How To List Internships On Your Resume (With Examples)

Working an internship is a unique opportunity for those about to graduate from college or recent graduates to work in a field they feel they may be interested in. Internships offer a variety of benefits including experience for your resume, networking opportunities, and even potential job opportunities.

Having an internship on your resume when you’re just starting out in the working world can help set you apart from other candidates.

Internships can also be beneficial for individuals looking to change careers. Taking an internship during a career change can help you understand if the industry or career change is right for you and offer some experience so that you’re not starting at square one.

If you do have internship experience, it’s important to highlight it on your resume. In this article, we’ll discuss how to properly include them on your resume, some examples, and when it’s appropriate to include them in your interview discussion.

What Is an Internship?

When you’re in school and looking to enter the working world, how do you get the experience to land a job? The answer is usually, an internship. An internship is an opportunity provided by employers who are looking for potential short-term employees. Interns are typically students or recent graduates and can take internships that last anywhere from a month to three months.

Depending on the company, organization, and flexibility, internships can be either part-time or full-time and should be paid positions. Internships allow you to work in a real-life work setting where you can gather many practical skills, workplace experience, networking opportunities, and a greater understanding of the inner workings of the industry you may be interested in.

Some key skills you might learn as an intern in any industry are time management, project management, problem-solving, managing up, and client relationship management. Even a month-long internship can teach you these key skills and help you network within your industry.

Internships are different from externships, which are opportunities for an individual to shadow with another person, typically a respected professional within a workplace. Externships are also held for shorter time periods than the typical internship. Additionally, externships are also unpaid opportunities.

When to Include Internships on Your Resume

When the internship is relevant to the job being applied to, make sure you include it on your resume. Students might feel tempted to lead with their education, but leading with the internship is the way to go. While schooling is often essential, the internship shows that you have experience within an industry and have worked to develop your skills and abilities.

If you’re making a career change, this also applies. Internships are incredibly important for anyone with limited work experience in any specific field. Even though you might be tempted to include only your past career experience, don’t forget your internships, especially if they are relevant for the specific job.

When to Leave Out Internships

Once you have developed enough experience in your field of choice, you can begin to remove internships from your resume. Depending on your experience, a good window to give yourself is about five years, or two to three jobs in your industry, before removing the internship. Once that’s elapsed, you can focus on your work history with little to no focus on internships.

Where to Put Internships

Internships should be highlighted and promoted on your resume, especially if it’s specifically relevant to the job for which you are applying. List your internship in one of two places:

• Experience. Listing your internship under your work experience is the most commonplace. Include the basics of your experience and skills gained, along with any other relevant work experience. Remember, even if the work experience isn’t specifically related to what you’re applying for, highlighting transferable skills is still appropriate.

• Internships. If you have gotten the opportunity to work multiple internships, you can consider including a separate internship section on your resume. This section can be towards the top of your resume, above your “Work Experience” section if your internships hold more relevance to the job you’re applying for.

How to Include Internships On Your Resume

Internships are essentially work history, so think about listing them that way. All of the same information as any other job should be included, such as:

• Job title. If you had a specific internship title, include it here, otherwise, you can just add it as “Intern.” Some more specific examples could be “Sales Associate Intern,” “Finance Intern,” “Marketing Operations Intern,” and more.

• Company information. Include the company name, where they’re located, and the specific dates you worked for them. This will tell your potential employer how much experience you have and if the company holds any relevance in your industry.

• Duties. Include your major duties in bullet point form listing your responsibilities, accomplishments, and any other relevant information about your time during your internship.

Be sure that you shine a spotlight on the relevant experiences and skills you picked up during your internship. Try to avoid adding non-relevant tasks, or simple tasks like answering the phone or fixing the printer. If you feel like you’re struggling to list your skills, try making a list of everything you did at your internship and put the key skills you find relevant on your resume.

Example of Internships in a “Work Experience” Section

Resume Example With an “Internships” Section

Author

Caitlin Mazur

Caitlin Mazur is a freelance writer at Zippia. Caitlin is passionate about helping Zippia’s readers land the jobs of their dreams by offering content that discusses job-seeking advice based on experience and extensive research. Caitlin holds a degree in English from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA.