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Writing the Perfect Email that Lands You an Internship


If you have ever applied for internships at academic institutions (particularly in the sciences) or are currently doing so, chances are that you have either sent your fair share of emails to professors or are thinking of doing so. Writing emails to faculty professors is still one of the simplest ways of getting internships. This means that professors get a large number of such emails throughout the year. To stand out from this crowd, one needs to adopt a specific and well-thought-out strategy. There is indeed no shortage of such blog posts all over the internet. Nevertheless, we thought we should chip in with our experience and ideas regarding writing emails to prospective mentors.

In the first part of this post, we have mainly talked about all the content you should be putting into the email you write to the professor. From personal experience, I must admit that it is quite difficult to keep all of that advice in mind when making the first draft. It is always better to have a concrete example and start from there. So, we will be looking at a real email in this post (real means that I actually wrote that email to a professor). I am going to discuss its merits and demerits. This email was able to land me a funded project position at my present institute. So, despite its demerits, I think it qualifies as a nice template. I will be breaking the letter down into a few points. That will make it easier to remember what all should be kept in mind while writing the email.

Going through the email

Subject line

You should clearly write your purpose on the mail subject line. And, obviously, it’s not a sentence. Just use it as a headline of news.

Salutation

Don’t use Mr./ Mrs. Use Dr. or Prof. And never mess up pronouns.

Intro (Paragraph 1)

Use the first paragraph for your introduction, i.e, your name, qualifications, etc. Keep it simple - 1 or 2 short sentences at most.

The story begins (Paragraphs 2 and 3)

Use the next one or two paragraphs to explain why you are interested. Don’t start from the very early stages, unless they are very interesting! In our example, I have worked on a complex network for about 10 months at that point. So, I had already made the point that I’m interested in this field and I have a basic background. Paragraph 3 shows how I became interested in that professor’s work and that I had already read a little bit about their current work. It is a good indication that you are genuinely interested in that professor’s work and not just faking it for a summer project.

Note however that while it is important to display confidence, it is also equally important to be humble. No professor expects you to understand everything about their work, so frame your words accordingly.

Your next goal (Paragraph 4)

Clearly state why you think you should work with this professor. In research, along with skill, passion matters a lot. If you can present yourself as passionate about this topic, congratulations, you have already won half the game! It is okay if you don’t have any concrete plan for the future. In academia, confusion is an inevitable part. In my opinion, all that you should know when you are trying to get a project is why you want to do it, the previous step, and the future step. I have noticed a few problems in this paragraph (things that I will be careful of the next time). Please look at the Things in the email I am not too proud of of part.

Open a way to start a conversation (Paragraph 5)

After reading a mail, it is very difficult for the professor to judge whether you are fit for the project. Because guiding research projects is a tough job and the professor does not gain much from a short project, it is understandable that they would be skeptical on this matter. So, I think it is very important to start the conversation on a lighter note, without commitment. If you can volunteer to work for them for a few days, they will get a better idea of your skills and working style. And, obviously, there is a fair chance that you end up not liking the professor or their working style. That is why I feel that such a trial is very important for both parties.

Attach your CV (Paragraph 6)

It is not possible to list all of your skills in an email, and neither is it recommended. So, make a nice CV (in PDF format, max 3 pages) and attach it with the email. Because professors are very busy, do not expect them to first read your email and then reply asking for your CV - send the CV along with the first email to clear this hurdle for them. Writing a motivational letter is not that necessary, but there is no harm in writing one.

Funding

Funding is a very challenging and pivotal issue for the whole process. If you have any external source of funding (some fellowship, etc), that is great! It is a huge relief for your potential mentor. If you don’t, you can ask the professor whether they can use institute-provided funding to take students. If nothing else, you might be okay with working with no funding! It is entirely up to you.

Time of sending mail

There is no hard and fast rule about this, but I always try to send the email in the morning (especially during the 9 am-10 am window). Professors get a lot of emails, and there is a fair chance that they might miss your mail if there are a lot of new emails after yours. A large number of people check their inboxes before starting their day, so it is reasonable that sending an email in the morning increases the chances of getting a reply.

Things in the email I am not too proud of

  1. Too many paragraphs: Paragraphs 2 and 3 should be merged. Only one sentence in a paragraph is meaningless. The same goes for paragraphs (5) and (6).
  2. Personal stories: Do not mention any personal story (which is not related to the project) in an email. The first two sentences of the fourth paragraph are quite inappropriate and random. All I can say in my defense is that since I had recently joined a Ph.D. position at IIT Guwahati, any prospective mentor was bound to ask me why I was looking for a short-term project - those two sentences were answers to that.
  3. No specific question about their work: In my mail, I wrote about some recent works of that professor. But I did not add any questions about that work. If you have some questions regarding those things, always mention those. It demonstrates your engagement with that topic and gives some credibility to your words. I think it is okay if you do not write about any specific project question in your first mail. I do not think it is necessary for a short-term project. But if you have some specific questions, you are encouraged to write those.
  4. Grammatical mistakes: Take care to not make any grammatical mistakes - they make your email look very unprofessional.

Other references

We found some very good articles on writing emails for internships. Interested readers are strongly encouraged to read these articles for more hints and to learn professors’ perspectives about receiving emails.

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