How to Write a Cover Letter for Your Internship

Today, taking an internship is vital. Doing so will help you gain hands on work experience in your preferred field. This work related learning experience is most often a temporary work, lasting for at least three months to a year. In applying for an internship, you are encouraged to submit a cover letter. An internship cover letter is nearly similar to a cover letter for permanent position. Hence, the process on how to prepare a cover letter for internship is nearly the same as that for real position.



Normally, you will feel uncertain about creating an internship cover letter for the first time. You might feel less confident and scared about the idea of writing on your own. This is also normal. Nevertheless, do not drive yourself so hard that you will end up replicating other people's work on the Web. In contrast to what you might be thinking right now, writing a cover letter is not difficult. All you have to learn is the basics of building up a cover letter and it will be soon much easier for you to make a great cover letter.



Three Important Parts on Your Cover Letter



Essentially, cover letters have at least three basic parts. As you learn to focus on them more, your cover letter will soon improve.



· The Introduction - Your introductory statement should be compelling enough to get the reader's attention. It states your intention of writing the letter without flowery words. Be direct. State the position you are targeting. To build your introduction more effectively, find out more about the vacancy. In this paragraph, you should also state how you found out about the job vacancy. The reason for this is that some hiring managers prioritize more the applications that have connection to their company.



· The Body - In the body of your letter, tell all of your qualifications. What makes you important to be hired? You should be able to highlight your skills and experience that will make you stand out from the rest of the applicants. Frankly, bulleted lists are not urged in your letter. Save it for your resume. The body should be brief as possible. You have at most 60 seconds to attract the reader's attention and keep it.



· Conclusion - It is critical to end your letter properly. Once you build a convincing introduction and body, you need to inform the reader when you are available for the interview. It is also encouraged to include the time and date that you will make a follow up about your application.



An effective cover letter speaks to its reader. This way it can convince the reader speak to you. To retain the hiring manager's attention on you, avoid two pages long cover letter, one whole page is already too much for an internship cover letter. Three or four paragraphs is the perfect length. Bear in mind that white spaces are critical in a cover letter as this makes glancing over and reading more efficient for the reader. So if possible, make your cover letter concise and short.





Landon Long is the founder of InterviewMastermind.com. You can download his FREE "Resume Rebel" Video Course to learn how to write a resume and stand out in a slow economy.