Tips for Writing Your Internship Cover Letter

Header
The cover letter header starts with your personal information. It typically includes your full name, contact information, including your phone number, and any professional social media links you have, including a LinkedIn profile. Additionally, address it with the hiring manager’s name. Avoid a generic salutation like “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam.” If you really can’t find the name of the hiring manager, you can use “Dear Hiring Manager.”

Hook
The first paragraph of your cover letter needs to start with an interesting hook. In a traditional cover letter, this will typically be your best achievement, but in an internship cover letter, it’s more likely to be a unique story that shows off your personality, skills, or reason for applying. Tailor this hook to the specific internship you’re applying to, telling a story that relates to the workplace you’ll be part of.

Relevant skills, coursework, and experience
The second paragraph will cover your relevant skills, coursework, and experience. First, start with any relevant experience you have. It doesn’t have to be full-time work experience in your ideal job field, and when you’re applying for an intern position, it typically won’t be. Include extracurricular activities, part-time work, and volunteer work. Remember to include a wide variety of skills as well, including time management, communication skills, and problem-solving skills.

More insight into why you’re the perfect candidate
If you can meet specific requests that the job ad was asking for, this can also go in the second paragraph. Does the job description state that the company wants someone who is a self-starter? Mention the times you did extra-credit work during your college education just to expand your skills. Is the job description looking for someone great at keeping a calendar straight? State that you have skills in juggling multiple calendars for different team members. You want to show the recruiter that you’re the person they’re looking for.

Information about your aligned values
Interns, more than almost anyone else, need to fit the company’s culture perfectly. To round out this second paragraph, include some information about how your values and the values of the company you’re applying to overlap. Do some of your own research on the company to determine what values you should reflect on and how you can talk about them. One of the best cover letter tips overall is to do this research, so your letter works perfectly for the job.

Call to action
In the final paragraph, include a call to action where you openly ask the recruiter for an interview. For example: “I look forward to sitting down with you” or “Let me know what time would work best to sit down with you.” Once you have an interview, you can use targeted interview tips to discuss why you deserve to get the internship position. Additionally, remember to end with a professional sign-off, like “Sincerely” or “Regards”