Recruiters are known to spend approximately 7 seconds skimming through resumes, be it for a job, volunteering position, or internship.
This means that if you want your internship resume to get noticed, you have to get recruiters’ attention right off the bat. The best to do this is through an attention-grabbing resume objective.
Done right, your resume objective can help you show recruiters what you can bring to the table and set you apart from other candidates - all in a couple of seconds! In turn, the recruiter will be a lot more likely to give your resume the attention it’s due.
So, to help you write an awesome internship resume objective, we’ll cover the following:
- Why Do I Need an Internship Resume Objective?
- 5 Steps to Write an Internship Resume Objective
- Internship Resume Objective Template
- 10 Internship Resume Objective Examples
And more!
Why Do I Need an Internship Resume Objective?
A resume objective is a 2-3 sentence summary of your career goals, skills, and/or (academic) achievements that goes right at the top of your resume.
Done right, the resume objective can serve as a snapshot of your resume and explain what makes you the right candidate for a job or internship.
Although a resume objective is mostly optional, there are some cases when you should definitely include one, such as:
- When you're on the hunt for your first job or internship, a resume objective can easily show recruiters your motivation, skills, and drive.
- When you're making a career change. If you're changing fields, a resume objective can help you explain how your skills can come in handy in the new position.
5 Steps to Write an Internship Resume Objective
Now that we’ve talked about why internship resume objectives are important, let’s get to the meat of this article:
How can you create an effective resume objective that’s going to help you stand out?
Just follow these 5 simple steps!
#1. Understand What the Internship is About
If you want your internship resume objective to help you stand out from the competition, you have to make sure it's tailored to the position you're applying for.
However, most internship resume objectives go something like this:
- Engineering graduate looking for an internship in the field. Passionate about science and becoming successful in the field.
The problem with this internship resume objective is that it’s so vague the candidate could use it for literally any internship application, making them seem like the type of candidate who doesn't really care which company or job they’ll end up with.
So, if you want your internship resume objective to stand out, you’ll want to tailor it to the job you’re applying for. To do that, the first thing you need to do is truly understand what the internship is about.
Here are two simple steps to help you do that:
- Learn as much as you can about the company, its culture, values, its strategic mission, etc. Thanks to Google, you can learn a LOT about prospective employers just within a couple of searches.
- Read the job description carefully. Understand the skills and qualifications required for the job, and make sure to mention the most important ones in your internship resume objective.
Say, for example, that you want to intern as a social worker for an organization that aims to build and push social inclusion policies and is looking for someone who is committed, passionate, and hard-working.
Here is an example of an internship resume objective that’s tailored for this role:
- Passionate Bachelor of Social Work and Political Science looking to gain first-hand experience in improving existing social legal frameworks. I graduated among the top 5 of my class in the Bachelor of Social Work and have a 2-year volunteer experience as a social worker.
#2. Be Brief and to the Point
As we already mentioned, the whole point of a resume objective is to offer a sneak peek of your most noteworthy skills and achievements and get recruiters hooked into reading the rest of your resume.
As such, if your internship resume objective ends up being long-winded and tedious, you’ll just end up losing the recruiter from the get-go.
To make the most out of the limited space, you can do the following:
- Use keywords found in the job description. For example, if the company is looking for someone hard-working and driven, you can use these adjectives in your internship resume objective.
- Use action verbs. Action verbs and power words are a great way to make your resume stand out without taking up too much space in your resume.
#3. Focus on Your Skills and Achievements
Nothing attests to your potential more than your skills and your achievements.
So, if you want to impress the hiring manager, you should include your top skills and achievements on your resume objective. And when we say top, we actually mean aiming for 1-2 of your most noteworthy ones, considering the resume objective needs to be brief and to the point.
But is mentioning your achievements enough? Not if you want to stand out from the competition. To effectively achieve the latter, you should back up your achievements and skills with facts and numbers.
If you don’t, you’ll end up with an objective like this one:
- Marketing major looking to apply my creativity in digital marketing. Distinguished and driven student willing to apply recently acquired skills and knowledge to the position. I excelled at SEO and PPC advertising in my online marketing class, which should come in handy for the internship position.
Although this internship resume objective is not entirely bad, there is no way to tell how and to what degree the applicant stood out from their peers.
“Excelled at SEO” is nice, but does that mean they got a B- in the class or an A?
The following internship resume objective example, on the other hand, does a much better job at presenting their skills and achievements:
- Hard-working marketing major looking to apply theoretical knowledge into practice. Graduated Summa Cum Laude and acted as Assistant Professor in Digital Marketing. Skilled in Search Engine Optimization, having ranked a blog post on position #1 on my university’s blog.
#4. Mention What You Can Do for Them
As an intern, you won’t be only gaining practical knowledge, but also helping the company with daily chores and other responsibilities.
As such, mentioning how you can give back during your internship is a great way to get recruiters' attention and create a strong internship resume objective.
Say, for example, that a newspaper is looking for interns to help with daily tasks like fact-checking, proofreading, and putting together press releases. To show them you’re the intern they’re looking for, mention in your internship resume objective that those are tasks that you can help with.
Here’s how you can do that:
- Passionate journalism student looking to gain practical reporting experience. I have a knack for grammar and vocabulary and was one of the top students in my Writing and Reporting class. As such, I am eager to give back by assisting with daily tasks such as proofreading and writing press releases.
#5. Don't Use Complicated Language
If you’re a language pro, you might be tempted to show this off by including complex words in your internship resume objective.
Unless you’re applying for a job related to copywriting or literature, this is a bad idea.
