The Art of Getting an Internship - The Resumé

Finding a summer or seasonal internship can be next to impossible for those who consider themselves to be introverted. Let's take a look at what we can do to help you out if you feel that you fall into this category...

This article and this series of articles are dedicated to those who get anxious about finding internships or have had no luck in the past. The skills required to get an internship can be learned and mastered with practice. This short article covers the basics of these skills. We will get into more detail on this topic in later articles.

The Critical Importance of a Well-Designed Resumé

“If I find even one typo on a resumé, I will throw it in the trash. If I can't trust you to proofread your own resumé, how can I trust you with an important company task?” --Hiring Manager for a Fortune 500 Company

Yes, the above quote was actually said.

During my second year of college, I went to a panel led by alumni, that featured engineering directors, CEOs, and hiring managers. Some of these individuals worked for small companies, while some worked at fortune 500 companies. These men and women were responsible for hiring interns, engineers, scientists, and/or technicians for their companies.

Each of them were different, coming from different backgrounds and walks of life. Each of them had different thoughts and feelings on what they thought made the ideal candidate. They did however, agree on the following three items regarding a resumé.

1. No Typos, Grammatical Errors, or Formatting Issues

I hear this time and time again from young professionals. "It was just one typo, it's no big deal."

If you have caught yourself saying this in the past, there is no easy way I can put this, other than telling you that it is a big deal. I will explain why:

If you were sick with a cold, and went to the grocery store to buy medicine, would you buy the cheap brand with a typo on the label, or the slightly more expensive brand with no typos?

What if the cheaper brand had no typos on the label? Would you buy it then?

Typos bring doubt into the decision making process. Be honest with yourself, if this article had typos in it, would believe anything I said? Your resumé is an extension of you. Why ruin someone's view of you with something as silly as a typo?

2. Design and Formatting

How much thought did you put into the formatting of your resumé? Did you just use the standard bullet points, fonts, and spacing that defaults in Microsoft word?

I know, many of you are not marketing students or graphic designers. However, you can learn a lot from them. And I bet you have some friends who are studying or studied those topics?

It is true, the actual words written on the resumé carry more weight than the design of the resumé. With that said, a well-designed resumé is going to outperform a poorly designed resumé with the same accomplishments.

Why is that?

It is the same reason we choose one brand of shoes over another, for lack of a better example. Human beings are drawn to attractive things. Your resumé can be attractive, from the fonts selected, to the design of a side column, to the white or off-white colors chosen for the printer paper. Every detail is important, and every detail can be 100% controlled by you.

3. Write a Cover Letter

I know. There is nothing fun about writing a cover letter.

Let me tell you something that is less-fun, not getting the internship you wanted.

I have met hiring managers that do not even read a resumé that does not have a cover letter. The cover letter is often used as a decision-making tool to decide between many candidates with similar qualifications.

It will not hurt you to have a cover letter, unless it was poorly made. The worst that will happen is the hiring manager does not read it. But having one can be the difference between getting a phone call for an interview and not.

Want to Learn More?

This post is the first installment of many on the Art of Getting an Internship. Feel free to join our mailing list to get updates on future articles.

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