How to write an internship CV that actually gets read

Most internship CVs are skimmed in under 10 seconds. Hiring managers are not reading - they are scanning for signals. If the most important information is not visible in the first glance, you have already lost their attention.

Here is what that means practically: your name, degree, most relevant skills or experience, and a short objective statement should all appear in the top third of your CV. Do not bury the headline.

One page. Always.

At the internship stage, you do not have enough experience to justify two pages. Trying to fill them forces you to include low-value content that dilutes the good stuff. A tight, well-edited one-pager consistently outperforms a padded two-pager.

Lead with impact, not responsibility.

There is a significant difference between listing what your job was and showing what you did with it. Instead of writing 'Helped organise events for the student union', try 'Coordinated three events with 200+ attendees, managing logistics end-to-end'. Numbers and outcomes stick. Vague responsibilities do not.

Tailor for each role.

This does not mean rewriting your CV from scratch for every application. It means moving the most relevant experience higher, matching the language in the job description, and making sure your objective line reflects the company's specific focus. Five minutes of tailoring per application is worth it.

A practical checklist before you send.

• Key information visible in the top third of the page
• No more than one page in length
• At least one quantified outcome per experience entry
• Objective statement references the specific role or company
• Exported as a PDF, not a Word document
• Proofread by someone other than yourself

One final note: a typo will not necessarily kill your application, but multiple errors signal carelessness - and carelessness is the last thing a company wants in an intern.