An internship candidate may not have a long record. Your letter can still be persuasive if it evaluates the applicant relative to the opportunities and responsibilities they have actually had.
Calibrate to career stage
Explain the course, job, service role, or project and what was expected of someone at that level. Do not use executive-scale language for an early-career applicant; show readiness through learning, judgment, and reliable contribution.
Use two transferable examples
One example can show task performance or learning. The second can show collaboration, communication, initiative, or follow-through. Connect each explicitly to a responsibility in the target internship.
Make potential evidence-based
- Prepared beyond the minimum
- Asked better questions after feedback
- Delivered accurate work on schedule
- Communicated a risk early
- Made a teammate’s work easier
- Took ownership of a small but meaningful result
Close with role-specific confidence
State why the applicant is ready to learn and contribute in this internship. Avoid promising expertise they have not yet developed.
Evaluate the applicant at the right career stage and show how observed habits will transfer into dependable internship performance.
Keep the internships requirements in view.
Internship requirements vary widely. Some programs request a formal letter, some collect references, and others ask nothing. For U.S. federal Pathways roles, USAJOBS tells applicants to check the How to Apply section of the specific announcement to see whether a recommendation is required.
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