How not to apply for an Internship – 3
Choice is yours; afterall career is yours
Continuing from previous post, I am going to talk about couple of worst mistakes one can make while applying for an Internship. I would also like to share what I think makes a good cover letter.
Below are the 4 Internship cover letters that I received in response to web development internship opportunity with Internshala in Delhi. These cover letters are prime examples of how not to apply for a summer internship. Not only your resume gets rejected for that particular internship, but may also hamper your chances for all future internships with that employer, and in some cases could do damage to your academic institute’s reputation as well.
When I read the emails above, it was very obvious that students had not gone through the internship requirements and had applied blindly the moment they found anything containing word “internship” in it. In all likelihood, the cover letters were copied from seniors or friends which made me even more worried. If the candidate does not care to spend 2 minutes of efforts on his internship application, what work and output I could expect from him during the internship? Please, please, please – do not do mass emailing. It does not work – it never has and it never will. One size does not fit all.
So what makes for a good email accompanying your CV? I prefer to stick to KISSS (Keep it Simple, Short, and Specific). An internship cover letter should tell me who you are, what you know about me or this Internship and why should I spend 10 minutes downloading and reading your resume. Of course, all of this in grammatically correct language (SMS language is a strict NO) is a must. This is how I would have applied for this internship –
“Hi Sarvesh, (no scope for gender confusion and adds the personal touch)
Hope you are doing well. This is with reference to opportunity for web development internship at Internshala. I, XYZ, am currently pursuing my B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering (2nd year) from IIT Madras and have a CGPA of 8.55 on 10. I have worked on 3 website development projects before (Required advanced knowledge of HTML, PHP and SQL) for my college/another organization and all 3 portals have been well received by the users. The URLs are following – (Immediate hook for the reader as it’s all so relevant for him)
- Link1 (one line for each of the link on what is the website all about)
- Link2
- Link3
Given my prior experience and knowledge, I believe I am a good fit for the internship. Also since you are looking for someone to start immediately, I was hoping I could work from campus for next 2 months (all the questions on location and availability answered which shows interest) which will also allow me to make students in my college aware of the portal as they can benefit from it directly (again, shows the candidate has thought about what Internshala is trying to do and has additional help to offer)
My CV is attached for your perusal. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. Look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks
XYZ
2nd-year B.Tech (CSE), IIT Madras
+91 – 96507 xxxxx (a good practice in case the employer finds your application so relevant that he decides to call you right away) “
Hope this helps. If you disagree, have something to say, ask, critique or know of an internship opportunity that you would like others to know – post it right away! If you like what you read here, please do tell another friend.
And now that you know how not to (or how to) apply for internships, register on Internshala right away and take a step forward towards your dream career.
