Romain B. is a computer engineering intern from France at CrossInstall in San Francisco. He first arrived in the United States a few weeks before U.S. cities began their shelter in place orders and found the transition to be difficult in the beginning. However, Romain is able to reinforce positivity and reach his internship goals by maintaining strong virtual communication with his host employer.
Image courtesy of Romain B.
Another Day of Programming, but from Home!
“In Computer Engineering, a remote work day is quite similar to a normal work day since most of my training is done on the computer. The main difference is not having my team members around me, but I can easily speak with them on video call.”
Setting Clear Boundaries for the Day Helps Eliminate Monotony
“To maintain a work-life balance at home, I really try to create clear boundaries for myself – for example, during business hours, I make sure to focus solely on work and outside of business hours, I make sure to stop and focus on the things I like. This is sometimes really difficult, but it is absolutely essential to have those boundaries. If I don’t do it, I feel like I’m training 24/7 and the days start to become repetitive. I also allow myself to take breaks when I need it just to break the monotony of a remote day’s work.”
Transitioning to Remote Training is Easy with a Supportive Team!
“My host employer has been nothing but amazing, honestly! Not only are they very nice people, but they were among the very first companies in America to impose remote work for everyone because they genuinely care about the physical and mental health of their employees. Our Slack channels have been very active too, with many of my co-workers sharing tips and pictures of working from home, and discussing freely about any topic that comes to mind.
I’m still quite new here, and yet I’m absolutely not afraid to speak to anyone about anything. People are friendly and welcoming, even remotely. (Remotely, people always seem more distant so integration can feel difficult I guess, but it wasn’t for me.) So even remotely, I can feel the love and the positive culture of the company.”
Take this Time to Work on Personal Projects or Even New Hobbies!
“I just took the stay-at-home order as an opportunity to work on several personal projects. For example, I’ve been developing a mobile app for a non-profit organization aiming to improve children’s experience with hospitals, and help their parents understand how their child’s hospitalization process is going. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever to understand the progress of patients and their experience in hospitals. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to volunteer for this side project. I’ve also tried to enjoy the city as much as I could before the shelter in place, like visiting Alcatraz Island.
Transitioning to stay-at-home policies was a bit difficult, but I managed, and now I just look forward to visiting the country as much as I can, as soon as the stay-at-home orders will be lifted.”
Even with Stay-At-Home Orders, You Can Still Achieve Your Goals
“I managed to integrate very easily, and I feel like I have technically ramped-up my skill very quickly thanks to all my colleagues who’ve been really helpful and supportive. I can now proudly say I’m quite good at what I do. I’m 100% able to speak business English and communicate without any issues. I think my colleagues are happy with my progress, everything is great and I feel good here, which is for me the most important!
On a more professional level, this experience will allow me to be much more self-confident in the future about my skills and abilities, and everything I’ve learned here will definitely help me in my future career.”
