Presenting Yourself Professionally in Internship Inquiry E-mails

I have seen some rather unfortunate first impressions from students networking at conferences or inquiring about internships. I've written a few posts sharing some insights and opinions for MT students or recent grads looking into internships on how to present themselves in a professional manner, and how to make a good impression. This is another one of those entries.

If you are a MT student looking into internships, the way in which you first present yourself creates a lasting impression on the supervisors and other staff you are contacting. Last week my coworker, the MT internship director at the facility in which I work, received an email. The subject line said, “I would like to apply for the internship at your facility” the body of the email said, “thanks, Name.” That’s it. The entire email was “thanks,” and the person’s first name only. Then she got a second email with the subject line, “my name is NAME and I’m a student at SCHOOL, and I’d like to know more about the internship at your facility.” The body of the email just said the student’s name again. So our MT director emailed back and asked what starting date he was hoping to apply for and listed the starting months we typically offer. The response she got was subject: “I’d like to apply, any date is fine” with the body of the email stating, I'm hoping for spring, summer, fall, or 2015. Then 2 minutes later a second email with the same subject as before with the body reading, “wait is it even possible to start in February of this year?” Then 3 minutes later another email with subject line "nevermind" and body of the email stating, "Nevermind that last one, I'm interested in Summer, Fall or 2015." That's it. We have yet to actually have him sign his full name to any of his emails.

 Professionalism and presenting yourself well starts with the first contact you make with a prospective employer, supervisor, colleague, etc. The subject of a professional email should be succinct and state the subject. In this case a good choice of subject would have been “Internship inquiry” or something related. The body of the email then contains information. Please write in complete sentences. Use a professional greeting, then state a little about yourself and your reason for contacting the person you are contacting. Then give your contact information so we can easily respond to you or send you the information you are requesting. Use a formal closing as you would in a written letter. One basic example email: “Dear Ms. Last name of director, My name is Jane and I’m a student at Name of College. I’m interested in completing an internship with POPULATION and would like to know more about your facility and internship requirements. I’m hoping for a start date either Spring or Summer of 2014. Could you please send me an application packet? Here is my contact information: jdoe@college.edu, 555-555-5555, 1234 College St, #15  City, State, Zipcode. Thank you. Sincerely, Jane Doe.”

Sadly the gentleman who sent us the first 5 emails with long subjects and no body to the email and no formality has caused himself to appear very immature. He has made us question his ability to be professional. He has made us question his ability to clearly communicate since he sent so many short emails in a few minutes of time, which came across as stream of consciousness rather than thought out communication. Having never met this gentleman, he has already set himself up negatively in the minds of the professionals in our office who interview and select interns. At this point, even if he has an amazing application the chances of him being accepted as an intern in our facility are almost non-existent because his initial impression has been so unprofessional.

Internships are very competitive. You want to put your best foot forward from the very beginning. Don’t forget that an email is still a professional means of communication and the way you word and format your emails can and will reflect positively or negatively on you as a person and as a future employee. Take the time to clearly communicate your intentions and interest. Be sincere. Be respectful. Be professional. Finally, PLEASE PROOFREAD. Look back at what you wrote before you hit the send button. For that matter almost everything typed has spellcheck these days, so use it. Make sure you used proper english - punctuation, capitalization, full sentences, spelling. Don’t let a poorly constructed email be the reason you are passed over for a job you really want.

One more example, because we are human and sometimes we rush things and make mistakes. We once got an email inquiry that was very well thought out, except the young woman wrote that she was interested in the internship at SITE and the site she listed was a different facility than ours. We got a response less than five minutes later that said, “I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I sent that without reading it first. My apologies. I am interested in the internship at your facility, FACILITY NAME. I didn’t take the time to proofread until after I hit send. I apologize for my mistake. — This was actually okay. It acknowledged the mistake she made, it showed she was accepting responsibility for said mistake. It also showed that she did pay attention to what she sent; she noticed she made a mistake and she made immediate actions to correct that mistake. Problem solving skills at work.

In conclusion, when inquiring about emails don’t put the entire message in the subject line. Construct the email in the same way you would format a professional cover letter. If you don’t know how to do that, google it, there are templates for professional communication letters. Use a concise but clear subject line. Use proper greetings and formal closing. Think about what you want to say, and put it in the body of the email. Read through it before you hit send. Be professional in your initial communication with prospective internship sites. That first inquiry is what is giving us our first impression of you. Make it a good one. Present yourself positively.