How To Stand Out On Your Internship Application

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Internships are all about gaining experience, so when you are applying for one, you may not have very many previous experiences to put down, but that’s okay! Don’t get discouraged, because internships are going to be less picky about you having already had experience in the field than a job will be (most of the time). So then you must be wondering, “how am I going to make my application stand out?”
Good spelling and grammar:
This might seem like a no brainer, but a lot of people will type something out and call it good without reading it over. This is a big no no! After you have read it over a few times, have someone else look at it. A new pair of eyes might be able to catch mistakes that you glided over.

This is crucial because you want to make a good first impression, which isn’t going to go over so well if you misspell something. Remember that episode of “Friends” where Rachel misspells “computer skills”? You definitely don’t want to be in that boat, and may want to consult a thesaurus to spruce up your language.

Supply all relevant experience:
If you do happen to have something under your belt that would pertain to the internship, you definitely want that on there. If you could get a letter of recommendation from the place you worked for, that would rack up some extra points as well. Do not, however, list any and every little thing you’ve done if it does not relate to the internship.

School is always something that you’ll want to put on there, so even if you have no prior work experience that would help with the internship, you’ll have all the skills you’ve learned in college. Including your GPA would be a must as well, so they will be able to see that you are a serious student.

Be honest:
While you want to make yourself look like a wonderful candidate for the internship, you don’t want to do it by lying. If you say you’ve worked somewhere you haven’t in hopes that this will land you the internship, you run the risk of them finding out, which would most likely cause termination of your internship, or them assuming you posses skills that you don’t.

Honesty is always the best policy, even if you feel that your resume is lacking because of it.

Cover letter magic:
If you are worried about your resume being a bit bare, make sure to beef up your cover letter. Explain why you’d be awesome for the position, like how you want to gain knowledge and how the position would be a wonderful stepping-stone towards your future career.

A cover letter is basically selling yourself, and showing that you have potential and are willing to put in the effort, grow, and learn, which will definitely help your chances. This document can make or break your application, because it is the first thing the company will see when evaluating all the applications.

Sometimes they receive so many applicants that they will dismiss an application if the cover letter is not up to par, and won’t even bother looking at the rest. I’m not mentioning this to scare you, only to draw attention to the fact that the cover letter is more important than many people give it credit for.

Internships.com mentions that “a well written cover letter will increase your odds of landing that great internship position.” You want to make it unique and express yourself in a short, sweet, and to the point manner that will make you stand out.

Brush up on interview skills:
You want to be ready if you get a call from the internship following up your application. Interships.com said “eloquence, good eye contact, confident body language, and firm handshakes go a long way towards giving a good interview.”

They will likely have all your information in front of them, so you’ll want to make sure you have a pretty good grasp of everything you wrote down without consulting your resume yourself. If, for instance, they ask you how long you were volunteering at a shelter that you talked about in your resume, and you can’t remember, they may take it as you lying. Of course nerves will be setting in, but your conversation will flow more congruently if you have practiced beforehand.

Also make sure to look up some background on the place you are interviewing for. A little extra information never hurts, especially if they ask you what about the company makes you want to intern there.

Whether or not you get the position, you’ll want to send a follow up email thanking the interviewer for their time. If you don’t get it, you could politely ask why, so that you’ll be more prepared for your next interview somewhere else.

Good luck landing that internship!

Source: Dream Careers