A guide for students · Autumn and winter, before internship deadlines
Cover letters for internships: what to write
Not every internship asks for a cover letter now: EY, for example, says one is not required for its early careers applications, while law firms such as Slaughter and May still ask for one. Where one is asked for, it should fit on a page and answer three things in order: why this kind of work, why this firm in particular, with something specific to it, and why you, with evidence from your CV rather than adjectives.
Do internships still ask for a cover letter?
It depends on the firm and the scheme, so read the application page first. EY says a CV or cover letter is not required for its early careers applications and that everybody completes the same online form. Linklaters asks for a short online form for most schemes and a one-page cover letter for one programme. Slaughter and May asks for a cover letter of no more than one side of A4, but takes answers to its questions instead for some of its schemes.
Where there is no letter, the same thinking goes into the application questions instead: why this firm, why this area of work, and an example of something you have done. Everything below applies to those answers too.
What goes in each paragraph?
Cambridge’s careers service sets out a cover letter in four paragraphs. The first says why you are writing: the scheme, and in a sentence who you are. The second says what you bring to the job, picking two or three things from your CV that match what the firm asks for and saying what you did in each. The third says why you want this particular job at this particular organisation, and what makes it different from its competitors. The fourth is a short close.
Slaughter and May’s own description of what it wants is close to the same: the letter should tell them about you, why you are interested in a career in law and why you are applying to that firm. A good test for each paragraph is whether it would still be true if you swapped the firm’s name for another one; if it would, it is not saying enough.
Why this firm, specifically
This is the paragraph most letters get wrong, because it is the hardest one to write without research. Look for something particular to the firm: a practice area it is known for, a deal or case it worked on that you read about, a product, a client sector, a training structure, or something somebody from the firm said at a careers event. Then say why that matters to you, in a sentence that connects it to something you have done.
Weaker: “I am drawn to your firm’s excellent reputation and commitment to innovation.” Stronger: “At your presentation at the university law society in October, a trainee described working on a renewable energy financing in her first seat, and since my dissertation is on planning law for onshore wind, that is the work I would most like to see from the inside.” The second is longer, but it could only have been written to one firm.
How long, how formal, and who to address it to
One page. Cambridge’s careers service says a standard cover letter should be one page, and Prospects that it should not go over one side of A4. Keep the tone of a polite email to somebody senior: full sentences, no slang, no flattery.
Address it to a named person if you can. Cambridge’s guide says to try to send it to a named person, and Prospects suggests Dear Sir or Madam only once you have tried and failed to find a name; the application page, the graduate recruitment team or a careers event usually gives you one.
Can one letter go to several firms?
Not as it stands. Cambridge’s guide says you cannot send identical applications to several employers, and Prospects that every cover letter needs to be unique. The second paragraph, about what you bring, can stay much the same between firms in the same sector, but the third has to be written for each one, and recruiters notice when it is not, especially when another firm’s name has been left in.
With an account, Check my application in cookie’s Interview prep can read a draft letter against the vacancy and point to sentences that could be about any firm. It uses credits, and the letter you send should still be your own.
Where to check
- University of Cambridge careers service: CVs and applications
- Prospects: cover letters
- EY: student FAQs
- Slaughter and May: how to apply
- Linklaters: your application
Checked against these on . The rules change from year to year, so the pages above are the ones to trust if anything here disagrees with them.
Common questions
Do internships still need a cover letter?
Some do and some do not. EY, for example, says one is not required for its early careers applications, while Slaughter and May asks for one for most of its schemes. The firm’s application page says which.
How long should an internship cover letter be?
One page at most, usually three or four short paragraphs.
Who do I address a cover letter to?
A named person if you can find one, often in the graduate recruitment team. Use Dear Sir or Madam only if you cannot find a name.
Can one cover letter go to several firms?
Not unchanged. The paragraph about why you want that firm has to be written for each one, and careers services advise against sending identical applications.
What should I write instead if there is no cover letter?
Put the same thinking into the application questions: why this firm, why this kind of work and an example from your experience, within any word limit the firm gives.