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Im a intern at a smalll coding company for about 5 months now and Im doing pretty good working there, but Im taking about 3 hours to get there and home (about 1:30h per trip).

Since all the communication is done via Slack and we have a good system that allows some of the employees to work in home office, I was wondering how to aproach my boss with the idea, since they already know Im responsible and can work in such system as I have worked some times when I got sick.

Joe Strazzere
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    Related, possible dupe: How should I bring up working from home? – David K May 05 '17 at 19:40
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    Honestly though, if you are only an intern I would not expect to get this approved. You have only been a the company for 5 months and there is still a lot for you to learn. If I were the manager I wouldn't want you telecommuting more than a day or two a week. Aside from that, if this is a temporary internship, there's no benefit for the company to allow you to work from home - they don't lose much if you quit. I'd just tough it out until your internship is over. – David K May 05 '17 at 19:43
  • @DavidK there's still a lot to learn indeed, but even at the office we use slack, I dont see the necessite of me actually BEING here. I work with coding and all the estimated time is within the branch of the issue, managers and supervisors can see in real time what Im doing in my PC. So, why not give it just a try? A happy employee works better –  May 05 '17 at 19:55
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    @Paz - You're NOT an employee. You're an intern. Your job is to learn as much as it is to participate. You may think you are just as self-motivated and self-managed as veteran employees, but that in itself indicates you have a lot left to learn, yet. – Wesley Long May 05 '17 at 20:23
  • @WesleyLong first of all. What makes you think im not going to learn and participate in the same way remotly? Well I may think that and it may be true too, I have experience working as a EMPLOYEE too lol, I took this oportunity as an Intern so I can work with the programming language that I like the most. Try to dont be so cocky in the next comment. –  May 05 '17 at 20:32
  • @DavidK totally different and not a duplicate because they are an intern instead of FT employee. – mutt May 05 '17 at 22:08
  • its intended to lead to a permanent job, if I get the job permanently I'll likely continue working at home, since there's employees that works in this company remotely –  May 05 '17 at 22:35
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    @Paz - You don't learn as much remotely as you do in an office. You cannot absorb anywhere as much context remotely as you do in the office. You can believe you will all you want to. If you didn't want the commute, you shouldn't have accepted the internship. I don't believe they misled you as to the distance. – Wesley Long May 05 '17 at 22:53
  • @WesleyLong I just can't see the difference between siting in a chair in front of my computer in office or loging into it at home, if you would just make a point instead of being cocky and saying that I can believe all I want in something. You can believe all you want that ur proving something by saying that, but ur simply not, sry ;/ –  May 05 '17 at 23:01
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    I'm not being cocky. I'm being honest. I've made my points. I'm way too old to be worried about ruffling the feathers of an intern. You want to learn something, show up to the office. Remote work is for employees / contractors who have already developed the skills necessary to work remotely. – Wesley Long May 05 '17 at 23:03
  • @WesleyLong the cocky part is for assuming those things just cause Im an intern, ur definitely way too old for this if you think you know who I am or what I do or cannot do on work, I hardly even ask something to my superiors that's coding related, just try to ask before you assume something just by reading the word intern... –  May 05 '17 at 23:08
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    @Paz - An intern is there to learn. An employee is there to work. That's the difference. It doesn't matter who you, personally, are. Call me names all you want, that's still the case. Your adolescent pride is clearly clouding your judgment, but hey - go have fun. – Wesley Long May 05 '17 at 23:12
  • @WesleyLong touché sir, it might be clouding my judgment and I apologize if I've been rude. Case closed. –  May 05 '17 at 23:16
  • Intern wants to become extern. Interesting! – marcelovca90 May 06 '17 at 21:52
  • Just ask. Simple. Say, hey guys I really really love the work but would like to work from home. If you don't ask you will never get the guts to ask for what you want and stand up for yourself. – R Jones May 09 '17 at 07:44
  • You don't. You accepted the position knowing about the commute so that is not an excuse or a reason. You're an intern and part of being an intern is interacting with people. Also you're going to be on a short leash and no manager is going to allow you to work from home. Be grateful for the opportunity and show up in the office. – rhoonah Jul 21 '23 at 03:45

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I totally get your travel issue and how that is annoying, but an internship is designed specifically for you to be in a setting where you will grow and benefit more than the company expecting you to produce results. It's meant to try on the environment in a way you can learn and the company can see what you are like and if they are interested in hiring you afterwards.

Trying to do this remotely almost defeats the purpose of the internship as you no longer are around all the people who you would learn from and are isolated on your own. Sure you can IM questions, but you miss the environment similar to getting a degree remotely, you get the degree, but you don't "experience" college/university. The company doesn't get to experience you either...

You can always ask, but I wouldn't expect it to go really well.

mutt
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    The main thing is to ask, not demand, and be prepared to take "No" for an answer. – Patricia Shanahan May 06 '17 at 03:31
  • Not sure that even asking is advisable, as that suggests that the asker doesn't appreciate the difference between an intern and an employee... – Gwyn Evans May 06 '17 at 08:11
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    Asking should be fine, as long as they aren't presumptive about it. Maybe they find a compromise where they come in three days a week and work from home on the other days. – Llewellyn May 06 '17 at 11:53
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Don't do this. Your position is one that's supposed to be closely supervised and directed, and it's set up for you to learn not only technical skills but also company culture (and can potentially lead to a job in the organization). It's not in your benefit to try to start out as a lone wolf.

Companies need team players on staff, and five months doesn't really show anyone that you're interested in being one. By asking, you might be screwing yourself out of a good thing. Then again, you might not care! But be conscious of your choice.

Xavier J
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It's a tech company, and if it's a great tech company then as long as you are talented they should not give a crap BUT don't go sneaking off and working for someone else, you WILL get found out. Assure them you will be available at ALL times and work even longer and harder to prove yourself. Get a separate phone, put it in a red case and tell them this will be the hotline if anything is ever urgent you will be on it like white on rice. Whether you're in the bathroom or the shower, whatever, you will answer. Bring your own device to show commitment. It is great to work from wherever you want if you get the chance. Just first show them your talents, work extra hard for free. Get stuff done, take charge, make progress and be the very best employee they have ever seen.

R Jones
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