Cover Letter for Internship Example (+How-to Guide)

Experience is always going to be the kind of thing that’s hard to beat. Education, training, knowledge—these things are a given but in so many fields they’re not enough to get the job. Not when competition is so fierce. For an employer, given the choice, it’s almost always better to go with experience.

The tricky thing becomes gaining said experience when often even entry-level jobs require that you already have some experience. Enter the internship. Real-world experience there for the taking plus the knowledge that many companies end up hiring their interns full time. Only there’s that fierce competition again.

The sample cover letter for an internship below is easily better than nine out of ten out there. This article will show you how to write a cover letter for an internship that’s at least as good. With plenty of good advice and cover letter examples for internship applications, you’ll be done in no time.

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Looking for a different CV template? See these guides:

• Administrative Assistant Cover Letter
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Internship cover letter template

Here’s how to write a cover letter for an internship:

1. Set your internship cover letter header out properly

As an intern you won’t be expected to know it all, but you will be required to follow instructions and procedures. Your ability to follow directions and your attention to detail are on display in your internship cover letter from the get go. Not having your header set out properly will say a lot about you. You must know how to address a cover letter properly.

Luckily this isn’t rocket surgery. Start by aligning to the right your full name, postal address, email and phone number. Leave a line, add the date (in the form 5th August 2021), leave another line. Now align to the left the recruiter’s full name, their job title, the company name, and the company’s postal address.

Sample cover letter for internship header

You can adjust every cover letter created in the builder to meet the job requirements. Choose the name of your profession and the company to which you’re applying, and the LiveCareer cover letter builder will automatically adapt the content for you. Create a cover letter faster than you ever thought possible and apply for the job in record time.

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2. Keep the salutation in your internship cover letter formal

Having little or no experience in the workplace, it can be difficult to know how to address potential future superiors. Do you plough in, assuming you’re on a first name basis? Or do you dial it back and address people by their titles and surnames? This will vary according to the corporate culture of a given company.

Applying for an internship, you’re overwhelmingly likely to be writing to someone significantly more senior than you. In more traditional companies, hierarchy is especially important. These are both reasons to default to a more formal ‘Dear + title + surname’. For example, ‘Dear Mr Troldhaugen’.

Some companies have a more progressive corporate culture and using the above form of address might be out of place there. Many startups and tech companies are like this, among others. In these cases you might feel comfortable starting with ‘Dear + first name’. Err on the side of formality if you’re unsure, though.

When using gendered titles like Mr or Ms, be sure that you have the gender of the person to whom you’re writing right. Check the company website, LinkedIn, and any similar sources you can think of. In the very unlikely event that you can’t determine their gender, go with ‘Dear + first name + surname’.

On the topic of due diligence and background research, know exactly to whom it is that you’re writing. Find the recruiter’s (or hiring manager’s) full name and exact job title. Use the online sources mentioned above and add to the list calling the company and asking if they can help you come up with the answers.

If you’re not able to pinpoint a target for your internship cover letter (or application letter) by name and job title, then at least address your letter to their role. For example, ‘Dear Hiring Manager’. The more specific you can be, the better. Whatever you do, do not default to the effortless and off-putting ‘To Whom It May Concern’.

Sample cover letter for internship salutation

3. Open strong and set your internship cover letter up for success

As someone writing a cover letter for an internship, it’s unlikely that you have much or even any relevant work experience. Once you’re applying for full-time positions, you’ll open your cover letter with an impressive on-the-job achievement, as well as communicating your enthusiasm and suitability.

Not having the benefit of a relevant work history (this is what you’ll start building with your internship) doesn’t mean not being able to impress recruiters from the outset. Start your cover letter showcasing your passion for the role and the company. Add a relevant achievement from your studies or any volunteer work you’ve done.

Don’t stress if you can’t come up with an achievement. The reasoning behind including an achievement is that it allows you to show what you have to offer the company by describing what you’ve accomplished elsewhere. You can also impress recruiters by showing how you’d make a good fit in other ways.

The best way to do this is to make it clear that your goals and values are compatible with the company’s goals and stated values. Research the company to figure out how it sees itself and how it wants others to see it. Include a belief statement or find another way to show that your goals and values align with its.

Now is the time to mention if you were referred to the internship programme, either by someone within the company or your educational institution, if you’re currently studying. People shy away from ‘dropping names’ like this, but doing so works in your favour and hiring referrals works in the company’s favour.

