Arts Career Toolkit – Internships 101

If an organization of interest doesn't have a specific internship opportunity listed you can still reach out to them to inquire about opportunities.

1. Get your resume/cv in order: Make sure you've updated your resume and it tells a compelling story.
2. Elevator pitch:  Before you begin sending out emails, identify what you have to offer in terms of knowledge, experience, skills, and interests.  Develop a brief “elevator pitch” about yourself and what you would ideally like to do.  Do your homework about the organizations you are contacting, studying their website and printed materials.
3. Start early, be persistent & responsive:  When making contact, give yourself a lot of time, especially when communicating with community-based organizations, which are often overworked and understaffed.  If you do not hear back, be friendly, patient, but persistent.  Try using multiple forms of communication—sometimes phone calls are returned more often than emails.
   • If you haven't heard from an organization in at least two weeks, send them a short follow-up email reiterating your interest. If still no word after one week, send another follow-up. If after yet another week you haven't heard anything, send a final follow up.
4. Begin with any existing known contact within the organization, even if the person is not in the position to supervise or collaborate with you.  If you cannot determine an established connection at an organization, you can begin by asking for someone who coordinates volunteers or interns.
5. You will also want to consider the number of organizations you are contacting.  Not everyone you contact will be interested in your proposal, so be prepared to call more than one organization.  However, you also want to be careful not to contact too many organizations.  This is time consuming, and can be awkward when apologies need to be made.
6. Be responsive to any leads.  While your schedule is complex and you have many commitments, so does your community partner.  The organizations are doing you a favor, so present yourself well.  Remember, you are also serving as an ambassador of Stanford!  In general, you should respond to emails within 24 to 48 hours.
7. Be transparent with your application status. Let your potential host organization know if you're applying to this internship as part of a Stanford program (such as SIPA, CAF, a Haas Cardinal Quarter fellowship, SiNY, etc.) Communicate any relevant Stanford program deadlines to your potential host organization to double check that their review timeline aligns with Stanford's.

Adapt the following template for your initial outreach emails.

Dear <NAME OF SPECIFIC CONTACT>,

[IF YOU CANNOT FIND A SPECIFIC CONTACT, USE A GENERAL GREETING LIKE “GOOD MORNING/AFTERNOON” OR “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN”]

I am writing to express my interest in interning with <NAME OF ORGANIZATION> during <QUARTER OF INTERNSHIP>. I’ve looked on your website for internship opportunities but could not find any listed. 

[IF YOU WERE REFERRED TO THIS ORGANIZATION BY SOMEONE IN THE FIELD, INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:] 

<NAME OF PERSON AND THEIR ORGANIZATION> suggested that I reach out to you to explore internship opportunities with your organization. 

<YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH, NO MORE THAN 1-2 PARAGRAPHS. INCLUDE DETAILS THAT CONNECT YOUR PITCH TO THIS SPECIFIC ORGANIZATION AND YOUR INTERNSHIP LEARNING GOALS>

[IF YOU ARE APPLYING FOR A CARDINAL QUARTER PROGRAM, INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:]

I am in the process of applying for a Cardinal Quarter stipend through Stanford in order to support some of my travel and living costs for the duration of a <QUARTER OF INTERNSHIP> internship. As part of my Cardinal Quarter application I am required to have both secured an internship and have my host organization complete a short questionnaire by the application deadline (<APPLICATION DEADLINE>).

I look forward to discussing an internship opportunity with your organization in more detail. I am available to talk at your convenience.

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

<YOUR SIGNATURE>