The Nature of Relationships in e-Internships: A Matter of the Psychological Contract, Communication and Relational Investment

Abstract

Employment relationships are undergoing rapid change as both organizational, industrial, and technological changes alter the expectations that employees and employers have of each other. Today, technology provides the means for internship programs to be virtual, involving interns and organizations that are geographically distant from one another. These types of computer-mediated internships are also known as virtual or e-internships (Jeske & Axtell, 2013; van Dorp 2008). Two virtual types of such internships exist (Bayerlein & Jeske, 2018): those learning experiences that are entirely simulated to support knowledge and skill acquisition (e.g., Arastoopour, Shaffer, Swiecki, Ruis, & Chesler, 2016; Bayerlein, 2015) and those learning experiences that are inspired by tele-working, involving an actual employer but featuring remote working situations (e.g., Jeske & Axtell, 2013; Jeske & Axtell, 2016a, 2016b). Virtual internships represent special temporary employment situations that feature specific challenges in terms of how information is shared and the extent to which information will be similarly interpreted and accessed. Reports based on internship postings for e-internships and selfreport data from e-interns working with employers suggest that these internships may last from a few weeks to more than 12 months (Jeske & Axtell, 2013; Jeske & Axtell, 2018). Most e-internships last for up to three months, with more than two thirds working part-time 10-20 hours per week (Jeske & Axtell, 2013; Jeske & Axtell, 2018). However, in many cases the duration and hours worked per week are flexible in line with the fact that most virtual interns to date are studying at the time they take up virtual internships, a situation that may change h t t p : / / j o u r n a l s. c o p m a d r i d. o rg / j wo p

Mentoring and skill development in e-Internships

“…The merit of informal (as in more individually agreed and flexible) mentoring arrangements has been demonstrated in a number of studies in the workplace (Singh et al , 2002), training programs (Cobb et al , 2018) and traditional internships (Chao et al , 1992). The informal and thus predominantly flexible and relationship-based nature of these e-internships may be more conducive to developing increasingly natural and rewarding relationships (Jeske and Axtell, 2018a), particularly when the e-internships are of longer duration (e.g. several months to a year) rather than very short (e.g.…”

Onboarding new hires: recognising mutual learning opportunities

“…Many employers miss out on a valuable opportunity to reduce early attrition during or shortly after onboarding, by not considering the role of onboarding experiencing (Bauer, 2010). Previous work has already shown that relational investment and communication can be critical for the relationship with and retention of virtual interns (Jeske and Axtell, 2018). It is important to review how onboarding can prevent potential attrition of new hires – by assessing which signals are being sent through the organisers, the interactions, and the representatives that show up (or do not).…”

Is the future of internships online? An examination of stakeholder attitudes towards online internships

“…The current qualitative data from respondents highlight concerns regarding sporadic communication and communication occurring primarily via asynchronous email. Jeske and Axtell (2018) emphasise that technology is not the problem for online communication, rather it is the nature of the communication that needs to be Perceptions of online internships carefully considered, with multiple communication options recommended. The importance of adequate support was also highlighted, from both workplace and academic supervisors or mentors.…”