QUESTION: Where do you place internships on a resume?
Sharon Glennon
Internships are valuable work that should be included in your history especially if you are a recent grad or making a career change. Include them chronologically or topically as it makes sense. Be certain to reflect the details of the great work and impact or outcomes as measured by quantitative or qualitative results.Kate Williamson, Scientech Resumes
Internships can go under your professional experience, although if you’ve held multiple internships, you can create a separate “Internships” section. For the most part, including internships is advantageous if you’re in your first OR second job in your target industry. Yet, if you’re making a career change, then it’s in your best benefit to emphasize relevant internships that you’ve undertaken.Camille Roberts, CC Career Services
Internships, if paid, can be listed under your work experiences and treat them as such. List your ‘job’ title, the organization, what you were tasked to do, the challenge you had, how you overcame it, the result, and the impact it had. You can also list your internships under Volunteer Service and use the same strategy. Best of luck!Donald Blum, Blum & Associates, LLC
Internships are extremely IMPORTANT, especially if you are a recent graduate with little, or no, job/industry related work experience. I consider an Internship a “job.” They belong in the Work History section, like all other jobs, and are listed by date in reverse chronological order. List your quantified Accomplishments just like you do with other jobs.Cathy Lanzalaco, Inspire Careers
Internship placement is about the value it adds to a resume. For new graduates, internships are work history, so place it in the Experience section. If the organization you interned with has a high brand equity, (i.e., NASA), you may add it in the Summary. Internships become less relevant over time, so seasoned workers might place it as a mention with their education at the end of the resume.Grant Cooper, Strategic Resumes & Business Plans
1) If the internships are impressive or extensive, or if you have limited experience, you can format them in the same manner as you would a job. 2) If there are several or many internships, you may consider aggregating them into a special internship section. 3) If the internships are relatively minor and/or long ago, you can list them within the educational section to which they are associated.Angela Watts, MyPro Resumes
Students should create a separate “Internship” section and list these experiences here (to make them very easy to find). Recent graduates, who have not worked in their field outside of internships, should list these within their professional experience section (in place of traditional employment). All others, should only include an internship if it demonstrates a sought competency or trait.Sally McIntosh, Advantage Resumes of St. Louis
It depends how long you have been in the job force. If you are a current college graduate, it should be placed under Education using the heading of Internships. They should be treated like any paying position with job titles, job descriptions, and accomplishments. After you have some professional experience, you can put them at the bottom of your Education section.Cheryl Minnick, University of Montana
Academically-endorsed internships offer career readiness opportunities to test drive a career. If relevant to a student’s career path, they are best placed in Professional Experience articulating accomplishments and value-added skills (keywords) the student learned as an intern. HINT: Its best to present the internship with a job title not simply “intern” – perhaps Audit Accountant Intern.
Norine Dagliano, ekm Inspirations
When deciding where to place information on your resume, imagine an inverted triangle. Start with the most relevant information, followed by important details, and ending with general/background information. If your internship equipped you with recent and relevant skills and experience that align with your target job, then place at or near the top of your experience section.Ask a Question
Ask us your question and it may be selected as the topic of our next blog post, with answers compiled from the advice of NRWA members.
Work with the Best
Find a Resume Expert
If you’re looking for more information on how to write a great resume – or get an expert to help you with yours – you’ve come to the right place! This site was created by the National Resume Writers’ Association (NRWA), a US-based non-profit association with members from around the world who are dedicated to learning about and providing expertise in resume writing to all job seekers.
The National Résumé Writers’ Association
9 Newport Drive #200, Forest Hill, MD 21050
Thanks for checking out ResumeExperts.theNRWA.com!
For more on our association and certification, see www.thenrwa.org
Member Services: 1.877.THE.NRWA or [email protected]
Copyright © 2018 The National Résumé Writers’ Association