How to Apply for an Internship With No Work Experience

Quick answer

Match the qualification and year of study first. Then use projects, modules, volunteering and any short work to show the skills in the advert. Submit a CV and, if asked, a short motivation. Prepare to explain your project in an interview.

Qualification and academic performance

Write the qualification exactly as it appears on your academic record, and say whether you are in first year, final year or already graduated. If the advert asks for an academic record or a minimum average, include the official record. Do not round a mark up.

A programme that says no experience is required may still require a National Diploma or a bachelor's degree. Experience and qualification are different lines in the advert.

Projects and skills

Choose two pieces of work that match the duties:

• A module project, with the year and what you produced.
• A practical, a teaching-practice block, or work-integrated learning, with the organisation and dates.
• Software, a language, a laboratory method or a driver's licence, if you actually have it.
• Volunteering where you did a similar task, such as reception, stock or tutoring.

One good project is more useful than a list of hobbies. Describe your part in a group project. Employers notice when every member claims the whole task.

Motivation

Explain why this organisation's internship, not why you want any internship. Refer to one duty in the advert. Availability matters: say the months you can work and the city you can reach. A motivation that could be sent to any company is easy to reject.

CV and cover letter

Put education and the project above any unrelated part-time job, unless the part-time job shows a skill they asked for, such as customer service. Do not create a fake internship to fill the page.

Attach a cover letter when the advert asks for a motivation or when you are sending the CV by email. If the form has character-limited questions, answer those questions and do not also paste a letter into a comments box unless there is room.

Interview

Prepare four answers:

1. What you studied and which module is closest to the work.
2. What you did on the project, step by step.
3. A time you met a deadline or fixed a mistake.
4. The dates you can start and the days you are in class.

You can say you have not worked in an office. Follow it with the closest real example. Practise aloud once. The Department of Employment and Labour's learnership guidance, which is about a different programme, still makes a useful point: think of the questions and practise with another person.

Common mistakes

• Applying for an internship that requires a completed degree while you are in first year.
• Hiding a weak academic record when the form asks for it.
• Sending a CV full of school awards and no mention of your qualification.
• Paying for a guaranteed internship placement.
• Missing the closing date because the campus notice went up late. The employer's date still stands.

A worked application

A final-year human-resources diploma student sees an intern advert. It requires a human-resources qualification in progress, spreadsheet skills, and says office experience is an advantage. It asks for a CV, an academic record and a one-page motivation, by email, with the reference in the subject line.

1. The CV leads with the diploma, the institution and the expected completion date.
2. Two modules are named because the advert mentions recruitment and labour relations.
3. A group assignment is described as the applicant's part: a shortlisting spreadsheet for a class exercise, not a real company.
4. Weekend retail work stays, in three lines, because it shows attendance. It is not called human-resources experience.
5. The motivation repeats the reference, says the student can work the advertised months, and does not claim the year of office experience.
6. The academic record is a separate PDF. The email subject is the reference number and the applicant's surname.

If that advert had said one year of human-resources employment was required, this student would look for a different programme instead of rewording the class exercise as a job.

If you are not selected

Most applicants to a popular programme are not selected. The employer does not owe you a detailed critique. Use the same examples on the next application, updated for that advert. Ask the faculty office whether another employer has offered places for the same practical requirement.

Do not pay a second party to resubmit the same documents. Do not agree to an unpaid trial that was not in the advert, at a private address, with no agreement. A legitimate rejection leaves you free to apply elsewhere.

Checklist

• Year of study matches the advert.
• Academic record ready if requested.
• Two relevant examples written in the CV.
• Motivation names the organisation and one duty.
• Submission receipt saved.
• Interview examples prepared.

Information can change

Rules, forms, closing dates and programme requirements change. Treat this guide as a way to prepare and to know what to check. The official page for the institution, employer or funder is the version that applies to your application.