20 tips for mastering an internship interview

I’ve interviewed dozens of interns and taught college students competing for internships, so this advice represents the cumulative knowledge I’ve gained on the subject by being an active participant in the process.

Here’s my best advice for interns:

1. Customize your résumé for each interview: Change your résumé’s objective and wording to conform with the job description. Don’t make up stuff or lie, just tailor your words accordingly.

2. Save your résumé with your full name in the title before sending it to the company. Don’t send a document that says, “Résumé.” That’s only helpful for finding it on your computer, not to the person who’s receiving 10 résumés per week.

3. In addition to e-mailing your résumé to the appropriate person, mail your résumé with a cover letter to the hiring manager. An e-mailed résumé is easy to ignore. A beautifully written letter with a real signature on nice paper is hard to throw away. It’s important that you send the letter and résumé to the person who’s involved in the hiring process.