Can Virtual Internships Offer A Competitive Edge?

It’s often said children in Grades 10 and 11 are too young to make subject choices that will lay the foundation for their future careers. “Students in high school have limited opportunities to learn what careers suit them, and this continues into university,” says Rebecca Pretorius, South Africa country manager at Crimson Education.

Cognisant of the need for more practical training even before learners matriculate, Crimson Education launched the Crimson Careers Internship Programme in 2021 to offer remote and global work experience to students aged 14–19 years.

The month-long programme runs as an extracurricular activity, with learning and work sessions taking place over weekends. Students have access to business mentors from top Fortune 500 companies. By partnering with global companies like Uber, HSBC, PwC and Y-Combinator start-ups, these students can accelerate their career development and early work experience, explains Pretorius.

Pretorius says it is “virtually impossible” for students to secure worthwhile work experience while in high school. So often, the first time they gain any work experience is at university when they are already locked into a degree.

Learning practical skills

“We built Crimson Careers to create a foundation for students to learn practical skills in a safe, virtual environment.” As part of their course, students have first-hand experience of different career paths while working at a company, they may see their recommendations implemented by the company, and they are able to work with people from different countries. At the end of the course, they receive a reference letter for future university andjob applications.

There has been a “high level of interest” in the programme, says Pretorius. “Internships, especially with well-known, world-leading companies like Uber, are very popular.” She says that to maintain high standards and ensure students can complete the programme, students must apply, and those who are unlikely to be a good fit are turned away.

Fifty students are selected to take part in each cohort, and by the next intake, over 500 students will have completed the programme in the short time it has been running. “Students are joining these internships to explore their interests, gain practical experience and build extracurriculars related to their field of interest,” says Pretorius.

The programme is already yielding positive outcomes, with Pretorius saying that many of the students have gone on to study with Crimson, or are already Crimson students. These Crimson alumni have applied to study at top universities or landed coveted positions at Google, Tesla, Goldman Sachs and other leading global companies. “We have seen South African students take an active leadership role in their groups, grow in confidence through working in their global teams, win the best presentation in their cohort, and challenge themselves to create a high quality of work in their pitches and presentations.”