After writing this up, I was in two minds whether to post it. But when I received an application that, quite confusingly, began: “Dear professor, my name is [your name]. I am a third-year undergraduate…”, I decided that time for this post had come. So here goes.

*

Dear undergraduates,

Every so often, I receive an email from someone among you who wants to do a research internship with me. They are mostly alike. The ones I do take a risk on, by inviting for an interview and often taking onboard for a piece of work, are different, though. How? Those have a genuineness and care to the writing.

That set me thinking and I listed here, for your benefit, who to do and what not to do (the latter first) when writing a research internship email. This is all based on my experiences with prospective interns like you. Much of this is written in a light vein, in the spirit of laughing over one’s own flaws and picking up from wherever we are. I hope you have fun reading and applying this, because I had fun writing it!

So, here’s what to avoid in your email:

1. ChatGPT – Yes, I mean the very software that you thought was developed just to make writing emails easy. The tool can write well, but it writes in its own voice, not your voice. So when do we get to read the real you?
2. Long stories – If you write your own email, it will be short (partly because you run out of things to say). Leave it to ChatGPT, which doesn’t know the really poor attention span of professors, and your letter can be longer than some of our national highways.
3. Bulk mails – No email id in the ‘To’ field is a strict no-no. All other signs of mass mailing are just as bad. Here’s the most well-kept secret in academia: every professor thinks they are unique and important, much much more so than the average person thinks of themselves.
4. Mix-up of professors – Dear Prof. A, starts the email that is written to Prof. B. And just as bad, a finance internship request written to a professor of marketing (that’s happened to me). Do not make a potpourri of your internship applications and professors, use the good old spreadsheet.
5. Getting facts wrong – To say that my research is in “business strategy and management” and to request an internship in that field is nothing short of atrocious. I spent five years for a PhD in “marketing” and to have all that disregarded? Wow!
6. Context missing – If you have worked in the “Adobe analytics challenge 2022”, whatever that is, explain what, why, and so what. Otherwise, I am clueless. And, take it from me, you never ever want to face a professor who is clueless.
7. Excess creativity – A subject line that reads “Enthusiastic Undergrad with a Passion for Marketing” (this is for real) doesn’t necessarily convey any sense the passion and enthusiasm through email. That too, when even a true-blue marketer hardly feels any passion for their job. Anyway, the bigger question is: Passion? For an office job? How in the world?
8. Spaces for reader to fill – Here’s an exact quote from an application (believe it or not): “my practical experience includes [briefly mention any relevant experiences, such as prior internships or projects], during which I applied marketing strategies…” The matter in [] is left to the astute professor to imagine and complete.
9. Unwavering – Yes, the word “unwavering”. It’s the staple of ChatGPT-written content and a dead giveaway of not having used your own writing abilities. And the last thing you want to include in your email is “unwavering commitment”.

And here’s what to put:

1. What do you want out of the internship? A CV point (that usually won’t cut much ice), a learning opportunity (ok, that’s acceptable), a chance to contribute to ongoing research (god forbid, but ok), understand an industry (that’s also acceptable), use your time well (should be ok), and anything else. What to do if you don’t have a genuine reason? Keep calm and don’t apply for the internship.
2. What do you bring to the table? Machine learning (but not if the professor is an ethnographer), domain knowledge, or sheer energy? Whatever it is, be clear that a professor can hardly get any substantial research progress out of an internship, nor is the student usually planning to be a researcher. So make sure you bring diligence, hard work, curiosity, proactiveness, and willingness to learn.
3. Why? The very reason for doing an internship has to be clarified. It is not obvious to professors that all undergraduates these days automatically “intern” somewhere. Even then, you need a specific reason of your own, for this professor and this time of the year and this occasion in your CV.

A huge thank you to all the prospective interns who wrote to me, including those whom I had the privilege of guiding and those who got passed up, you will all do well! In the long run, internships don’t matter. But then we know they do.

Best wishes for your next internship application.

Yours amusedly,

A helpful professor

P.S. The image at the top is a crude but real word-cloud of real (anonymized) internship application letters I have received over the years.

*