Jake Baldridge, an Account Director at StrawberryFrog, checks in with some candid advice about applying for internships.
Intern Anxiety: A Few Ideas on Improving Your Chances of Getting Noticed
As an account person at a small agency, I often receive emails from students who are looking for an internship for the summer. Over several years of rummaging through resumes, cover letters and emails (both good and bad), we all tend to develop pet peeves when it comes to applications. For what its worth, here are mine.
Don’t be discouraged or offended if you’ve committed any of these sins in the past. I think many of them happen when people get so excited about the opportunity that they forget common sense. It’s good to be genuinely excited in the profession– leave cynicism to the professionals. Instead, I hope that this piece can help people applying for internships and entry-level jobs to get noticed (in a positive way) by those who have the often-daunting job of selecting your resume from hundreds of possibilities.
Overall, your email is probably the most important part of your application. We use it as the first line of defense. If the email doesn’t sound like it’s from someone you want to work with, then the whole thing gets thrown out. Be interesting, knowledgeable and show us that you can really bring something to the table.
Do some research on the agency and the people you’re likely to be working for. LinkedIn is your friend. Facebook is your friend. Use both liberally in learning about the agency. Have a point of view on the company and its work.
The Seven Crash Landings:
“Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear Sir or Madam”:
I don’t think there are many agencies left who have a “Hiring Manager” for interns, and if there is one out there, his or her name is most definitely not “Hiring Manager,” or “Sir or Madam,” for that matter. I throw out each and every email that’s not addressed to a real person at my agency. Others might be more forgiving, but assume that everyone is looking for a reason to read fewer resumes.
If the job posting had an interns@agencyname.com-type address, go out and find someone’s name to whom to address your email. I don’t care if it’s the right person’s name; just spell it right. If it’s name@agencyname.com, use that name.
One of the most important qualities we look for in account management candidates is resourcefulness. Nothing says ‘not resourceful’ like “Dear Sir or Madam.” It should take less than five minutes to find the name of someone at the agency that is likely to receive your email. Do it.
Oh, and “To whom it may concern” might be the worst. I can’t imagine that your email concerns me if it’s not addressed to me or someone I know.
Attaching your cover letter:
The term “cover letter” is a holdover from when you applied for jobs by printing your resume on really nice paper and putting it into a flat envelope with a letter. Your email IS your cover letter. Don’t write me a separate cover letter and attach it. I won’t read it.
Your major syllabus as your cover letter:
Assuming you’re an advertising or communications major, writing your syllabus for all of your ad classes in your note will NOT make you stand-out. Assume I’m getting a ton of emails from people just like you who love their ad classes. Don’t tell me about them; tell me about what sets you apart, what makes you someone that I want to work with.
Multiple-page resumes:
For all intents and purposes, you have very little experience, so why would your resume exceed one page? Whittling down your resume to fit in one page is an exercise in strategic thinking – another quality we look for in applicants – so a concise and interesting resume is critical.
Only including advertising-related experience:
Advertising is about culture, people and ideas. If all you’ve done in college is take advertising and marketing classes, you’re way behind the eight ball. We look for interesting people who have a breadth of experience – work, life, interests – and that can come from any number of places.
Oddly, some of the best account people I know waited tables throughout college – it may not seem relevant, but it is. As anyone in client service knows, you can’t scream at a client any more than you can dump a plate of food on an annoying customer. You want to, but you don’t. Waiting tables teaches that. When you include seemingly irrelevant experience like that it says a lot of good things about you – more than just your ability to work the espresso machine.
Poor grammar, typos:
This should be obvious, but unfortunately it’s not. Double, triple and quadruple check everything you send. Having someone who you think writes well read your notes and resume might be a good idea. As account people, we write a lot. We need confidence you can write.
Obvious form letters:
I got a note from someone the other day who had one font for the body of his email and another font for every place he inserted our agency’s name. It was actually very funny, but it should be a cautionary tale. Having one note that you change for each agency you contact is great, but don’t make it obvious.
Each one of these quirks will quickly land your application in the round file, but most of it should be common sense. Your goal should be to effectively communicate what an interesting candidate you are to work at the agency for the summer. Remember, we’re a small group of people who generally love working with each other and you’re asking to join us. We don’t count ad students any more highly than we do English or French majors, we just want to have someone in the agency who is going to add to our culture and be able to help us to think smarter for our clients.
After all of this, if you’re still interested, send your resume and an interesting introduction to jake@strawberryfrog.com
Jake Baldridge works in account management at StrawberryFrog, a New York-based agency.
YouIntern. Connecting students and employers.
