Reflections on Working Remotely as a Data Analyst

After I finished my internship as a Data Analyst, I would like to share some insights that might help other students. This was my first remote work experience with an Australian company, and I learned many valuable lessons on how to work efficiently with company:

• Clear and Thorough Communication: There were times when misunderstandings occurred regarding work tasks. To address this, I started capturing examples of each step I took and sent them to my supervisor for verification. While this might seem excessive, it helps mitigate misunderstandings before completing a lot of work based on incorrect assumptions.

• Transparency: Working remotely means we can't see each other, and the company may not always know what you're working on unless they ask. Creating a chart to display your progress using tools like Excel or a Kanban board (e.g., Trello, TaskWorld, Jira, Monday) can be very helpful. This allows you to share your progress with peers and supervisors, showing what you've done and what you plan to do next. Additionally, it's beneficial to email a daily report of your work at the end of each day, summarising what you have accomplished and outlining what you plan to do next.

• Knowledge Transfer: Working online often means collaborating on cloud platforms. It's beneficial to explain your processes and workflows to others. For example, my company used Zoho One, which has many features. To transfer knowledge to the next intern and reduce training time for the company, you can use tools like Microsoft Teams or loom.com to record your screen while explaining tasks step by step. This helps them follow along and ensures adherence to the company's format.

• Learning from Every Task: During my four months, I made a list of issues and lessons learned from each task. This reflection helped me identify key takeaways and growth areas.

These are the important lessons I gained from my internship, and I hope they might help you if you have a remote internship.

Note. Creating using Trello from the author's personal project, not during the internship.