How to make yourself stand out on your next Internship Application!

Got an internship you have your eye on? Take these tips to make yourself a stronger candidate.

By: Sara Pena

​We all know the feeling of constant competition in the field of journalism and PR. And as college students, the competition is just beginning. When it comes down to searching for an internship, it may be difficult to feel like YOU have this one in the bag. Check out these tips to make sure you stand out as a star applicant for your next application. 

1) Make it clean and concise! Presenting a clean resume with minimal information will make your resume easy to read to future employers. A first impression is everything, so make your resume worth reading the first time they pick it up. If you have your own aesthetic, find a resume template that fits it and tailor your resume to it. At the end of the day, no one wants to read a busy resume with too much information. Narrow your information down to what’s most important so employers won’t have to read between the lines. 

2) Use keywords With the information you choose to use in your resume after cleaning it up, include keywords that were posted in the job description. If the job description says “looking for a student who is skilled with multitasking” or “position includes raising social media impressions by 20%”, make sure to include “multitasking” in your skills section or sprinkle it into your experience. You should also add any social media impression statistics that you have completed. Employers will be looking for the same lingo and language that they included in the original job posting. Relating your personal information to what the employer is asking for makes it that much easier for you to be a candidate they find fitting. 

3) Make use of your past experience Maybe you don’t have any specific experience related to the job description, but you still really want the position! (I’ve been there..) You may have only done work outside of your major. Take all the past experiences you have and tailor it to what the position needs. For example, you may have only had jobs working with children, but want to gain some experience in influencer marketing. Reconstruct a skill you learned at your job with the children, and apply it to the field of PR. How can that be useful? How can it further your career as a PR professional? Many of past jobs, or even volunteer work, although unrelated, can sometimes be more useful than we even know! 
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The next time you have an internship you have your eye on, take these tips and and make that resume one worth noticing. Always remember, the more effort you put into something you want, the more you get out of it. Good luck!