How to Get an Internship With No Experience

You’ve probably thought, “I can’t get an internship without experience, but I can’t get experience without an internship.” It can feel like you are stuck in a loop with no way forward.

The good news is, employers want to see your curiosity, your effort, and your ability to learn and grow on the job. They know that as a student, you do not have everything figured out yet.

Here are interesting facts about internships and interns:

• In 2024, 67 percent of graduates completed at least one internship.
• Paid interns receive an average of 1.4 job offers compared to 0.9 for unpaid interns.
• About half of the interns end up in full-time roles.
• Paid internships lead to higher starting salaries, with a median of $67,500 compared to $45,000 for unpaid positions.

What counts as experience? If you have led a class project, held a part-time job, started a student club, or completed freelance work, you probably have more experience than you realize.

The key is showing employers the skills and potential you already have. When you present what you have done as proof of what you can do, you don’t only show experience. You also become someone they want to hire.

In internships, employers would like to see transferable skills. Your school activities, job, or volunteer work are considered experiences that make you cut out for it.

NACE identifies eight key competencies that employers want. They include:

• critical thinking
• communication
• teamwork
• technology
• leadership
• professionalism
• career and self-development
• equity and inclusion

Your experiences matter to your internship application. Here’s why:

• Class projects can demonstrate teamwork, communication, and the ability to meet deadlines.
• A part-time retail or food service job teaches customer service, problem-solving, and reliability.
• Student organizations give you leadership, collaboration, and event-planning skills.
• Volunteering demonstrates initiative, adaptability, and social involvement.

Employers do not expect you to be exceptionally skilled. They prefer someone who can think, communicate, work well with others, adapt, and grow. As you already have proof of that, your job is to frame it so they can see it.

Take a moment to list your experiences, and write down the skills you gained from those. Turn what feels like “just school or part-time work” into evidence that you are ready to succeed in a professional setting.

Starting a resume with limited work experience can be daunting. However, you have valuable skills, projects, and experiences that demonstrate your ability to learn, grow, and contribute. The key is to structure your resume effectively and highlight your strengths.

Here’s a simple structure for you to follow:

Contact information

Your phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile should be easy for employers to find.

Resume objective

Keep it short. Express what you want to do and how you can contribute.

Education

Include your GPA if it’s strong, your relevant coursework, and any honors.

Skills

Include both technical skills, like software or tools you know, and soft skills, like teamwork, communication, or leadership. Match them to what the posting asks for.

Projects

Don’t underestimate class, personal, or creative projects. Quantify what you did when you can. For example, you can say, “Led a team of 4 students to complete a research project on local water quality.

Activities & Leadership

Clubs, student government, or other organizations show initiative, collaboration, and leadership.

Volunteer Experience

Community work shows responsibility, adaptability, and willingness to help.

Create a strong resume. Follow these steps:

• Use action verbs like led, organized, created, or analyzed.
• Keep it to one page.
• Tailor it for each internship by using keywords from the posting.
• Don’t apologize for not having much experience. Instead, highlight your potential.
• Employers are looking for students who can learn and grow.

Career centers exist to assist students like you, and most of their services are free. Sadly, many students don’t use their career centers enough, which is a missed opportunity.

If you’re worried about landing your first internship, get help from your career center. Here’s what you can get:

• Resume and cover letter reviews
• Mock interviews and coaching
• Career counseling
• Internship listings through Handshake
• Career fairs and employer info sessions
• Alumni networking connections
• Industry-specific guides

Staff at your career center are trained to help students who don’t yet have professional experience. Handshake, specifically, is the main way:

• Employers find students from your school.
• Fill out your profile completely with a photo, your skills, and your interests to get matched to the right opportunities.

Campus-specific job boards give you a better chance to stand out. They often have fewer applicants than big sites like Indeed or LinkedIn.

Your professors and academic advisors know your field, and they can help. They can connect you to internships or research opportunities that might not be posted anywhere.

Career center staff are experts at helping students like you start your professional journey. Take advantage of the support they offer, and turn what feels like a blank slate into a real plan for landing your first internship.

About 85% of jobs are filled through connections. More than 90% of students who did internships had informational interviews. Students with two or more internships were eight times more likely to have these conversations. These figures show how important networking is.

What is networking for students?

• Networking is NOT asking strangers for jobs
• Networking is building genuine relationships and gathering information.

Here are important tips on how to network as a college student:

Start with who you know.

Family and friends might connect you with their contacts. Professors, especially those who also work in the industry, can offer advice and introduce you to others.

Alumni from your school are usually willing to help, and your classmates’ parents might share insights you cannot find online.

Do Informational Interviews.

Informational interviews are short conversations, usually 15 to 30 minutes, where your main goal is to learn. These chats often lead to opportunities that are not posted anywhere.

Ask about someone’s career path, what their typical day is like, and any advice they have for students.
Ask if they know anyone else you should talk to.

Used LinkedIn.

Create a professional profile with a clear headline, summary, and photo. Connect with classmates, professors, and alumni.

More than 70 percent of people hired had a connection at the company. Many internships exist in the hidden job market, meaning they are never posted publicly.

Each conversation helps you practice. Start reaching out to one person this week and ask for a quick 15-minute chat. Every new connection gets you closer to landing your first internship.