Today’s job market
In today’s job market, finding payday cash is no longer a 9-to-5 pursuit for college-aged workers. More and more young people are finding that the non-traditional work made possible by working online is lucrative and flexible. Take Natalie Ann Roig, for example. She began a marketing internship and is able to clock in by working on her laptop. That means that she can work from home, at the library, at a coffee house or anyplace where there is wireless internet access. It’s the new trend in working today and makes virtual work even simpler to find.
The growth in virtual work
Steven Rothberg, founder of CollegeRecruiter.com, said, “In the last 10 years [virtual workers] have gone from being almost unheard of to being something almost every college student has at least considered.” It’s no wonder that consideration has grown due to the flexibility of the work. Most college students have difficult schedules that involve a few hours of free time in between classes. A traditional job wouldn’t work for them. Flexible virtual jobs are the perfect solution to the problem.
Cautions with virtual work
Just like any other line of work, virtual internships have a list of concerns for people to be aware of. First of all, contact information is important. With virtual positions, it is crucial for employers to be transparent. Though the internet is generally anonymous, when it comes to paid positions it shouldn’t be. Workers should have the name of a contact, phone number and business address of a company. The contact should be easily reachable for questions and direction throughout the internship.
Also, working for a virtual company should mean workers have the proper documentation of what their responsibilities will be. Interns should know the hours required, tasks needed to be completed, how long the assignment is and overall direction of the position. It should all be submitted and approved in writing between parties. Interns also should have to check in with their contact on a daily or weekly basis, depending on the depth of the project to be completed.
Finally, compensation is the most important aspect of the virtual internship. That doesn’t mean that the only compensation will be payday cash though. Some businesses offer college credit, cash or a combination of the two as compensation to their interns. Of course, like job responsibilities, this too should be submitted and approved in writing by both parties. If college credit is included, some faculty member or department head most likely will need to sign off and approve the program. Because requirements for credit vary from school to school, interns should thoroughly understand how the process works for their individual school’s intern program.
Internships and the internet
The new wave in the job market is to hire interns to complete tasks on the go. That means that they don’t have to check into an office and can complete most of their tasks in their free time. An internet connection and a laptop are the only two things needed today to earn payday cash or college credit. Interns should check the rules, but then enjoy the flexibility and learning of a virtual position.
