Conventionally, industrial attachment have been conducted in-person at organizations work place. But the advent of COVID-19 Pandemic has cause huge changes in the working environment thus, prospective interns are forced to have their internship virtually or remotely.
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Internships are not just important for students; it is vital to one’s professional development. Notwithstanding the fact that virtual and remote internship are critical in the current environment, it is worthy to note that, the benefits of in-person internships are lost when it’s done online. Virtual interns in this trying times are likely to miss the occasion to cultivate key working ethics and competencies.
There are enormous effects of the impact of the novel virus on industrial attachment more so, for virtual interns. The following are some effects (positive & negative) of COVID-19 on industrial attachment;
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Withdrawal of prospective interns to organizations; in some organizations, internships were completely cancelled as a results of the safety protocols put in place by WHO and state institutions to curb the spread of the virus. This affects graduates very well due to the fact that, hiring firms looks out for graduates with experience gained through industrial attachment. But due to the pandemic, students are forced to stay at home for safety reasons.
Virtual and remote internships during Covid-19; even though virtual internships teaches the importance of adaptability and resilience in the working environment as well as impacting number of valuable skills, it’s worthy to note that virtual internships has little effects in professional development to the student. Apart from the Zoom, Skype and other video conferences fatigue, interns faces the challenge of information under-load and thus has to seek clarification every time. This has reduced in-person relationship building and more importantly, salient and subtle way learning.
Drop on job recruitment for graduates. There’s no doubt that employers use internships to recruit and screen potential future employees; evaluating the quality of their work. The cancellation of internships could affects graduates who rely on the experience gained through internship to get employed.
Support to the economy by interns. Internships have become key in today's economy, and its huge input cannot be ignored. The state of the economy has further worsen due to the fact that, firms rely on interns to shore up areas where full-time hiring has been cut or unavailable.
This and many others are the effects the pandemic has brought on interns.