
Best Resume Templates in 2023 (10+ Picks to Use Now)
The best resume templates aren't just about fancy looks. They have to be sleek and professional. Their layout needs to show off your value. Here's what'll help.
Recruiters scan resumes for professional experience. But what if your experience is limited to an internship? Learn if it’s enough & how to show it on a resume for maximum impact.
Adding an internship to your resume makes sense. Especially if your professional experience is limited.
But—
How to put it on your resume? Does it need a separate section? And is it really necessary to always list it?
You’re about to find out.
This guide will show you:
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Want to write a resume for internships? Switch over to our dedicated guide: How to Write a Resume for an Internship & Get It
Looking for more resume writing advice? We’ve got you covered:
1
Here’s the thing—
Internship experience on a resume can seriously kickstart your career.
How’s that?
Let’s take a look at some stats—
What is the most influential factor when employers select one entry-level candidate over another?
Answer: Internship with the employer’s organization.
And one more:
What’s the second most influential factor in making a hiring decision?
Answer: Internship experience in a given industry.
And no. I'm not making this up.
These are the results of the 2019 NACE Job Outlook survey.
In fact—
These two rank #1 and #2 on the list of the most influential attributes when deciding between hiring equally skilled candidates, with the scores of 4.6 and 4.5 respectively on a 5-point scale.
More than this—
The same two factors topped the list in NACE’s previous survey as well.
See the point?
If you’re about to enter the job market, internship on a resume is no longer a nice-to-have.
It’s more of a must-have.
Pro Tip: If you have no internship experience to show off on your resume, fret not. Volunteering on a resume could be just as valuable.
Plus—
It’s not any kind of internship experience on a resume that matters.
It’s either an internship within the employer’s own organization or industry.
In other words:
Relevant internship experience.
And one more thing—
You don’t need to list an internship on your resume if you’ve had paid job experience in the meantime.
An executive who listed their internship and GPA on a resume wouldn't be taken seriously, would they?
Listing an internship on a resume makes sense on your first resume without work experience, or if you’ve been in the workforce for less than 2 years.
Pro Tip: If you interned with the likes of Google or Apple, you may consider including this on your resume for up to five years after completion. But that’s the absolute maximum.
Just graduated from college? No idea how to go about writing a job-winning resume? Head straight to our guide: Recent College Graduate Resume: Sample & Full Guide [20+ Examples]
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
When you’re done, our professional resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.
2
Do you know why employers pay so much attention to an internship on your resume?
Because it’s the very beginning of your professional experience.
And the latest Recruiter Nation Report from Jobvite proves that—
Experience is what employers desire most in candidates.
So treat your time as an intern as your professional experience, and put it in your resume experience section.
It could look like this:
Pro Tip: Don’t have any internship experience to show off on your resume? Don’t worry. Start with learning how to find an internship that’s right for you and successfully apply for it.
Remember—
It doesn’t matter if you were paid or not.
You can put unpaid internship (volunteering) on a resume in the experience section too. As long as it’s related to the job ad.
It’s the experience that matters, not the money.
Now:
Here’s how to format your internship experience on a resume for maximum impact:
Here’s what this looks like in practice.
July 2018–September 2018
Garage UX Designer (Summer Internship)
Microsoft, Cambridge, MA
Key achievement:
Pro Tip: Don’t put a future internship on your resume. Your resume is about the past experience that you actually had. No one knows what the future holds.
Not sure what else you could include in your resume? Read out guide on What to Put on a Resume (20+ Good Things You Should Include to Win).
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
Here’s how to put an internship on a resume:
Do you have any more questions about putting an internship on a resume? Maybe you’d like to share your advice? Give us a shout out in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!
This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.
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