It may seem like an awful lot is happening in this opening paragraph, and there is, but the whole thing should end up being between 40 and 80 words, which is not much at all. To recap, the main things you want to do are communicate your enthusiasm and show an alignment of goals and values.

Internship cover letter examples: opening paragraph

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4. Show that you’re the right one for the role in the main part of your internship cover letter

What else should you include in your cover letter? Once you have some experience under your belt, your main internship cover letter body paragraphs will be rapid-fire showcases of fully-quantified accomplishments. In the meantime, take 120–200 words and one or two paragraphs to describe how you meet all the requirements in the job advert and then some.

Start by showing that you’ve read and understood the entry requirements for the internship programme or job. Sounds obvious, but doing so will already put you ahead of many other applicants. Do this by summarising the requirements in a single sentence or picking out the most onerous ones if there are very many.

“Students and interns should personalize their cover letters by referencing the company’s culture, expressing genuine interest in the specific role, and highlighting relevant experience. It's important to tailor each cover letter to the job offer and company, focusing on what truly matters to the employer. Avoid including unnecessary details, such as zodiac signs, marital status, or an extensive list of hobbies—this advice applies to candidates at all levels of seniority”.

State that you meet these requirements and show how by providing hard facts to support your claim. Pick two or three requirements and provide proof that you meet them by describing specific examples, using statistics, and quantifying as necessary. You can use bullet points here to make things more readable.

Take some space to elaborate on your enthusiasm for working for this particular company and your passion for the work. Insert some more of your research on the company here, slipping it in as discreetly as you can. That said, do show off your knowledge regarding the company—this’ll really set you apart.

Cover letter examples for internship—main paragraphs

5. Wrap up any loose ends and end your internship cover letter with a confident CTA

You’ll now need to tie up any loose ends in your body paragraphs. Make sure it’s clear how what you discussed in your body paragraphs shows your suitability for the internship programme to which you’re applying. If it already is clear, then there’s no need to labour the point or repeat yourself.

Thank your reader for the time and energy they’re investing in processing and evaluating your application. Expressing gratitude has many benefits and if nothing else, it’s good manners. End on a confident call to action (CTA): show that you’re keen to discuss your candidature further but leave the ball in their court.

Do only as much as you need to in the final section of your cover letter for an internship. Focus on two or three things only: tying up loose ends (if necessary), thanking the recruiter, and taking the initiative by proposing the next step (in general terms). This part of your internship cover letter will be short—only 40–60 words in total.

Sample cover letter for internship—closing paragraph

6. Sign off the right way and your cover letter for an internship is complete

This part could hardly be easier. You have one choice and two options. Sign off with ‘Yours Sincerely’ if you addressed your internship cover letter to a named person or with ‘Yours Faithfully’ if you didn’t and used a role instead, like ‘Dear Hiring Manager’. Skip a couple of lines and type your full name.

The skipped lines are to leave room for a signature. Definitely do sign your cover letter if you’re going to be printing it out and submitting it in hardcopy. Leave the extra space even if you’re emailing your cover letter without a signature, though. You could copy and paste a high quality scan in, but it’s not required.

Sample internship cover letter sign-off

What else to remember about when writing an internship cover letter

You have to do quite a bit of research on a given company to really target your internship cover letter to it. This makes copying and pasting from one cover letter into another a very bad idea. The difference between a generic, copy-paste cover letter and a laser-beam focused one is night and day for a recruiter.

The degree to which your goals line up with those of a given company and the degree to which you make for a good fit to the corporate culture are extremely important factors here. So put the effort into doing your homework on each company to which you apply. Low-key show off your knowledge about it.

How long should your cover letter be? It should end up being about 200–350 words long, not including the header, salutation, and sign-off. Be sure to the fill page by spreading everything out and including plenty of white space. Choose an inconspicuous font like Noto, Arial, Liberation or even Calibri.

Remember that your internship application is made up of two main parts: your internship cover letter and CV form a single whole. Take care that your general layout, font choice, and colour scheme (if any) reflect this fact. The two documents should visually constitute a single, coherent application.

When emailing your cover letter, Save your work in PDF unless you’ve explicitly been asked for something else. Give your name documents logical, clear and appropriate file names. A format like [Surname]_[Name]_[Document] makes sense. Definitely do not send in files named with random strings or version numbers or the word ‘final’ in them.

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That’s it! I hope this article has left you feeling ready to write a winning internship cover letter and helped you step out onto your chosen career path. Better yet, I hope you’ve been playing along at home and that you’ve got your cover letter ready to go. Questions or comments? Leave them below!

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Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.