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When you’re applying for your first internship, one of the hardest parts often comes before you even hit “submit.” That’s right, you’re going to have to put together a strong cover letter, regardless of whether you have any work experience. Employers will want to see that you’ve built skills, so it’s crucial that you learn how to leverage the experience you do have and connect it to the internship you’re applying for.
Start With a Strong Opening
Your opening paragraph sets the tone, so don’t waste it with generic lines like “I’m writing to apply for the internship position at your company.” Instead, aim to make a connection between yourself and the organization. Check out this example:
- “As a computer science major who developed a machine learning model to predict student study patterns, I was excited to see your company’s focus on using AI to improve user experiences. I’d love the opportunity to bring my coding, data analysis, and problem-solving skills to your summer software engineering internship.”
It’s important to choose the right words depending on which industry you’re looking to get into. We recently provided some advice on industry-specific words to include in a resume summary statement, and this philosophy of choosing the right words also applies to your cover letter.
Leverage Campus Leadership
If you’ve held a leadership role in a student organization, that experience is pure gold for your cover letter. Here, you don’t want to just simply state your title but instead show the skills you’ve built. For instance, if you’re the captain of a sports team, you could demonstrate leadership abilities and communication skills by mentioning how you motivated others or helped solve problems both on and off the field.
Another example might be if you were the treasurer of a club. Here, you can show financial literacy and that you pay attention to detail by talking about how you tracked expenses or created budgets. Event organizers can show project management skills by talking about event planning, logistics, and coordinating with others to get the event running smoothly.
Leverage Coursework and Class Projects
It can be easy to overlook your academic work when writing a cover letter, but projects, presentations, and research papers often mimic real workplace tasks. Let’s say you worked on some group projects. Here, you might emphasize teamwork and collaborative skills. If you’ve given any presentations, you could say you have excellent communication and public speaking skills. Research projects you’ve worked on will allow you to highlight analytical and writing skills. Here is an example paragraph showing this in action:
- “In my marketing research class, I led a team project analyzing social media engagement strategies for a local nonprofit. That experience taught me how to use data to shape creative campaigns, and I’d love to use that approach in your digital marketing internship."
The key here is to connect the dots between classroom experience and the role you’re applying for.
Volunteering and Part-Time Jobs
Volunteering and part-time work may not seem career-related, but they build essential transferable skills. If you’ve volunteered at a local charity, worked retail, or tutored high school students, you’ve likely gained experience in customer service, time management, or leadership. Using these examples, here’s how you might translate them into skills for your cover letter:
- Community service project: Organization and collaboration (teamwork).
- Retail associate: Communication, problem solving, working under pressure.
- Volunteer tutor: Teaching, patience, and mentoring skills.
Employers want interns who are dependable and adaptable, and a part-time job or any volunteer work can help prove you’ve built these skills.
Show Enthusiasm and a Growth Mindset
Since internships are learning experiences, hiring managers aren’t expecting perfection. They want curiosity, motivation, and a willingness to learn. Use your closing paragraph to emphasize your enthusiasm for the role and how it connects to your career goals. Let’s say you’re applying for an internship in finance. Here, you might say:
- “I’m eager to learn more about financial modeling and client engagement, and I’m confident that this internship would allow me to grow while contributing to your team’s success. I’m excited for the opportunity to discuss how I can add value to your team. Thank you for your time and consideration.”
A statement like the one above shows humility (you’re there to learn) but also confidence (showing you want to add value).
Additional Tips
Since you’ll likely be applying to multiple internships, it’s important that you tailor each cover letter. If you keep recycling the same generic cover letter over and over, you won’t draw the attention of the hiring manager. Always research the company you’re applying to and connect your skills to the internship job description and the company’s overall mission.
Your cover letter should be no more than three or four short paragraphs. The goal is to be clear and direct, while also conveying your skills and how you’d be a valuable asset to the company. Lastly, proofread your cover letter carefully—silly spelling and grammar mistakes won’t do you any favors. For more information on putting together an internship cover letter including formatting, tailoring, and strong keywords, check out our previous blog here.
Rob Porter is an editor at Vault.
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