach out to them introducing yourself and asking for 15 to 20 minutes
of their time. Just like you would for an informational
interview. I have an entire video on how to reach out for an informational
interview, if you want to learn more and get a template.
But reaching out to people at a company that you're currently an intern for
should be even easier than if you were to reach out to someone for an
informational interview who you have no connection to. So take
advantage of this time as an intern, with the opportunity to connect with so many
professionals, and schedule your virtual coffee chats.
Don't like coffee? That's fine. That's not the point. That's
just a cute name for connecting with someone, virtually.
The important part is that you make the connection. Set a goal for yourself --
how many people would you like to connect with at the company before your
internship is over? Then break that down by how many people
you would need to connect with each week in order to meet your goal,
and get to reaching out and building those relationships. Other benefits can
come out of these virtual coffee chats as well.
All of a sudden more people know who you are. You're not just
the intern. They know you by name. They know what you're interested in.
And maybe they even have a project or two that you could help out with.
Plus, just think about how much more accomplished you're gonna feel at the
end of each day (and each week), if you could look back at
your calendar and see how many great conversations you've gotten to have with
people. It could turn a slow week at a virtual
internship into a very productive one. Now the third tactic for building
relationships at your virtual internship is focused on your peer group.
Establish intern lunch and learns. Are there other interns going through this
internship program at the same time as you?
Are you part of an intern cohort? Think about how you could build relationships
with other interns as well. You never know who they're going to go
on to become in their careers, or who they may be able to introduce you to
down the road that could lead to new professional opportunities for you.
So take the time to get to know the other interns as well.
Again, you don't have the luxury of going to lunch with your peers, because this is
a virtual internship. But that doesn't mean that you can't schedule virtual
lunch and learns over Zoom (once every couple weeks or once a month)
to socialize and learn about what other people are working on.
Chances are not every intern at the company is working on the same projects
that you are. Oftentimes, interns are hired into a
variety of different departments. Wouldn't it be great if you could learn
about the projects that they're working on,
and get a sense about the internship experience through their lens?
Good news! You can. Just schedule some lunch and learns with them.
And how great would it look if you're the intern who takes the initiative
to suggest and establish these lunch and learns? Come up with a consistent format,
maybe a few questions that each intern presents on
when it's their day to lead, and then set up a calendar invite to get all of the
other interns involved. These informal, virtual sessions also
give all of you interns an opportunity to practice your
presentation skills to a group of people. That's a bonus! With all three of these
tactics that I just shared to help you build
relationships as a virtual intern, make sure that you are following
up and keeping in touch with these people. Add them as connections on
LinkedIn, and stay connected to them throughout the
year. That's what it means to grow a professional network.
Be in it for the long term and add value. Your connections will be a lot more
inclined to do the same for you in return.
For more tips on how to keep in touch with people after an internship
check out this video. I will link to in the description below as well. In the
next video I will be covering communication best practices for your
virtual internship. Because communication skills are super
important, and they happen to be one of my favorite things to teach. So make sure
that you tune in for that one. And don't forget to
download your copy of the virtual internship success guide at the link
below this video. It recaps the relationship
tactics that I shared with you today, plus so much more.
Thanks for watching! If this video gave you some new insights today, please give
it a like and share it with a friend or two. Hit
that red subscribe button below so that you don't miss out on future videos.
In support of your hustle, I'm Jenna from theinternhustle.com,
and i'll see you next Monday.
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