Cover Letter for Internship [Samples & How to Write]

How to write internship cover letter

Make sure that you are familiar with the format of a cover letter that will make you appear to be the most qualified individual for the position before you begin writing it.

Finding a reputable organisation that would allow you to complete a worthwhile internship might be challenging, particularly if you want to work for a well-known brand. It can be difficult to persuade potential employers that you should be the one they select for the post if you are a student with little or no experience in the relevant field. This is when a cover letter for an internship comes in handy.

You have a wonderful opportunity to compensate for the lack of experience you have by included a cover letter with your application to be an intern. In your cover letter, you have the opportunity to not only convey your enthusiasm for the position, but also to highlight your pertinent experience as well as any education that may not be immediately evident based on your internship application resume.

The following are some pointers that can assist you in writing a cover letter for an internship that highlights your qualifications and persuades potential employers that you are the best candidate for the position.

1. Focus on your motivation and passion

Internships are intended to serve as stepping stones into the workforce. The vast majority of hiring employers do not anticipate you to have a significant amount of formal work experience.

Instead, hiring managers are searching for interns that have a positive attitude and are willing to pick up new skills quickly. These characteristics indicate that you will make the most of the training that is provided to you.

It can be challenging to convey your enthusiasm through your CV and cover letter. It is crucial that this passion comes over in your cover letter by showcasing your reasons and convincing the business that you are the ideal candidate for the internship.

TIP: A cover letter is also referred to as a motivation letter if it places an emphasis on your enthusiasm as opposed to your talents and expertise.

In a cover letter for an internship, you can explain your motivation to potential employers in three different methods, as outlined below:

Show long-term passion: by providing an explanation of your relevant interests. Discuss the fact that you have been giving makeovers to members of your family and friends ever since you were a little child if you are trying to get an internship in the beauty industry, for instance.

Give an example: regarding the times when you took the initiative. Discuss, for instance, how you took it upon yourself to advocate for environmentally conscious causes while you were in college.

Express interest in the company’s business: by providing examples of specific goods or activities that fascinate you or with which you would like to collaborate.
You can also emphasise on other experiences you’ve had that qualify you for the internship if you don’t have any relevant work experience.

Mention any college courses, extracurricular activities, or volunteer work experience that are pertinent to the field you are looking to intern in. For instance, mention any relevant curriculum you have taken. These examples assist you appear more qualified and give the impression that you are willing to increase the scope of your knowledge.

Include a bullet point summary of each of these encounters somewhere in the main body of your letter. Consider the following illustration to see how that works in practise:

2. Showcase your ambition

There are certain interns whose duties do not include making coffee or organising filing cabinets. The most successful interns at many organisations are given genuine projects that have an impact on the bottom line of the company. After the completion of their internships, the human resources professionals at these companies offer positions to the most qualified interns.

In your cover letter, you should demonstrate that you are interested in more than simply assisting full-time staff with their problems. Send the message that you can not just handle the demands of the work but that you are also very motivated to perform well in it.

Including concrete statistics in your internship cover letter is among the most effective ways to put your aspirations front and centre. Hard figures lend your individual accomplishments a deeper understanding of context and demonstrate to the reader that you are capable of achieving results.

For instance, if you were involved in your community’s politics when you were attending college and you want to apply for a position in the political field, you could create a bullet point that looks something like this:

Congresswoman Harriet Lopez’s re-election campaign benefited from a fundraising event that was organised, raising a total of $38,000.

3. Address the hiring manager by name

Utilizing the hiring manager’s name at the beginning of your cover letter is one of the most effective ways to make a good first impression on them. Do some research first to find out the name of the hiring manager or department head rather than starting your letter with “Dear Sir/Madam” or “To Whom It May Concern.” This will make your letter appear more professional.

If you are unable to locate the hiring manager’s name on the corporate website or in the advertisement for the position, you can do so by using one of the following other methods:

• Call the company you’re applying to and ask for the relevant person’s name
• Search LinkedIn for the hiring manager’s name by looking through the company’s employees

By mentioning the hiring manager by name in your cover letter, you demonstrate that you are enthusiastic about the internship opportunity and prepared to put in the extra effort to develop a personal relationship with the one who will most likely conduct the interview. Your application is already more impressive than those of other possible interns just because you know how to correctly address a cover letter. You can use this to your advantage when applying for jobs.

4. Focus on your education

In the event that you do not yet have a significant amount of job experience, you should utilise your cover letter to emphasise the qualifications that you do have. To be more specific, you could highlight your educational background.

TIP: To show potential employers that you are already beginning to build a foundation for a career in the industry in which you are seeking an internship, highlighting your schooling is an excellent approach to showcase this.

If you’re applying for an internship in computer science, for instance, you should highlight the specific computer science classes or relevant coursework you’ve completed in your application. In particular, highlight any completed school projects as well as the accomplishments you’ve attained while enrolled in your classes in order to demonstrate how skilled you are by providing real examples of your work.

When you emphasise the appropriate academic experience you have, you show potential employers that you are already enthusiastic about the field. This internship is not simply about adding a line or two to your resume; rather, it is an opportunity to enhance your career and broaden your knowledge of a field that you have an interest in.

5. Format your cover letter properly

A cover letter sent in response to an internship position should be formatted in a specific way. For example, the length of your cover letter should be four paragraphs, and it should take up around one whole page (but no more than that).

Although it may seem brief, there is plenty of room for you to demonstrate your abilities in this setting.

To discover how to properly structure your cover letter, simply follow the template that has been provided below: