There are numerous internship opportunities for young people to participate in, but it can be a challenge to find them sometimes. Some of these internships offer a paycheck and others do not. Nevertheless, they are a great way to learn more about your chosen field and can be a valuable notch on your career path. Sometimes, the best way to get the perfect internship is to send emails to the companies you’re interested in working for, but keep in mind there are some do’s and don’ts to remember first. Keep reading for the ultimate guide on how to cold email for an internship and begin your first foray into the professional world the right way from the first step preceding your dream internship and first job.
Do “Cold” Emails Work?
Sending unsolicited emails to companies about their internships can work to get your foot in the door for an internship offer (or at least to get an informational interview and expand your professional network) as long as you follow some simple rules. Cold emailing (and cold calling) won’t work if you just charge in there without some planning ahead of time and a sound cold email strategy, but once you learn some tips about how to master the cover letter, the perfect cold email, the hiring process, and the priorities of the recipient of your email, you are much more likely to get a positive response. There’s an effective way to create and send out these emails and an ineffective way, and you just need to learn the difference between the two. If this is your goal, you’ve come to the right place.
Getting started is easy once you find the right contacts to email. It’s best if you start with semi-warm contacts, such as people who went to the same school as you. This common ground creates a good way to start your email because it creates some familiarity between the two of you. There’s a good chance that simply realizing they went to the same school as you will make them more open to reading and responding to your email. If nothing else, your email will catch their attention.
You can find alumni from your school through LinkedIn or even through the school’s alumni department in some instances. One thing to keep in mind is to find people who are associates or higher in their company. Someone working in the mailroom won’t be able to help you much at the end of the day. Since most companies have websites, you can get their email addresses from there once you learn where these people are working.
Tips to Help Increase Your Odds of Success
If you’re still in high school or even in college, you may not be aware of some of the tips mentioned here, but they are important nonetheless. The first thing (and arguable the most important thing) to remember is to be professional when writing your emails. It’s good to be enthusiastic, but you also want to remain professional at all times, as this is a good indicator of your maturity in the hiring manager’s eyes, which they’ll need to determine if you’re an appropriate fit for an internship in their company’s professional environment. If necessary, get someone to proofread your email before sending it so there are no typos or grammatical errors. The first impression you make is crucial because it could all end there if you do something wrong.
And while we’re on the subject, always double-check the spelling of the contact’s name to make sure it’s correct. If you don’t do this, your first email to this person might just be your last. Check both the company name and the name of the contact person to make sure you get them right. This information should be easy to get because it is likely on their company website. It only takes an extra minute or so to do this, but it makes all the difference in the world when you’re trying to make a good impression.
Now is a good time to talk about the response rate of this type of activity. Believe it or not, sending out tons of emails is important because it usually only produces a response rate of 1-2%. In practical terms, this means you’ll need to send out tons of emails to get any response at all. This requires patience, but once you start getting responses, you’ll feel much better about everything. Even with a catchy subject line and a professional-sounding email, the response is always minimal.
Don’t Stop With Your Email
An effective cold email usually means one that is complemented with other actions on your part. In other words, don’t just send out an email to someone and never do anything else. If you found the person via their LinkedIn profile, interact with them occasionally so they don’t forget who you are. Send out an occasional follow-up email (but not right away!), and interact with them on other platforms as well. If you remain in contact with the person, it is a great way to increase the odds that you’ll hear back from them at some point.
Another practical tip is to send out the emails on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Monday and Friday are the worst days to contact a businessperson, especially someone you don’t know personally. After the initial email, you should wait seven to ten days before you send your second one, and it’s best not to reference the previous email if possible. And the best time to send it out is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on those three days. If they believe you’re a good fit for their company, they will let you know.
In addition, if you have a mutual connection with this person, make sure you mention it. Just because the two of you know the same person doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get the job, of course, but it does mean that the person is much more likely to read and consider your email. Making a personal connection with your contact always increases the odds of eventually getting what you want, which is why this step is so important.
One of the questions you might already be asking yourself is, should I call my contact at some point? You can definitely call them at some point – unless there is no phone number in their contact information. If you look them up and there’s only an email address, respect their boundaries and do not try to find their phone number to call them. If you do decide to call, keep in mind that businesspeople are super-busy, so you might want to start with an email asking them to name a time that’s convenient for you to call.
What Type of Email Should You Send?
Now let’s take a closer look at the email itself that you’ll be sending to your contact. If it’s a semi-warm contact and you have something in common with that person, it’s a little easier to write the email, but what if it’s someone you have nothing in common with and don’t know personally? This is called a cold contact, and writing a great cold email is a little different than writing others. The first thing you need to do is make sure the subject line catches their attention, and it’s a lot easier than you think.
Once again, be professional in all of your emails, and if this is your very first contact with this person, you can put something like, “(Your name) (School name)” in the subject line. Or, you can put the name of your mutual connection if you didn’t go to the same school. Either of these will catch their attention, and you’ll stand a much better chance of having the email read and taken seriously. And when you start writing the email, use the same professionalism and consideration that you did for the subject line.
Keep the email short, but give them enough information so that they know why you’re writing. Remember, they are busy, so short and sweet emails are what you want. Don’t attach your resume to the email, and make sure you include your own contact details and information on your academics, extracurricular activities, and any volunteer work that you do. One thing that most potential employers want to see is that you’re a well-rounded individual, and you can prove that to them in your email.
If the contact person wrote an article that piqued your interest or you admire some award they’ve won, you can bring that up in the subject line and/or email. Again, anything that makes the email more personal will catch their attention, but to do this it usually takes a little effort and research on your part. The more you know about the contact and the company, the more impressed they’ll be and the more likely they’ll eventually respond to you.
To recap, following these tips is a good idea when sending out cold emails to find the perfect internship.
- Write a catchy and strong subject line
- Make sure the email is addressed to a specific person
- State clearly what you want from them (an internship)
- Pique their interest so they’ll want to call you
- Make the email personal but include achievements
- Keep it “short and sweet”
- Include all of your contact information
- Close the email with a question or a call to action
In short, you’ll want to write the email so that they are anxious to contact you afterwards. You want to evoke a positive response through the email and make them anxious to answer your question. You can ask, “When is a good time for us to talk on the phone?” or something similar. The email should sound like you are awaiting a response from them so that they feel like it is important to get back to you. A slight sense of urgency – without stressing them out – can be added to your email.
Sending Out Cold Emails Is Advantageous
That fact is, sending out cold emails can be good for more than just getting paid or unpaid internships. Cold emails can also be used to communicate with graduate students to find out if furthering their education is something they are glad they did, talk with people who have similar interests or hobbies, or even explore different interests that are either personal or professional in nature. Some people send out 50 cold emails and get back 2-4 responses, which is a good response rate. Even if your number isn’t that high, it is never a waste of time to send out this type of email.
Yet another tip to remember is that even when people write back to you, they don’t always have the response you wanted. For instance, some will write you back and tell you they have no job opportunities at the moment. Others might indicate that even though they do not have a job opening, they might have another opportunity you can appreciate. The point is, just because you don’t get the response you were hoping for doesn’t mean it’s a negative experience.
This brings us to another point – you have to keep track of the emails you sent and the responses you get back. Create a document online and record the names and contact information of everyone you contacted. Record the results, and date everything so you’ll know just what happened and when it happened. If you don’t do this, you’ll forget what you did and you might inadvertently send another email to someone you’ve already contacted and who’s already told you they didn’t have any openings. Staying organized is especially important for high school students because they are especially busy.
For this task, a spreadsheet works out perfectly. You can even color-code the entries so you can immediately tell how many times you’ve contacted them. You can also make as many notes as you like and include tickler files to remind you when you should contact them next. Spreadsheets are easier than word processing documents for this type of work because they are geared towards this type of activity.
What Else Can You Do?
You might also be able to find some email templates that allow you to say the right thing and sound a little more professional in your emails. These shouldn’t be difficult to find if you search online. And as far as contacting the right person, if you can’t find a specific person to send an email to, try sending one to the HR person or hiring manager because they’ll know exactly what openings are available. The higher up in the company they are, the better your chances are to be successful.
Of course, there are both cold and warm markets for you to send emails to, but as long as you have some type of connection to the people you’re communicating with, it’s a good chance that more of them will respond. You can also ask friends and family members if they know anyone who has a high position at a company, and don’t be afraid to go after the smaller companies as well as the larger ones. Sometimes smaller companies have more of a need for interns, although the internships may be unpaid ones.
Keep in mind that before you make that phone call to your contact, you’ll likely have to contact them 2-3 times first. This is another reason why followup is so important. After 3 tries, you can likely disregard that particular person – provided you’ve been professional, succinct, and enthusiastic each and every time you contacted them. In other words, just accept the fact that you’ll likely have to contact them with emails several times before actually getting a response from them.
And while you want to be persistent, you don’t want to be a bother. After 2-3 contacts, if you haven’t heard anything from that person or target company, make a note of it and move on. Don’t delete the contact from the spreadsheet, though, because you’ll want to remember everyone you contacted in the next few months. Again, you don’t want to keep contacting someone if that person has already told you “no” or hasn’t responded after a month or more, but keep their information anyway.
Why the Call Is So Important
If your contact has been impressed enough to have a phone call with you, make sure you’re professional the entire time. Keep the call short and don’t babble on, and always give them your best regards when you’re done. Be courteous but short and professional. Occasionally, you may even get an invitation to an interview – or even a job offer – on that phone call. This is why your ultimate goal should be a call to action, i.e., a call so that you can speak with your contact in person.
The best part about sending out these emails is that eventually, you’ll have a professional network of people you can grow with and learn from, even if they never hire you. Networking is always an important part of moving up in your career. After all, sometimes it isn’t what you know, it’s who you know, at least until you get your foot in the door. It all starts with knowing the right people and communicating with those people regularly. And they can still be good contacts even after they say “no.”
Conclusion
A successful cold email campaign is easier than you think, but it takes both patience and persistence. If you send out a group of emails and get no responses, don’t get discouraged. Just take a deep breath and prepare another group of emails so that you’re consistent in your efforts. The more emails you send, the better your odds are of eventually landing that internship. Even with a small response rate, remember that it’s a numbers game, which is why you need to keep at it. Now that you know how to cold email for an internship, you have no excuse not to pursue that unique summer opportunity in your career field of interest.