On Being a Virtual Intern During a Global Pandemic

From face to face classes with professors to weekend hangouts at pubs with friends, this pandemic has put students’ lives all over the globe on hold. With human interactions being limited to online conference calls and receiving packages from deliverymen, one might wonder, how are students still learning? While COVID-19 has taken so much from us, it has admittedly given us a few good things. One of which is being able to intern for a leading digital solutions company based in Singapore while you’re a thousand miles away…

Working as interns in the Marketing team, we have Llana, MJ, Denise, Marinelle, and yours truly, Charisse. The five of us are all from the Philippines, pursuing our bachelor degrees at the University of the Philippines Manila, College of Arts and Sciences. Leading the team is our zealous team leader, Ms. Kristine.

While we joined the team at different times (Denise, MJ, and I joined the team last May while Llana and Marinelle joined last June), we have been working on numerous projects together. The main highlight of our internship experience so far is being able to work on Be++, Webpuppies’ premiere industry-ready training programs. At Webpuppies, interns aren’t limited to just busywork. You are able to lead and take pride in the things you do. As Mr. Abhi Dabas, our CEO, once told us over an afternoon meeting, we may as well be considered Be++ co-founders in how the team is pioneering its development and progress! Wow, an intern and a co-founder? Only at Webpuppies!

Aside from the work we do for Be++, we’ve also been fortunate enough to learn the ropes of the more technical aspects of marketing, such as SEO, content marketing, market research, among many others. We even had the chance to attend and actively participate in a Figma session, prepared exclusively for us! Let’s hear from our co-interns on what else they’ve done and learned over the months:

Denise: Joining Webpuppies taught me a whole lot of things. I learned the technical side of marketing including SEO, content creation, content planning, copywriting, and market research. I was also given the opportunity to handle the Be++ Podcast with my co-interns which taught me a lot (both through the podcast episodes and through managing these episodes) about dealing with stakeholders, taking responsibility, and adding value to people’s lives. This opportunity with Webpuppies and Be++ has definitely added value to my personal and professional growth!

Marinelle: Being part of the Webpuppies Marketing intern team has been a whirlwind of positive experiences. I honestly didn’t think that things would work out fine in this work-from-home set-up. Well yes, this is far from how I imagined my internship would look like, but I was quite surprised and grateful with how it turned out. Thanks to Webpuppies, I was left with a handful of learnings and realizations (most especially regarding my core competencies); things I didn’t believe I can do or have but I did! Here, I was given the opportune time to explore the world of digital marketing more — from writing captions, creating carousel ads, managing a podcast to pooling and pitching partnerships on a global scale. It was truly a one-of-a-kind experience! One thing I’m more grateful for is our Marketing Lead, Ms. Kristine, who was always supportive, very involved, and ready to address our concerns whenever. Without her, I think all of these things I could not say. And of course, how could I forget, one of the biggest contributors of it all is the exceptionally productive and encouraging co-team members who helped me appreciate this journey more. With this, I am loud and proud to be called an intern of Webpuppies, even at this time of adversity.

MJ: My journey as an intern in Webpuppies is beyond what I always used to imagine. Before, I only planned on taking internship opportunities that are related to creating visual content because I believed that is where my skills and strengths rest upon. While I get to do the same thing now in Webpuppies which is evident from creating podcasts to producing videos and publicity materials, I also learned other opportunities that I thought I might not be good at. For one thing, I learned the technical side of doing marketing such as EDM, SEO, and even research. We worked with various clients with various marketing needs, which allowed us to be flexible and proficient with respect to digital marketing. For another, I also learned to work with a bunch of brilliant people and a hands-on team leader, which further improves my organizational communication skills. And I like to believe that being with the team feels like it’s not work at all, but rather fun and nonstop learning; and I’m just grateful that I get to experience such every day!

Llana: Despite being in an online set-up, the learning was just as enriching as compared to a face-to-face internship. Perhaps even more! Webpuppies challenged us to be flexible in all areas- we learned the ropes of Marketing in every area! Copywriting, video-editing, podcast-editing, graphic designing, and even partnership scouting! We were taught to utilize SEO and SEM, and how research makes the dream work! From trendy meme posts to informative blogs that generate leads, everything was inculcated in us. There was no unproductive day at work- only days of fun learning experiences! Despite the hurdles of online working environments, we didn’t really miss out much at all. I think what also contributed to this was how our team leader, Ms. Kristine has been very hands-on, understanding, and educational. She didn’t just act like a supervisor- she acted like a mentor, and that’s the real deal.

With the hands-on guidance of our team leader, we’ve had a fulfilling internship experience at Webpuppies. Although we’ve never met her in person, our bond is as strong as if we’ve been working for years. Let’s hear from our TL Ms. Kristine on how this experience has been like for her as our workplace supervisor:

Ms. Kristine: It's a pleasure to build and nurture this young and bright team. Even at an early stage, the interns' enthusiasm and professionalism have been commendable, from sharing their unique ideas to supporting each others' initiatives. I have no doubt that they will have a fruitful career and future ahead and I look forward to following their success.

Despite being limited to the four walls of our homes, the pandemic didn’t stop us from contributing to Webpuppies to the best of our abilities, and to growing as students and future Digital Marketers. We owe a lot to Webpuppies for giving us the opportunity to learn from the best people in the industry, and for leaving us enough room to learn from our experiences. We will definitely remember these past few months as a part of our uni life highlights!