How to Get an Internship without Experience?

While the purpose of an internship is to provide work experience to inexperienced professionals, there’s a tongue-in-cheek stereotype that, nowadays, freshers with no prior experience are not eligible for internships. This stems from the fact that most internships are so competitive that the only way to stand out from your competition is by having prior experience. 

The question, “How to get an internship without experience?” doesn’t really imply that candidates applying for internships usually have experience, but that there are steps you can take to become a top candidate for a role. 

In this article, we’ll guide you through some steps you can take while applying for an internship with no experience. These steps include highlighting qualities about you that would appeal to recruiters and tips to find the right internship for you. 

So yes, landing an internship with no prior experience may seem daunting in this day and age, but with the right approach, it is definitely achievable! Read on to know more. 

Tips to Get an Internship Without Experience

Here’s a breakdown of steps for getting an internship with no experience by strengthening your application and standing out to potential employers: 

1. Identify What You Want to Do

Be clear about what you want to do in your career, like what roles excite you and what industries might be a good fit for you. Do thorough research and try to align them with your strengths, you career goals and your passion areas. 

2. What Skills Do You Bring to the Table?

When applying for internships without any experience, your skills are what will appeal to potential employers. And it’s not just the technical skills we’re referring to. In fact, non-technical skills mostly end up being the deciding factor as most freshers usually possess similar levels of technical skills for specific positions.  

Try to work on highlighting your soft skills like communication, teamwork, leadership, problem solving abilities, time management, etc. Use instances from your past to show how you excel at these skills. 

For highlighting your technical skills, focus on the ones that are required for that particular role – this will be mentioned in the job description. Also, try and use numbers to quantify those skills wherever possible. For example, “When I was volunteering at an animal shelter, I helped increase engagements on their Instagram page by around 20%.” 

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3. Work on Adding New Skills to Your Resume

While you may feel you have all the right skills to secure an internship, it never hurts to add more. More skills make you a stronger candidate for any role. Zuno offers free webinars and practice aptitude tests which can help you gain new skills. You can also avail upskilling courses with foundit based on the role you are pursuing. 

Another way to learn new skills is by doing volunteer work or being actively involved in project in college. These opportunities not only give you a chance to learn new skills, but also to apply them. 

4. Build Your Own Network

Many people underestimate the wonders of building a strong and reliable network. Reach out to professionals who are already working in the field you wish to join. You can do this by following and messaging people on LinkedIn or by attending virtual events and seminar, which you’ll find happens regularly across LinkedIn. 

You could also request your college professors or family to connect you to people they may know. The right connections can help unlock opportunities that are sometimes not found online or anywhere else. 

Check out Zuno Career Buddy if you want tips on how to build a strong professional network. 

5. Make an Impressive Resume and Cover Letter

When you’re applying for internships without any experience, how well you create your resume and cover letter will be decisive in impressing recruiters. Never send out a generic resume, take that little effort to customise it as per the requirements of the role you’re applying to. And use the key words that are mentioned in the job description of the role – recruiters usually look for them while shortlisting candidates. 

For your cover letter, don’t just repeat what’s written what’s written in your resume – they don’t want to read the same things twice. Mention reasons to highlight how keen you are for the role and how excited you are to join that specific company. And besides what’s mentioned in your resume, talk about what else you bring to the table, like your desire to learn or your never-give-up attitude. 

6. Prepare for the Interview

How well you do in your interview will be the deciding factor in whether you get selected or not. So, make sure you’re thoroughly prepare. If you can anticipate the questions that may be asked, you can practice your answers and be confident during the actual interview. Check out Zuno Career Buddy to get tips on how to crack an interview. 

Do your homework and research the company role before the interview. Ask questions – the interviewer will be impressed. 

Additionally, while answering questions about how you’ve utilised your skills in the past, you can use the STAR method. The STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method is basically using examples of a problematic situation where you performed a task to take action and produced results. 

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Additional Tips to Get an Internship with No Experience

Here are a few extra tips that you can follow to boost your chance of landing the internship you want without any experience: 

• Don’t wait until the last minute to start applying – do it at least a couple of months prior to when you want to start. These processes take time. 

• Don’t give up too easily – securing internships take time. So, be persistent, follow these steps and eventually, the right opportunity will come by. 
• Be a goody two shoes – maybe it wasn’t cool in school but here, it will be. Start by sending a thank-you email to your interviewer after your interview. 

When you apply for internships with no experience, remember that your enthusiasm for the role will help you. Follow these steps meticulously and you’ll find yourself in the role you’ve always wanted! All the best. 

FAQs on Internship Without Experience

Q1. What should I focus on in my cover letter when applying for internships?

Ans: When applying for internships with no experience, try to highlight your soft skills, like communication, teamwork, time management, etc. – these add value to the team’s culture. Also, show your enthusiasm to learn and how the internship you’re applying for aligns with your goals.

Q2. Are there any specific industries or companies that are more likely to offer internships to candidates without experience?

Ans: Yes – startups, small businesses, and growing industries often offer internships to candidates without experience! They value potential and eagerness to learn over specialised experience.

Q3. How important is networking in obtaining an internship when you lack experience?

Ans: Very important! Networking can unlock new opportunities and help you get noticed even if you have less experience. It could potentially be the difference between you getting a great opportunity and an average one.

Q4. What are some effective ways to showcase transferable skills on my resume or during an internship interview?

Ans: People use different ways to highlight their transferable skills to recruiters, but two highly effective and proven methods are: 

• STAR Method – highlight your skills by explaining an instance from your past where you used a situation, task, action and result approach. 
• Skills in numbers – use numbers to quantify how you were able to use your skills. For example: “I contributed to increasing website traffic by 15% by helping divert social media queries to the website.”

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