<p>I recently found out that there is a company in my city that is exactly the industry I want to get involved in down the line. However, they do not have any internships that they offer. However, I was wondering if it was acceptable to send my resume and a cover letter to them, with interest in an unpaid internship. Is this done? Is it not worth sending it if they haven't advertised for an intern?</p>
<p>If it is acceptable to send something like this, should I send it via email? Fax? Mail? Direct phone call?</p>
<p>Regarding this situation, one of the best ideas I was told during a lecture on internships/co-ops was to work your way in by asking to shadow an employee. Don’t even mention the idea of an internship at the beginning. If the person you’re shadowing recognizes that you are a good fit and are a bright student, you will have an “in” for such a possibility. If it doesn’t work out for you to be an unpaid intern, they can most likely direct you to other places where they get new-hires with good intern experiences from, and you get a look at how their hiring works for later in life.</p>
<p>Kickback’s response is great! You also shouldn’t be scared to contact the CEO of the company unless it’s a really huge company (in which case they’d probably have an internship program) and ask him to do an interview on his steps and strategies for success (cover up by saying its for a school course) this will allow you to make a connection or develop a relationship… or contact the CEO directly and let him/her know that you’re very interested in learning more about the firm, possibly by assisting him or someone that may need help from time to time for free…this has worked for ALOT of people and it has been known to lead to more than some internships do in certain situations, it’s also great because it’s very non-committal</p>
<p>I haven’t really heard anything from any of the internship programs I applied to and am now about to start doing exactly this. My question is how do you start off the communication for something like this? I am trying to get an internship at a financial planning firm. Right now, I have a list of firms that I would be interested in with contact information for those firms.</p>
<p>Should I mention in the first email that I’m looking for an internship or any unpaid opportunity? Should I hold off that question until I develop more of a connection with the person, instead asking about their work/office culture/etc.? Any help would be appreciated.</p>
<p>One word: LinkedIn. Create a profile, find an employee or two of the company, and send them a message. It’s worked better for me than cold email, although if you can find employees’ email addresses that would work well, too. You should mention straight up that you’re looking for an unpaid internship, and that you’re hungry for the experience.</p>
<p>TOTALLY worth sending it. Lots of companies retain interns without advertising; they get them usually through connections but cold email can work too (they don’t advertise because it’s too much work for them to go through the whole recruiting process). And the company is new to interns but flexible, they may consider bringing you on as their first.</p>