Cover Letter for Internship: Format & Sample [No Experience]

Worried you won’t get accepted for an internship? Boost your chances of success with a cover letter for internship applications that will put you miles ahead of your competition.

Hanna Wołoszyn, CPRW

Certified Professional Resume Writer, Career Expert

Updated 02/12/2023

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Honestly, how stressful is applying for internships?

You only have a few opportunities to choose from, your competition is huge, and you have that nagging feeling that you’re doing it all wrong.

Take it one step at a time—

Starting with writing the perfect cover letter for internship applications, guaranteed to increase your chances and help you outshine the competition.

This guide will show you:

A cover letter for an internship sample better than 9 out of 10 others.
Tips on the best cover letter format for internship applications.
How to write a cover letter for an internship that gets you hired.

Want to write your cover letter fast? Use our cover letter builder. Choose from 20+ professional cover letter templates that match your resume. See actionable examples and get expert tips along the way.

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Cover Letter for Internship: Sample

Akanksha Maharaj

Law Student

Address: 4 Matoshree Apts, Sector 9, Airoli

Mumbai, 400708

Phone: 02227604787

Email: akansha.maharaj@email.com

5th July 2021

Ms Urvashi Sha

Hiring Manager

Hedge & Partners

20/48, Jay Mahal Estate, Lohar Chawl

Mumbai, 400814

Dear Ms Sha,

As a final-year law student at Mumbai University, I was thrilled to see the internship opportunity at Hedge & Partners. Your lawyers’ spectacular win in the 2017 New Delhi animal sanctuary case is actually what inspired me to study law. I sincerely hope that my 95% CGPA, excellent knowledge of local legislation, and superb communication and organisational skills will make me a worthy candidate for this internship.

I understand that you’re looking for an intern who’s eager to learn, but also ready to provide immediate value to the firm as an assistant to your lawyers. I’m happy to report that:

During my first-year internship at GHA Law Firm, I successfully assisted in gathering and preparing materials for 5 court cases, with 100% accuracy.
Two lawyers at GHA commended me for my time management and organisational skills.
Thanks to my outstanding academic achievements in law-related topics, I’ve made it onto the Dean’s list every semester during my degree.

It’s incredibly inspiring that you choose your cases not on the basis of their profitability, but on the potential social impact they will have. Your work really matters, and I’d love to be part of the change. I want to make a positive difference, too, and I believe that starts with the chance to learn from the best at Hedge & Partners.

I’d love to discuss in more detail how my skills and knowledge could become an asset to Hedge & Partners. My methodical approach can be highly useful in finding ever more efficient ways to manage your firm’s caseload and prepare documents for your lawyers.

Best regards,

Akanksha Maharaj

Law student

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

1. Use the Right Cover Letter Format for Internship Applications

You know what they say about first impressions—

You only get to make yours once, so don’t waste your opportunity.

If your cover letter looks hard to read, chances are the hiring manager won’t even bother to try. So before you start filling the page with reasons to hire you, make sure your format is up to scratch.

First, here’s how to organize the contents of your internship cover letter:

Cover Letter Template for Internships

Your contact information, including at least your phone and email.
Date of writing.
The hiring manager’s contact information, including company name and address.
Salutation (or greeting) — Dear Hiring Manager or Dear + hiring manager’s surname will work perfectly fine.
First paragraph — hook the reader with a strong, engaging introduction.
Second paragraph — expand on why you’re the perfect candidate, focusing on your measurable achievements and relevant skills.
Third paragraph — explain why you want this job more than any other.
Final paragraph — your closing statements, including a call to action.
Sign-off — Best regards, followed by your full name.

All in all, your cover letter should not exceed one page. Yep, just one page—

See? It’s already getting easier!

Now for how to format your cover letter:

Cover Letter Format for Internships

Set one-inch margins all the way around the page.
Include a professional-looking header.
Pick a simple font, like Arial or Helvetica, and set to at least 11 points for readability.
Use 1 to 1.15 line spacing within paragraphs and double line spacing between paragraphs. White space helps to break up what would otherwise be an intimidating block of text.
Left-align the contents of your cover letter.

Pro Tip: Use the same header and font for your cover letter as for your resume. Alongside looking very professional, a matching set of documents will make you more memorable.

2. Start Your Cover Letter for Internships the Right Way

For experienced professionals, “the right way” essentially means “with a show-stopping career achievement”.

You’re still studying, so that’s not likely to be an option for you. What can you do instead to grab the recruiter’s attention and make sure they give your application the attention it deserves?

Here’s how to start a student cover letter for internship opportunities:

Introduce yourself and identify the internship you’re applying for in one sentence.
Mention a measurable academic achievement or, if possible, an accomplishment from work experience or a previous internship.
Show your passion for your chosen field. As a student or fresher, your enthusiasm is one of your greatest assets, alongside your education.
Refer to something about the company that you find impressive—a bit of flattery always helps! Make sure to actually use the name of the company to make your cover letter appear more personal.
Sprinkle in a few of your key skills that are most relevant to the internship.

