This summer definitely wasn't what I was expecting. I was planning on traveling internationally with friends. My family and I had scheduled our annual trip to Canobie Lake Park. We were even supposed to have a long-awaited family reunion. Lastly—and potentially most impactful on my day-to-day life, I was supposed to head into the office on June 1 for the first day of my full-time internship at Fidelity Investments.
While I'm eternally grateful that Fidelity continued their internship program with 1000+ remote interns, I'm still disappointed I wasn't able to go into the office and meet everyone in person. Having interned at other companies previously, I was so used to in-person 1:1s, bonding sessions with the other interns, tours of the office space, the ability to stop by your manager's desk whenever something came up, and the opportunity to catch people in the elevator or sit down for casual lunch.
Initially, I worried a remote experience would mean I would have less of a meaningful and impactful internship experience. Thankfully, I was wrong!
Although we were unable to go into the office, I know I've still come away with a lot of new skills, insights, and experiences.
Here were some of my concerns heading into a summer of working remotely:
Figuring out how to balance work and life while staying home and finding a space to work without disruptions. My dogs and family can be loud!
Not being as close with my team and other interns because we work in separate spaces.
About not being able to step up and help on other projects because of difficulty reaching people outside of the team.
While my concerns were valid, I quickly realized that I was worrying for no reason. While we were in a remote setting, I was still able to connect with other interns and my team over Zoom and Teams. We scheduled fun lunch/ snack times to get to know each other more and even had time to chat following our work discussions. Also, everyone at Fidelity was super helpful and willing to meet and network with me, even remotely. All of the people I reached out to were so excited to have a 1:1 or help in any way, which led to even more opportunities. One time, I met with someone and talked about something I was interested in learning about. Next thing you know, they added me to the calendar invite with people who weren't directly on my team to learn more. If I was interested in learning or having a new experience, I found that the team I worked with was happy to help me find that!
Here's how I made the most of my remote internship:
My manager and I scheduled multiple 1:1s to help me get to know more people on the team and feel like a part of the community. This makes it easier for people to remember you for projects and ask for your help when they need it. It's also just great for networking!
Attending every available workshop and development session. Fidelity hosted amazing sessions on topics ranging from how to manage your money to personal branding. I found every workshop so helpful in strengthening and shaping myself this summer.
Absorbing as much information as I could. In every meeting or email, I worked to take in as much information as I could and compare them to things outside of Fidelity, which helped give perspective when people asked for my suggestions or thoughts. This definitely helped me be on top of my work and have a bigger picture of things I could contribute.
Working in different locations. Something unexpected I loved about working remotely was being able to work in multiple locations. I could work from the couch, by the pool, cuddling with my dogs, or even while on a family trip to Nantucket. I loved the ability to choose a location based on whatever kind of work I was doing that day.
Here's what I've learned this summer:
Not only was I able to record for my first podcast, create my first internship experience video, help with competitive research that can help shape our thought leader program, and provide suggestions and insights to help in future crisis management situations, I was able to grow more personally and professionally. This summer, I realized the value of going with the flow, giving back to others, and seeking out new work and experience. We are all in charge of our own career development, and a remote work experience really drove that home for me.
It's hard to tell what's going to happen next year, or even in the next few months. While I hope things can return to “normal" soon, I'm grateful I was able to have this experience. Looking forward, I'm excited to take the communications skills I've learned this summer and apply them in everything I do.
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