In most cases, complicated language only complicates things, making you come off as arrogant and as if you’re trying too hard to make an impression.
So, for example, instead of using the word “contemplate” use the word “think,” or instead of using “attained,” use “achieved.” This way, you can let recruiters focus on your skills and achievements instead of your fancy choice of words.
- Think
- Believe
- Acquire
- Achieve
- Manage
- Advise
- Enable
- Inspire
- Support
- Guide
- Contemplate
- Surmise
- Cultivate
- Effectuate
- Maneuver
- Admonish
- Capacitate
- Galvanize
- Succour
- Shepherd
Internship Resume Objective Template
Writing a strong internship resume objective is easier said than done - especially if writing isn’t your strong point. After all, trying to give value in just a few lines is significantly harder than when you have a full page at your disposal.
To make things easier, you can follow this internship resume objective template:
- (1) [SKILL/EDUCATION/CERTIFICATION RELEVANT TO THE JOB WITH JOB TITLE]. Looking to apply my (2) [years/months of EXPERIENCE RELEVANT TO THE INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION] at [COMPANY YOU ARE APPLYING TO], to help (3) [TYPE OF RESPONSIBILITIES YOU WILL HELP OUT WITH SUCCESSFULLY].
Follow this formatting and you’re almost done with your internship resume objective, which may look something like this in practice:
- Curious and hardworking journalism graduate with practical experience in newspaper publishing. Looking to apply my newly acquired skills and education at The Sun to help the team with administrative tasks and in-depth research on topics of general interest.
10 Internship Resume Objective Examples
Your internship resume objective will vary according to the specific industry you’re applying for.
For example, a resume objective for an internship in finance might require more hard facts and numbers than one in graphic design or social work.
We hope the following internship resume objective examples in different fields inspire you to write yours:
#1. Marketing Internship Resume Objective
- “Recent graduate with a B.A. in Marketing looking to intern in Advertising at XYZ Inc. Strong skills in copywriting and graphic design, coupled with a creative mind. Practical experience in creating social media ad creatives (Facebook, Instagram) for university clubs via Canva.”
Check out here a complete marketing manager resume example.
#2. HR Internship Resume Objective
- “Psychology graduate looking for an HR internship at Recruitment Agency X. Solid entry-level experience doing recruitment work at the university TedX chapter, which included sourcing, interviewing, and hiring new team members. Looking to further develop my experience in the HR field and help XYZ Inc. with its hiring needs.”
Check out here a complete Human Resources resume example.
#3. Business Analyst Internship Resume Objective
- “Business Student at University X seeking a summer internship as a Business Analyst at XYZ Inc. Strong business know-how, with a focus on analyzing and interpreting data. Completed 10+ real-life business consulting case studies as university projects.”
Check out here a complete business analyst resume example.
#4. SEO Specialist Internship Resume Objective
- “Detail-oriented graduate with a B.A. in Business Administration looking to intern at the SEO Specialist position at Digital XYZ Inc. Theoretical knowledge of SEO, including some practical experience in using Google Analytics. Seeking to further develop my online marketing skills as part of the Digital XYZ team.”
#5. Content Creator Internship Resume Objective
- “Articulate graduate with a B.A. in Media and Mass Communication seeking to intern as content creator at XYZ Startup. Experienced in writing articles for local newspapers and online magazines. Hoping to apply my journalistic writing abilities to improve XYZ Startup’s blog on ABC Industry/Category.”
#6. Teacher Internship Resume Objective
- “B.S. in Education from University XYZ with a concentration in Chemistry seeking to start my career as a teaching intern at XYZ High School. Passionate about teaching, both in and out of the classroom.”
Check out here a complete teacher resume example.
#7. Financial Analyst Internship Resume Objective
- “Finance student with 3.92 GPA seeking an internship Financial Analyst position at XYZ Inc. Skilled in financial data analysis, reading financial sheets, with excellent knowledge of accounting and tax legislation.”
Check out here a complete financial analyst resume example.
#8. Computer Scientist Internship Resume Objective
- “Graduate with an M.Sc. in Computer Science and Information Systems seeking a position as an intern in the computer science department of XYZ University. 2+ years of experience in designing and implementing deep convolutional neural networks with TensorFlow and Scala. Enthusiastic about furthering research conducted on the study of artificial intelligence.”
Check out here a complete computer scientist resume example.
#9. Data Scientist Internship Resume Objective
- “Diligent Computer Science and Mathematics student with a 3.98 GPA looking for an internship at XYZ Inc. as a Junior Data Scientist. Specialized in statistical analysis and experienced with packages such as R, SQL, STATA, and Python.”
Check out here a complete data scientist resume example.
#10. Nurse Internship Resume Objective
- “Recent RN graduate seeking to help Hospital XYZ provide an excellent level of patient care. I have previous volunteering nursing experience with positive results in high-stress environments. An excellent team player who thrives under pressure. Passionate about helping people and making an impact.”
Check out here a complete nurse resume example.
Key Takeaways
And that’s a wrap! Ready to write the perfect internship resume objective?
With our tips and example, you sure should be!
Before you go, here are the main points covered in this article:
- A resume objective is a 2-3 sentence summary of your career goals, skills, and/or (academic) achievements that goes right at the top of your resume.
- A resume objective is particularly important when you’re looking for an entry-level job or internship or when you’re making a career change.
- The five steps to writing a good internship resume objective are to understand what the internship is about, be brief and to the point, focus on your skills and achievements, mention what you can do for the company, and avoid using overly complicated language.
