North Bay interns, rookie workers struggle to adapt to remote work in coronavirus pandemic

The challenge of starting a new job in an unfamiliar field for Spaulding, McCullough & Tansil law Office Manager Heather Holliday began with her interviews last year.

The first “new COVID world” occurrence came when Holliday discovered she kept looking at herself on a video conference to ensure she appeared presentable.

“Interviewing in a pandemic is weird because in normal interviews, you don’t usually see yourself. I kept judging myself,” she said.

During her socially distanced, in-person second interview, she emerged with a mask on, which seemed strange.

“I said to myself, ‘Why did I put on lipstick?’ When I took (the mask) off, I looked like a clown,” she said.

Holliday’s story is like many others, who have learned that taking a job, especially in a different industry, during a time when workers have abandoned the office comes with its own set of challenges. These include how to be presentable on video and figure out who is best to mentor with.

Despite being new to the industry, Holliday got the job running the Santa Rosa law office on site and abroad, managing an assortment of human resources- and operations-type duties.

“I wanted to learn the legal world. I knew it would be challenging, but it was one I was excited about,” she said.

Once she started, the challenges continued. For one thing, Holliday’s predecessor stayed on to teach her the job, presenting an interesting obstacle.

“You can’t train side by side,” she said, laughing about how the duo improvised discussing duties while socially distanced. Holliday represents one in only seven employees who will often go into the office out of 45 staffers.

“As an office manager, you still have to build trust. How do you build trust with others remotely?” she said.

To adapt, Holliday has learned to schedule a lot of one-on-one meetings with fellow employees. It also helps that the company culture is one that encourages much outreach.

“It’s a big benefit that they’ve been able to transcend and keep that baseline culture (during these times). If they didn’t, it would be so difficult,” she said.

That outreach may extend beyond regular office virtual meetings.

For one, law firm principle Greg Spaulding has kept up his toasts to workers, only this time it’s via video.

“It’s interesting because what we’re talking about is a challenge for everybody working at our firm,” Spaulding said.

He pointed out the legal profession depends on interactions – walking from one desk to another for a quick exchange with a colleague. Scheduling video or phone conferences takes time.

“We’re used to relying on the experience of others,” he said.

In good company

Santa Rosa law partner David Berry has also experienced the same types of challenges with helping staffers, in particular new ones, get a grasp of the industry while working remotely.

“It’s difficult to work with someone via Zoom,” he said. “I think they get hurt. It’s important to learn these skills interfacing with other people,” the co-founder of Berry & Fritzinger said.

“In a typical day, you have easier access to people. You can see what a desk looks like, get a sense of being and pick up on subtle mannerisms. You can’t when you’re not in the building and on Zoom,” Berry said. “I wouldn’t want to be starting out in this environment.”

Interns are difficult to hire

Many people who enter certain professions do so by teaming up with others in apprenticeships, internships and mentoring programs. It’s tough when that bond exists over a computer screen.

According to the online recruitment site Glassdoor, which has a Marin County office, U.S. internships had fallen 49% last May in contrast to the same period in 2019.

Other findings noted that one in two internship openings on Glassdoor has closed since the coronavirus crisis began. Travel and tourism fields saw the largest decline, with internships plummeting by 92% in April.

Traditionally, accounting, legal, manufacturing, technology, retail and health care are industries with the most internships. The accounting and legal fields top the number of U.S. internships, with more than 4,000, Glassdoor reported. Still, those industries reported a 22% decline since the pandemic broke out last spring. Glassdoor researchers concluded these openings have been “severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis,” its report reads.

Swapping the sound of a hammer for a gavel

Third-year law student Michael Arikat is among those challenged by learning on a screen.

“In one call, the judge had to repeat himself a few times. I would say it’s a challenge because the human interaction isn’t there,” Arikat said.

The Petaluma real estate broker who’s seeking a legal career attended an online law school but quit before the coronavirus outbreak. He switched to Empire College in Santa Rosa because he didn’t like computer-based learning. Now the Sonoma County law school has placed its classes online.

“I discovered I didn’t like it,” he said. “You can’t see everyone on Zoom. And with online exams, what’d you do? You adapt,” he said begrudgingly.

At age 55, Arikat notes how lucky Americans are to receive this type of educational accommodation, but the question may beg whether tuition prices should remain predetermined.

“Is it worth spending $70,000 going to Harvard now?” he asked rhetorically.