Contacting the company
You must actively apply for internship by contacting potential internship companies yourself.
You typically get the first contact by:
- Sending a written application and your CV
- Addressing companies in person
- Contacting companies on LinkedIn
- Participating in KEA's as well as other career fairs
It is important that you prepare so that you can briefly and accurately present yourself to the company.
Initial contact with companies
No matter how you contact a company, it is important that you can briefly and accurately present yourself.
When you contact a company, the following information may be relevant to them:
- That you’re approaching them because you are looking for internship
- That internship is a mandatory part of your education
- What tasks you will be able to take part in
- Why you are looking for internship in that particular company
Prepare CV, application etc. in advance
You will probably be applying in different ways and may therefore need to prepare the following:
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Written application
Whether your application is solicited or unsolicited, your letter must be short and to-the-point.
Remember to write that you are applying for unpaid internship 37 hours per week for 10 or 20 weeks. Also specify the period.
A written application typically includes a CV and/or portfolio.
If you are applying for an advertised internship position, the ad will indicate who the application should be sent to and what profile the company is looking for.
If your application is unsolicited, you may not know who to address the application to. Therefore, it is a good idea to contact the company to find out who to direct the application to.
It is important that you write which tasks you could work with, so that the company has the chance to assess whether hiring you as an intern is relevant or not.
If your application is unsolicited it may be a good idea to write a short application text in the email itself and perhaps attach your CV and/or portfolio.
You can find guidance on how to write a good application on most trade unions' websites and many job portals. -
CV
Your CV should give the company an overview of your professional profile and must be targeted the company where you’re applying for internship.
Note that your CV should normally be shorter when applying for an internship position than when applying for a job.
Your CV can either be built up chronologically or according to your competencies.
You can find guidance on how to write a good application on most trade unions' websites and many job portals.
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Portfolio
Your portfolio should show selected examples of your products and the underlying processes. The purpose is for the company to be able to see examples of what you can do and also how you’ve worked with tasks you’d like your internship to be about.
The portfolio should not be a complete review of all your products.
Portfolios are only relevant in some educational programmes. It depends on the programme how the portfolio should be designed. Therefore, ask your internship supervisor for advice on how to design your portfolio. -
Elevator pitch
An elevator pitch is a brief presentation of yourself and what you can offer as an intern. It should last about 30 seconds.
You need an elevator pitch if you’re contacting companies by phone before submitting your application, or if you meet potential internship companies through networks or at fairs.
You can find guidance on how to prepare a good elevator pitch on most trade unions' websites and many job portals.
Contacting the company
When contacting the company, consider the following questions:
- What is relevant for the company to know about you?
- What tasks can you be part of?
- Why do you find the company interesting?
- Which products in your portfolio show what you’re capable of?
- What would you like to work with when you graduate?
The internship interview at a company
The internship interview can help you find out if there is a match between you and the company.
When you contact a company, your first aim is to be invited to an internship interview.
The internship interview is not only the company's opportunity to find out if you might make a good intern, it is also your opportunity to find out if the company could be a good place of internship.
The company will probably ask you to introduce yourself, and they’ll expect you to talk about your skills and what tasks you would like to work with. Therefore, it is a good idea to prepare an elevator pitch before the interview.
In the elevator pitch you can talk about e.g.:
- Your education and professional interests
- Tasks you could imagine participating in during your internship
- Previous relevant experience (if you have any)
- What you might want to work with when you graduate
You should familiarise yourself thoroughly with the company before the interview and also consider what you think is specially interesting about that particular company. That’ll make you prepared if the company asks you why it is their company you are applying for internship in.
Often, the company will ask you what your strengths and weaknesses are. This can be a question that is difficult to answer without preparation, so it's a good idea to consider how you would answer.
Also, make sure to ask questions if you are wondering about something or if something seems odd. If there is a problem, it’s better to work it out during the interview than once you have started your internship.
If the company does not tell you themselves, it might be relevant to ask:
- Which department will you be in
- What persons will you be working with
- How would a typical day be for an intern in their company
Preparing for the interview
You may want to keep these questions in mind when preparing for an internship interview:
- Who are you (professionally)?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- What do you need to know about the company?
Mie og Louis Poulsen vandt Årets KEA Praktik 2021 - se Mie fortælle om sit praktikophold og hvordan studie og praktik går op i en højere enhed.
Work tasks
Together with the company, you need to find out what work tasks you can take part in during your internship.
If both the company and you are interested in a course of internship, you should meet so that you can agree on the work content together, before you submit the internship contract.
The tasks must be study-relevant, and they must be described as accurately as possible, so that it is clear to the company, your internship supervisor and you what the internship will contain.
According to all experience, it is essential for the internship to be successful that you have a clear agreement before the start of the internship.
Your internship is your opportunity to work with the aspects from your education that you find most interesting. Therefore, it is important that you prepare for the meeting with the company, so that you can tell them what work assignments you can and would like to help solve.
Some tasks you will be able to solve independently through sparring with the company's employees. Other tasks you will have to solve together with the company's employees.
Also consider:
- If the company has employees you could be allowed to follow, so you get an insight into their work
- If there are meetings you could join as an observer to get a better understanding of the company
- If the company has tools you could learn to use
If you are doing internship abroad, you may not be able to meet physically with the company before the internship starts. Instead, you should hold a video meeting with the company so that at least you can see each other face-to-face on the screen. If you only talk on the phone or write together it is very easy to misunderstand each other.
Think about possible tasks
Before you talk to your future internship company about work content and tasks, it could be an idea that you consider what you can contribute with and what you want to get out of the internship.
- What tasks could be interesting to take part in?
- How can you get an insight in the rest of the company?
- What do you need to know about the company?
Links
Here you will find a number of links that can help you in your internship search.
Job portals
You can find good advice on job searching on most job portals:
Trade unions
You can also find good job searching advice on the website of many trade unions. Below you can find some of the trade unions that KEA students mostly use, but you can also take a look at your own union's website if it is not on the list.
Bisnode
Finding companies in relevant industries.
On Bisnode you can look up a company and find information about it.
KEA Alumni
On KEA's LinkedIn page, you can see where former students work and what they work with.
Company lists on Fronter
On Fronter, there are lists of companies and information on which ones former students have been doing internship in.