How you assemble those parts will depend on what you’ve got to work with—

But you should end up with something like this:

How to Write a Cover Letter for Internships: Introduction

RIGHT

Akanksha Maharaj

Law Student

Address: 4 Matoshree Apts, Sector 9, Airoli

Mumbai, 400708

Phone: 02227604787

Email: akansha.maharaj@email.com

5th July 2021

Ms Urvashi Sha

Hiring Manager

Hedge & Partners

20/48, Jay Mahal Estate, Lohar Chawl

Mumbai, 400814

Dear Ms Sha,

So—

Have you spotted the elements listed above? This candidate makes excellent use of all of them and manages to convey great enthusiasm. You don’t need to have outstanding achievements to write an introduction like this, either:

You could easily remove the mention of the CGPA from this paragraph, and it would still be engaging and impressive.

Now, for an example that’s not so impressive:

WRONG

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my interest in the internship opportunity at your company. As an accomplished law student with extensive knowledge of relevant legislation, I believe I would be a great fit for your firm. I’m highly organised and motivated, with great communication skills. This internship would be the perfect opportunity for me to apply the skills I’ve gained during my studies and learn from real-life cases.

Notice the difference?

These examples could come from the same candidate—

But the second one is a copy-paste introduction that could be sent out to any company. Without tailoring to each specific internship, you end up with bland copy that won’t convince anyone of your enthusiasm or motivation.

Pro Tip: If you have a referral to mention (for instance, from one of your professors), you can do so in the introduction, too, to catch the reader’s interest.

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3. Show You’re the Best Candidate for the Internship

Phew!

Don’t you feel much better now that you’re not starting at an empty page?

Let’s keep the ball rolling and move on to acing the next paragraphs of your internship cover letter.

You need to show:

That you understand the role and the company’s expectations of its interns,
Proof that you’ve succeeded with similar tasks in the past,
Why you want this internship more than any other.

Like so:

Cover Letter Sample for Internship: Middle Paragraphs

RIGHT

I understand that you’re looking for an intern who’s eager to learn, but also ready to provide immediate value to the firm as an assistant to your lawyers. I’m happy to report that:

During a first-year internship at GHA Law Firm, I successfully assisted in gathering and preparing materials for 5 court cases, with 100% accuracy.
Two lawyers at GHA commended me for my time management and organisational skills.
Thanks to my outstanding academic achievements in law-related topics, I’ve made it onto the Dean’s list every semester during my degree.

This candidate doesn’t have a lot of experience—

But note how well they show off what they do have!

For comparison, check out an incorrect example from the same candidate:

WRONG
Although I don’t have any work experience, I have completed an internship in my first year of studying law. I’m confident that I can apply the skills gained there and throughout my studies towards becoming a successful intern at your company. I have the determination to succeed and the right knowledge and skills, all I need is to be given an opportunity.

Not terrible, but far from great. Above all, in this example, the candidate fails to tailor the cover letter to the company or to provide any proof to back up their claims.

You’d have no doubt who to hire, would you?

4. End Your Cover Letter for an Internship With a Call to Action

You’ve got this internship in the bag, right?

Not so fast.

There’s still one paragraph to go, and you can’t risk losing the recruiter’s attention.

So, here’s what to include in your closing sentences:

An offer to discuss your suitability further. It works wonders: it suggests you’re ready for an interview and that you’re confident in your abilities, plus it implies you have even more skills and achievements to mention.
Another offer to help the company achieve a specific goal, streamline a process, or increase efficiency in the given area. This will remind the recruiter of the value you can add to the company.

Include a professional closing sentiment (Best regards is the safest option), followed by your signature and full name in print. After your name, add your job title or field of study, e.g. Computer Science student.

Here’s what it could look like in practice:

Cover Letter Examples for Internship: Closing Paragraph

RIGHT

Best regards,

Akanksha Maharaj

Law student

That’s a strong ending, isn’t it? The perfect blend of confidence and value to the employer!

Meanwhile, here’s a closing statement to avoid:

WRONG

Thank you for considering my application, I look forward to hearing from you. I’m available for an interview at your convenience.

Best,

Akanksha

Yeah—

Recruiters already know all of that, so you’ve just wasted your words and their time.

Remember: every sentence in your cover letter needs to have a purpose. If it doesn’t show your value or prove you’re the right choice, it needs to go.

A great cover letter that matches your CV 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:

Create my cover letter

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaway

Here’s a recap of how to write a cover letter for internship applications:

Use the correct format for your internship cover letter. It makes for a good, professional first impression.
Start strong with an achievement or a statement that shows your enthusiasm. Grab the reader’s attention and make them want to find out more about you.
Prove you’re the best candidate. Show you understand the role, and then prove you have the necessary skills by calling on examples from your past.
End with a CTA. Offer to provide immediate, specific value to the company.

And that’s all!

You now have a top-grade cover letter for internships, ready to land you a life-changing opportunity!

Thanks for reading! Still not sure how to write a cover letter for an internship? Having trouble with a cover letter for internships with no experience to draw on? Let us know in the comments, we’re here to help!

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Cover Letter for Internship: Format & Sample [No Experience]

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