Master the art of cold email for internship success : The Ultimate Guide

Allow me to tell you an interesting story about how I got started to draft cold email for internship and client acquisition!

I remember attending a class one afternoon on Ceramic Materials during my 2nd year of engineering at NIT Nagpur. The lecture was taken by one of the country’s renowned
professors Dr Atul Ballal.

After the lecture, a student went up to Dr Atul and said
“Sir, I wish to intern at unicorn startups like Zomato, Cred but I don’t know how to start and reach out to them?”
Dr Atul said
“Just drop them a cold email asking that I want an internship at your company, Simple”
Student said
“Sir, this sounds simple but why will they read or reply to my email? Why will they even take me when they already have such intelligent people working there?

To which, Dr Atul said something that still sticks in my head and changed my perspective altogether
“Just remember one thing, this world needs you more than you need them. And if you don’t ask, the answer is NO.”

This was the profound moment which changed my life all together. You might say, this is kinda overhyped but Dr Atul Ballal’s statement and his tips on drafting an email helped me acquire clients for my startups.

Infact, when I shifted to London for my masters, I eventually ended up landing an internship at a Venture Capital and then a startup incubated under Cambridge University

All thanks to cold emails

Here I’m all ready to share with you the real time secrets of crafting the perfect cold email for internship
I have assimilated these tips after sending tons of emails to founders, recruiters, investors in
India, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Germany and France.

But before we dive in let’s first understand what’s really a cold email

Matering Cold Email for Internship: What is Cold Email?

In simple words, cold email is an email that you write to someone you don’t know. You write this email with an intention that he/she might end up helping you out after reading the email.

BRO, WHY WILL A STRANGER REPLY TO MY EMAIL AND HELP ME?

When people ask me this question, I say what Dr Atul said
“If you don’t ask, the answer is no”.

It’s always better to attempt and then fail rather than not even giving a try.

While the probability of getting a reply from one single email is less than 1%, I guarantee when you end up writing more than 100 emails, the probability of getting a reply from someone will be more than 100%!!

I believe in the quote that “Man creates his own luck and destiny”

Writing cold emails is precisely the same. The more you write, the more chances of you cracking something big. Now that you know what cold email is and why you should even give it a shot.

Let me now share with you the precise details and steps as what goes into writing a cold email. These tips will not only help your email standout in the receiver’s inbox but also increase the chances of getting a reply

How to write a Cold Email for Internship: Step by Step Guide

While drafting the cold email, make sure to keep these tips in your mind as mandatory checklist before you shoot the email to the founder/recruiter/investor. While the entire world is obsessed with copy pasting random cold email templates available on the internet, what you need to do is just keep these points in mind and I guarantee that you will definatley standout from the crowd. Go Ahead!!

1. Cold Email for Internship: What should be the subject of email for internship?

Every founder / recruiter / investor, etc email inboxes are flooded with emails. While previously working at a venture capital in London, I remember that the investors used to receive more than 100 emails every single day

The way these people decide to read the emails is by judging and evaluating the subject line. The only way you stand out among the other emails in the inbox is by writing a catchy subject line.

You might have drafted the perfect email with the perfect offering but imagine that the email hasn’t even been opened yet

Such a loss

Hence writing someone that is generic doesn’t work well. Generic subject lines like I need a job, I need Internship, Applying for a XYZ Position, etc never really work.

All these subject lines aren’t even paid heeds to. Remember to draft something that stands out

Something like
“You have no idea how I found you”, “Remember the time we met”, “Congratulations for finding an intern”, etc

All these have seemed to work for me and my batch mates in the past.

The only way to know if the subject is effective is by experimenting / testing with different subject lines and then after writing several of such emails, you can then collect data of what works and what doesn’t.

2. Cold Email for Internship: Keep the cold email damn short

The most important tip among all.

I’ve seen a lot of cold email templates on the internet and all of them happen to be too damn long. One thing we need to collectively understand is that

The people whom you are emailing are busy individuals. They do not have time to read your lengthy manuscripts. By writing emails to the point, you are not only you are trying to convey your message in less words but also acknowledging and respecting the time of the individual

Again imagine the same person, being super busy and inbox flooded with emails. He/She decides to open your email to find out that the email they witness happens to super
long and wordy

They end up skipping and decide to read it later. Ofcourse we know that later never really comes

As a hack, send the email initially to a friend or to your alternative emai idl. Then check the size of your email. If their size is ample enough that you don’t have to end up scrolling much on the home screen – You are good to GO!

3. Cold Email for Internship: Personalize your cold email

I think this is the exact point where 98% of the people lose the battle of cold emails

Most of my friends use Chat GPT to draft an email and then eventually end up copy pasting and sending to every individual that they are supposed to send

Biggest Mistake

You cannot blast the same robotic email to every person and expect a reply. Writing a cold email is a serious affair and should not be treated as your engineering assignment (Yes, i did that)

Research the company or the individual that you want to send the email to. Mention something specific about the company or the individual to show that you have done your
homework

As a hack, try to not send the same email to 2 different individuals

4. Cold Email for Internship: Follow Up

The best cold emailers have two qualities patience and persistence

People tend to be busy and oftentimes they forget to reply.
That’s absolutely OK!

You don’t have to feel bad about it
If you hear back from a company / individual, just drop a follow up email

Make sure that you’re not pushy about it
A polite and respectful email will do the job

Conclusion

Remember, cold emailing is an art that requires effort and attention to detail. Avoid the common mistake of sending robotic, copy-pasted emails to multiple recipients.

Instead, take the time to research and personalize your emails for each individual or company. Patience and persistence are vital, and a well-timed follow-up can make a significant difference.

Never loose hope or attach your self-esteem to a peace of email if you don’t get reply from your prospective recruiter/professional. You might not get reply on your 1st email. But I guarantee by the time you draft your 100th email, you will have to spare some time to reply to other emails.

The more emails you shoot, the more you increase your probability of getting a reply from the prospect. Inculcate a habit of writing atleast 1 email per day and see the situation unfold as time progresses.

Infact, the more emails you write, the more proficient you become in terms of understanding what kind of emails work and what doesn’t. You never know even you might become an expert in this and someday might write a blog and answer questions on Quora.

So, go ahead and give cold emailing a shot. The more you practice and refine your skills, the greater your chances of achieving remarkable results. With the right approach and mindset, cold emails can open doors and lead you to exciting internship opportunities.

Just remember what Dr Atul Ballal said
“The world needs you more than you need the world. If you don’t ask, the answer is NO.”