Internship CV Example

Key Sections to Include in an Internship CV

There are certain sections employers expect to see on your CV. When writing your CV for internship, make sure to include the sections listed below. If you’re applying for an internship you might be a recent graduate or just starting your career, so it’s normal to lack work experience. As such, you might adopt a CV structure that focuses more on your skills than your experience. This is known as a functional CV.

Make sure your internship CV includes these sections:

Contact details

The first section of any CV is your contact details. Add your name in bold or a larger font, followed by your email address, phone number and postal address or location. You may also add some additional details, such as links to portfolios, LinkedIn profiles, marital status or even a photo. Photos on CVs are typically optional, but if you add one, make sure it’s a professional-looking headshot.

CV objective or summary

Your CV objective is the first opportunity to really grab the attention of the employer. Write two to three sentences to promote your skills and qualities in a nutshell. Use strong adjectives to describe your working style and mention any work experience. You could also highlight your career ambitions and reasons for applying for an internship.

Here’s a summary from a sample CV for internship positions:

Work experience

As internships are junior roles, you might not have much work experience. Nevertheless, employers will still expect you to include a work history section. Focus on work relevant to the role you’re applying for. For each entry, mention the job title, the company name, its location and the dates you worked there. Under each job, add bullet points listing your duties and achievements that relate back to the job description.

A work experience section for an internship CV could look like this:

Education

For internships, your education section may carry more weight than your work experience. You might decide to place your education above the work experience section. Mention your highest level of educational achievement and any professional qualifications you’ve gained. For each entry, include the name of the course or award, the level achieved, the institution, location and your dates of study or graduation.

See below for an example education section:

Hard skills

Recruiters hiring for internships might be more interested in your skills than they would for more senior roles. Companies may not expect you to have a wide range of work experience, but they’re likely to seek candidates who can demonstrate they already have the skills necessary for the job. Check the job description for any hard skills required for the role, and make sure you list them here.

Here’s an example of a hard skills section for roles in graphic design:

Soft skills

Soft skills may also carry more weight for internship applications than they would for roles requiring greater work experience. These are personal strengths and traits that make you a good employee and colleague. They include behaviours, attitudes and habits that can help you to work in a team and meet the demands of the role.

A soft skills section for an internship marketing CV might include the following:

Optional sections

Towards the end of your CV, add any further information to help your chances of success. For internships, these optional details could make the difference and persuade a hiring manager to invite you for an interview. Add any training courses you’ve attended or certifications gained. Include any additional languages you speak. You could also mention any relevant hobbies and interests. Additionally, any volunteer work you’ve done can be a valuable inclusion to an intern CV.

Tips for Writing Your Internship CV

Follow these tips for help creating the perfect CV for your intern application:

Choose a format that suits your experience

If you have relevant work experience, you could use a chronological CV format. This emphasises your work history, with a list of your employment directly under your contact details and summary. List your employments in reverse-chronological order, starting with your most recent or current. If you lack relevant work experience, you could choose a functional CV, which places your education and skills above your work experience.

Keep it brief

Try to keep your CV as brief as possible, while still demonstrating your suitability for the role. If you can keep your CV length to one side of A4 in an easy-to-read font size, this is ideal. Keep your CV to a maximum of two sides of A4. If you want to provide greater detail, you can provide more in your cover letter.

Use professional language

Use professional language throughout your CV, but also keep it simple and avoid using industry jargon. Ensure you use a spellchecker to correct for errors of spelling or grammar before you send your CV.

Tailor your CV to the job description

Make sure you adapt your CV every time you submit it for a new internship. Use language that reflects the job description and try to reference the company name. Make sure your work history, education and skills reflect the requirements for the role.

Quantify your achievements

Quantify your achievements for each entry in your work section. This could mean providing figures or evidence of your contribution, such as how many people you were responsible for or how much you increased revenue for a company.

Use a clear, readable design

Make sure you use a professional CV design with a clear structure and clean formatting. Jobseeker’s CV templates and resume templates provide plenty of designs to suit your style.

Adding Completed Internships to Your CV

If you’ve already completed an internship and you’re looking for permanent roles, adding your internship to your CV can enhance your job prospects. For graduates or junior-level candidates, an internship shows you’ve been proactive with your job search and career development, and taken on a role to gain valuable experience and skills.

Here are some situations where you might consider adding your internship to your CV:

• When you lack work experience
• When you interned for a prestigious company
• When your internship helped you gain relevant skills

There are also some situations when adding your internship to your CVs won’t make much difference to your job prospects. These could include:

• When your internship was a long time ago
• When you’ve already gained plenty of work experience
• When your internship was in a different role or industry sector

Where to Include Internships on Your CV

There are no hard and fast rules to where you list internships on your CV. The most important thing is to mention relevant internships and the skills and experience they helped you to develop. You could include your internship experience in either of the following sections:

Work experience

If you’ve recently graduated or are new to the job market, you could list your internships in this section. Internships count as practical work experience, and in the absence of any other relevant previous employment, they can play a role in showcasing your skills and valuable experience that other junior candidates may not have. In this case, include the job title, the name of the company, its location and start and end dates, together with some bullet points on what you achieved in the position. Make sure you’re clear that the experience was an internship.

Internships

Another option is to create an internship section towards the end of your CV. This is a good choice if you have a body of relevant work experience and you want to draw a clear distinction between that and your internships. A separate internships section can also be useful if you’ve completed multiple internships. It’s up to you where you place this section on your CV, but it would normally go towards the end of your document, with other additional sections such as certifications, volunteer work, and hobbies and interests.

How to Add Internships to Your CV

Treat each internship in the same way as you would a regular job. You can use your internships to show how you’ve developed and used the skills required for the role you’re applying for. So take every opportunity to illustrate how your internships contribute towards making you a suitable candidate for the job. These tips can help you maximise the impact of internships on your CV:

Relate your internships to the job description

As with any other part of your CV, the details of your internships should be tailored and related to each different job application. Review the job description and consider which essential skills, experience and career achievements your internships can help you to demonstrate.

Focus on your contribution and achievements

While internships can sometimes involve menial or monotonous tasks, try not to focus too much on these in your CV. Instead, pick out any valuable experiences and contributions you made as an intern, even if these weren’t the main part of your job. If you sat in on client meetings, took part in a pitch presentation or were given responsibilities such as writing or editing reports, organising events or managing social media accounts, be sure to mention these.

Don’t be too brief

You might think of internships as a footnote in your career compared to paid work experience or qualifications, but they can demonstrate important skills and experience that can help your job prospects. So avoid simply listing the basic details of your internships and add bullet points showing how they helped you to become more employable.

Examples of Internships on a CV

Here are two examples of how to mention internships on your CV. You can format your internships in this way if you include them in your work experience section, or a separate internships section:

Key Takeaways for a Perfect Internship CV

Writing the perfect internship CV means making the most of your experience and skills to grab the attention of hiring managers. Remember, if you don’t have much relevant work experience you can place your education and skills sections above this in your CV. Keep your document brief, professional and use an attractive CV design. You can find CV examples for internships and other roles, and CV and cover letter templates, on Jobseeker. Sign up today to start creating your CV and stand out from the crowd in your next internship application.