Inside the InsideSherpa Virtual Intern Experience

Summer break is coming.

With STUVAC over, we’re fast approaching the final leg of a 13 week long marathon. And at the end of the mountain of due dates and final exams, lies the sweet promise of 3 months of summer vacation.

Whilst the summer break is a great time to spend relaxing and catching up on everything that you missed out on during the semester, it is also a good time to start thinking about getting ahead in your career.

There are so many opportunities to gain valuable work experience over the summer, and in my opinion one of the easiest ways to start, is by taking an InsideSherpa Virtual Internship!

What is InsideSherpa?

InsideSherpa is an open access platform designed to unlock exciting careers for students, by connecting them to company endorsed Virtual Intern programs. ‘What are Virtual Intern Programs?’ I hear you ask? They are online programs built and endorsed by leading companies from various industries. Each module and respective tasks are designed to simulate the work of real-word jobs. Not only are they free, open access and completely online – but also CV certified and endorsed by host companies.

Students can partake in programs from a range of industries including consulting, engineering, law, finance, accounting and venture capital. For an average of 6 hours per program, students have access to so many benefits like getting to work on real world projects, developing relevant skills and gaining experience that will be recognised by top employers.

My Experience

This all sounded too good to be true, so I signed up for a Virtual Intern program myself to try it out.

Last month I enrolled in one of InsideSherpa’s most popular programs – the Deloitte Technology Consulting Virtual Internship. As a Finance and Law student, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and delve into more tech based work to try to diversify my skillset.

I spent a bit over 6 hours “working” as a Technology Consultant for Deloitte, completing the Tech Strategy and Innovation program. I worked on a project to advise Deloitte’s ‘client’, a mock Australian retail bank, about developing an online banking platform. Throughout the three modules I undertook the full consulting experience, from researching the client and industry to presenting a high-level PowerPoint presentation that outlined the implementation strategy.

This program enabled me to develop key skills such as critical thinking, research and project planning, and allowed me to familiarise myself with an industry that I would’ve otherwise never been able to gain experience in.

Applying for a job is never an easy feat, and it’s even more intimidating if you don’t have any experience. So do yourself a favour this summer break by taking an InsideSherpa virtual intern program to gain professionally recognised experience and kick-start your career!

Featured image courtesy of Unsplash