TUN sits down with Marcie Kirk Holland, the executive director of the Internship and Career Center at the University of California, Davis, to discuss tips on how to write a cover letter for an internship. 

TUN: Marcie, thanks so much for joining us. 

KIRK HOLLAND: Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be with you.

What is the purpose of a cover letter when applying for internships?

It’s an introduction and it’s designed to grab people’s attention. They often get many, many applications and resumes for a position. Your cover letter is a way to just highlight the elements of your experience that most directly relate to that position.

Check TUN’s interview with Andre Fontenelle, the associate director for internships and employer relations at Brooklyn College, for advice on how students should write their resumes.

Great. I think it would make the most sense for students if we go paragraph by paragraph. So, in the typical internship cover letter, what should applicants include in the first paragraph?

It is a lot like journalistic writing, really. Think about the 5 Ws — the who, what, when, where, why — and how. Make sure you mention all of those. 

What’s the position for which you are applying? Many companies have numerous requisitions open at the same time, so make sure you’re clear about which position you’re applying for and why. Why are you qualified for that specific position? Be sure to tell them who you are and a little bit about yourself. 

You want to end the first paragraph with a sentence that essentially states a thesis. “I believe I’m a good candidate because ….”

And it is important for the candidates to think about, what are the three attributes that you have that make you the most qualified for this position? It might be a combination of course work, experience and interests. 

Great. So, what should students include in the second or body paragraphs of their cover letters?

Examples of their work experience. 

So, your final sentence in that first paragraph would be, “I’m a good candidate because of attributes one, two and three.”

In the second paragraph, you go into details about that. So, you have a good topic sentence and then you take each of those attributes and you give two examples for each. 

It is very much like your high school writing class, where you learn a major, minor and minor — major sentence and then minor supporting sentences. Those sentences that support your qualifications should talk about a situation, action and result. It should match your resume. It’s a complementary document.

Great. So, what should students include in the final paragraphs of their internship cover letters?

They should reinforce what they’ve said in the beginning. It should be a pretty short paragraph. The key in that paragraph is really to make it easy to get back in touch with you.

Have somebody you know and love that calls you check your phone number or email address. I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to go back to somebody and they have the wrong phone number or there’s a typo in their email address. So, be sure to proofread those kinds of things. 

I often hear people say, “My phone number and my email address are elsewhere on the document.” I still think it’s important to mention it right there. After you’ve hooked them in and they know that you’re interested, you want them to be able to reach out to you right away.

Great. So, let’s talk about the proper style and tone of cover letters. Should the writing be very formal, or is it okay to make it conversational and show a little bit of your personality?

I definitely think it’s important to show your personality. Authenticity is so critical in having a job that you like. If you have to be somebody totally different from who you are, then it’s probably not a good match. 

That said, an internship is probably going to stretch you, especially if you’re trying out something new. So, there may be some part of you that is still developing, and we talk about that as creating your professional identity. So, that may still be developing, but you still need to be true to who you are to have a professional identity that works well for you throughout your lifetime. 

So, do whatever is appropriate for your style. But, you also need to think about the industry. Some industries are certainly more formal than others.

Great. So, who should internship applicants address their cover letters to?

Yeah, that’s a great question. I personally really discourage people from writing “To whom it may concern.” We have the internet. It is much easier now to find who might be the person who’s doing the hiring. Often, it is hidden somewhere in the job description. It may not always be super obvious. But if you do a little bit of research, you can often find the person to whom it should be addressed. If not, a good default is to say “dear hiring manager” or “dear manager of X department.” 

SAMPLE COVER LETTER FOR INTERNSHIP

Credit: UC Davis Internship and Career Center Career Resource Manual

Great. To wrap up, is there anything that I skipped over that you believe internship applicants should know about when writing cover letters?

It needs to have visual appeal. It needs to look nice on a page. It needs to not be too long. It needs to flow well. It’s a complementary document to the resume and needs to look like that. The fonts should match. Your attributes should be reflected in greater detail than on the resume. 

Also, it is important to be clear about when you need a cover letter. I often talk to students and they say, “I’m going to meet with so-and-so but I need to finish my cover letter.” 

You don’t. If you’re there to hand your resume to somebody, [you don’t need a cover letter]. So, at a career fair, you don’t need a cover letter. 

Thanks, Marcie, for joining us today. 

Yeah. Thank you. It was a pleasure. And good luck everybody on your internships! I’m glad that you’re applying. It is an important step.

This interview has been edited for clarity.