How COVID-19 Affected the Academic Internship Experience

Abstract

My research paper examines the accounting interns’ perceptions of working in a remote environment due to COVID-19, and how the employers demonstrated and/or showed interns the firm’s or company’s culture. Specifically, I surveyed accounting students who participated in an academic internship during the COVID-19 pandemic about their perceptions of their internship firm’s culture, coaching and mentoring, networking opportunities, and positive and negatives about their overall experience. My findings are important because internships are a key part of firm’s talent acquisition and provides both interns and their respective firms an opportunity to see whether the prospective employee or firm is a good fit. I find that interns had a generally positive experience working in a remote environment. They expressed how they felt part of the firm and were able to learn about and experience the firm’s culture, particularly through social events and professional development opportunities. However, this positive experience was not universal as some interns felt they needed more opportunities to network with professionals and fellow interns, and more proactive career coaches. These findings could benefit firms as they consider the future of remote work in their organization.