Resume with Examples

 

In today’s competitive job market, a relevant internship can set you apart from other job applicants. This is especially true if you are a student or recent graduate with little work experience, or if you are changing careers. Don’t hide your internship experiences at the bottom of your resume. Instead, highlight your internship experiences, and detail how they have prepared you for the job you want.

When to Include Internships on Your Resume

You should include an internship on your resume when the internship is relevant to the job you are applying for. This is especially the case when you are a student or recent graduate with limited work experience. Internships provide you with critical experience in an industry, so be sure to include them to show your skills and abilities.

You should also include internships when you are making a career change. While you might have many years of work experience, these jobs might not relate to your new career. Highlight any internships that have prepared you for a job in your new industry.

When to Leave Out Internships

You can begin to remove internships from your resume when you’ve developed enough work experience in your field. After about five or so years (or two or three jobs) in your industry, you can focus primarily on this work history rather than on your past internship experience.

For example, if you had an internship at Google or Facebook, or another important internship in your industry, keep it on your resume

Where to Put Internships

Work Experience Section: Because internships provide important work experience, you should include your internships in the “Work Experience” or “Work History” section of your resume, along with other jobs you have held.

Internships Section: If you have held multiple internships, you can include a separate “Internships” section on your resume. Put this section towards the top of your resume. Put your “Internships” section above your “Work History” section if your internships are particularly relevant to the job you are applying for.

How to Include Internships

When you include an internship on your resume, include the same information as any other job:

• Include the internship title. If possible, don’t just say “Intern” – ask your supervisor if you have a more detailed title, such as “Marketing Intern” or “Sales Associate Intern.”

• Also include the company name, location, and the dates of the internship. You can list the dates by month and year, or by the season (such as “Summer 2018” or “Spring 2019”).

• Underneath this information, include 2-4 bullet points that list your responsibilities and achievements during the internship.

Focus on responsibilities that relate to the job you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a writing job, mention how you wrote and published five articles during your internship. You don’t need to include your less relevant tasks, such as answering phones or photocopying.

Also ask your intern supervisor for advice on how to include your internship on your resume. He or she can help you highlight the most important skills and experiences for the industry, and can tell you what key terms from your industry to include. Make sure that you format your internships in a way that is consistent with the way you format your other work experience.

Again, internships are just as important to your career as a job, so you should not format them differently. This is especially the case if you include internships under “Work History.” For example, if you bold your job titles, do the same for your internship titles.

Example of Internships on a Resume