Applying for an internship can be difficult when you do not have years of professional experience. Your education, projects, skills, certifications and other relevant experiences can still demonstrate your potential.
Learn what to include in an internship resume, how to present projects and skills, how to make your resume ATS-friendly, and how MakeCVNow can help you create and customize your CV.
An internship resume is a resume designed to present the qualifications of a student or early-career candidate who is applying for an internship.
Unlike an experienced professional's resume, an internship resume may have limited traditional work experience. That does not mean it should be empty.
Education, academic projects, internships, volunteer work, certifications, relevant coursework, skills and extracurricular activities can all help demonstrate your potential when they are relevant to the position.
You do not need years of work experience to create a strong internship resume.
An internship resume should make it easy for the employer to see your relevant education, skills, projects and evidence that you can contribute.
Focus on information that demonstrates your qualifications and relevance to the internship.
Include the information an employer needs to identify and contact you professionally.
Highlight your degree, institution and relevant academic information.
Include skills that are relevant to the internship and supported by your education or experience.
Projects can demonstrate practical knowledge, problem solving and technical or professional skills.
Include internships, part-time work, volunteer work or other relevant experiences when appropriate.
Relevant certifications, courses, leadership or extracurricular activities can strengthen your application.
Having no formal work experience does not mean you have nothing to put on your resume.
Start with your education and then emphasize projects, relevant coursework, technical or professional skills, certifications and other experiences that demonstrate your ability to perform the internship's responsibilities.
Never add responsibilities, achievements or employment that you did not actually have. Present your genuine experience in the strongest relevant way.
A concise resume summary can help introduce your background and the type of internship you are seeking, particularly when it clearly connects your qualifications to the position.
Keep the summary focused on relevant education, skills, projects and career interests instead of using generic statements.
Your summary should quickly tell the employer what you can bring to the internship.
Projects can provide evidence of skills when you have limited professional experience.
Developed a web-based expense tracking application to help users record, categorize and review monthly spending.
Do more than list the project name. Explain what you built, what you contributed and which skills you used.
Prioritize skills that are relevant to the internship rather than creating a long list of everything you have encountered.
Review the internship description and identify the skills, technologies, tools and qualifications that genuinely match your background.
Programming languages, software, platforms, analytical tools or other technical skills relevant to the internship.
Include communication-related abilities when they are relevant to the internship.
Demonstrate problem-solving through projects, coursework and relevant experiences.
Prioritize skills that appear relevant to the internship description and that you genuinely possess.
Some employers use Applicant Tracking Systems to screen resumes before recruiters review them.
Use clear sections, relevant job-specific keywords and straightforward resume content. Avoid adding unnecessary information simply to increase the number of keywords.
MakeCVNow provides an ATS Checker that analyzes your resume and provides feedback on keyword match, formatting and content.
Your goal is not to add every possible keyword. Use relevant terminology naturally and make sure your qualifications match the opportunity.
Sending exactly the same resume to every internship can make it harder to emphasize the qualifications most relevant to each opportunity.
MakeCVNow allows you to customize your CV according to a job description or job URL. This can help you focus your resume content on the specific internship you are applying for.
Customize the content based on the internship rather than creating a completely different resume from scratch.
MakeCVNow can help you turn your information into a professional CV with less manual writing.
Provide your education, skills, projects, experience and other relevant information.
MakeCVNow's AI tools can help improve resume content, including professional descriptions and relevant skills.
Choose from the available professional CV templates designed for job applications.
Use the job description or job URL to customize your CV for the internship opportunity.
Review your resume and identify keyword, formatting and content improvement opportunities.
Continue editing your CV and download the completed version when it is ready.
MakeCVNow uses AI to reduce the amount of manual writing required when creating and improving a CV.
AI can help create professional descriptions for relevant experience, skills and achievements.
Already have a CV? Upload your existing CV so MakeCVNow can extract the information and reduce manual typing.
Continue editing your CV, arrange sections and rename sections as needed.
A strong internship resume is focused. Avoid filling it with information that does not help demonstrate your suitability.
Remove information that has little connection to the internship or your professional qualifications.
Prioritize skills that are relevant to the role rather than listing every skill you have.
Avoid claiming skills or experience that you cannot genuinely demonstrate.
Use the available space for information that supports your internship application.
Use concise descriptions and bullet points where they make your qualifications easier to scan.
Focus on clear professional templates and strong content instead of adding unnecessary visual elements.
Some internship applications also ask candidates to provide a cover letter. A customized cover letter can explain your interest in the opportunity and connect your background to the internship.
MakeCVNow can generate a customized cover letter using your information and the job description.
Prepare both documents around the same internship opportunity so your application presents a consistent professional story.
Your resume is not the only part of your professional presence that recruiters may review. A relevant and complete LinkedIn profile can complement your resume.
MakeCVNow's LinkedIn optimization tool analyzes your profile and provides recommendations for areas such as your headline, summary, experience, skills and keywords.
Use your resume and LinkedIn profile together to present your education, skills and career interests consistently.
Creating a resume is only one part of the internship search. You also need to find opportunities that match your background and interests.
MakeCVNow provides personalized job recommendations based on your profile, skills, experience and preferences.
A targeted resume is more useful when you apply it to opportunities that actually match your profile.
Getting an interview is only the next step. You also need to prepare to discuss your education, projects, skills and experience.
MakeCVNow provides interview questions and answers based on your CV and the job description to help you prepare for individual job applications.
Review questions that relate to the experience and requirements presented in your application.
MakeCVNow combines resume creation and several job-search tools in one platform.
Choose from the available MakeCVNow CV templates to create your professional resume.
Use AI to help create and improve your resume content with less manual typing.
Check your resume's ATS score and identify keyword, formatting and content improvements.
Customize your CV according to a job description or job URL.
Analyze your LinkedIn profile and receive personalized recommendations.
Download your completed CV in the available PDF or Word formats.
Receive personalized job recommendations based on your profile and preferences.
Get interview questions and answers based on your CV and the job description.
MakeCVNow gives you extensive control over your resume content, including editing your information, arranging sections and renaming sections.
However, the platform does not provide manual controls for changing the font family or font size. You select from the available professionally designed templates rather than manually redesigning the typography.
This means you can focus on improving your resume's content and tailoring it to the job without needing to manually format every typographical element.
MakeCVNow is designed around professional templates and content editing - not unrestricted visual design editing.
Continue improving your resume with these MakeCVNow guides.
Learn how to create your first professional resume.
Learn which skills to include on your resume.
Explore resume examples for different jobs.
Learn how to create an ATS-friendly resume.
Answers to common questions about creating a resume for an internship.
Build a professional CV with AI assistance, choose a professional template, customize it for your internship, check your ATS score, edit it until ready and download your finished resume.