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I’ve been reading a lot of internship resumes and cover letters lately, and I’m seeing a trend: students are asking for internships as though the potential employer were doing them a favor.

This approach is misguided. In this post I’ll explain why and then discuss what a proper cover letter should do. Part 2 will show the three parts of an effective cover letter.

Do me a favor

Cover letters that commit this error usually begin something like this:

I need to complete an internship for my major and I’m wondering if you’d have a job for me.

The problem here is that the writer is offering nothing of value to the organization. This is a self-centered approach that sees the internship as a means to an end, something the employer should do for the student. "Help me out," this letter says, "because I need your help to finish my degree."

The recipient of this kind of letter, however, is likely to ask, "Why should I help you? What have you done (or will you do) for me?" This is a perfectly valid question.

Solve a problem

In What Color is Your Parachute?, the classic job hunter’s manual, Richard Nelson Bolles encourages job seekers to be seen as resource persons, not job beggars. Don’t create problems–solve them.

Many students don’t realize that internships create problems for hiring organizations. It takes time, effort, and valuable resources to hire and train someone for only a few months. In many cases this investment is never recouped by the organization. If anything, the prospective employer is doing the student a favor–not the other way around–by providing the internship opportunity.

Students can certainly offer something of value to the organization though. Cheap labor is usually one benefit. It’s also possible that they have gained some useful skills or knowledge in school (that’s our hope, at the very least). It may well be that you have something truly valuable to offer a company, but you won’t get hired unless you can demonstrate that you are a resource person instead of a problem. Internship seekers should therefore focus on using these skills to solve the organization’s problems, not their own.

Understanding this shift in perspective is essential to writing a good cover letter. Check in tomorrow for Part 2 on how to put together the cover letter pieces.

Tags: resumes, cover letters, internships

Filed under: Job Hunting, Work by Michael