At first glance, your email subject line is what a hiring manager uses to judge if your internship application email is worth opening or not.
When applying for an internship application, choosing a great subject line can be tricky.
Since a lot of people are looking for an internship opportunity, the following email subject line you choose is important, and the email is too.
If you’re sending a cold email, you need to send something that will stand out in the inbox of the person you’re reaching out to.
P.S: If you’re tired of spending hours crafting cold emails that never seem to get any response, then check out our cold email templates that have helped 133 people land paid internships & job interviews
So it takes a bit of experience to do it the right way.
If you’re looking for email subject lines that will make your internship application stand out in the inbox of the hiring manager.
Then read this post without skipping.
Top 4 Tips For Crafting Email Subject Lines For Internship Application
- 1. Keep Your Subject Line Short & Simple
Imagine this scenario, you’re scrolling through your email inbox, and you come across two unread emails, one has two words as its subject line and the other has 8 words in the subject line.
Which one are you more likely to open? If you’re like me, you’ll open the email with two words in the subject line because it standouts out compared to other emails in my inbox.
According to HubSpot, your email subject line should contain a maximum of 50 characters.
From the split testing we’ve done so far, subject lines with 2–5 words perform better than those with 6+
If you’re applying for an internship by sending cold emails to the person in charge, and you want your cold emails to be successful, keep your subject line below 4 words.
- Don’t Use Clickbaits as Subject Line
The goal of a subject line is to get someone’s attention, so they can open and read your email.
Have you ever clicked on a YouTube video because of the title and, 2 minutes into the video, you realized that the title is clickbait?
How did you feel? You lost the trust you have for that YouTuber, right?
The same thing will happen if you use clickbait subject lines when applying for an internship
A good subject line can get the attention of the recipient anytime, anywhere.
- Use a professional email address
Imagine this, you receive a cold email from two strangers, the contact name of the first stranger is “Michael Greenwood” and the contact name of the second stranger is “Michael668”.
Which email are you more likely to open? The initial one, right? Correct.
Not having a professional email is one of the worst mistakes you can make as a jobseeker.
HR and recruiters often reject an email if it sounds unprofessional.
Emails like “Michael668” or “MichaelB939378” will not be taken seriously.
- Personalize Your Subject Line
Including your recipient’s name, company name, or a mutual connection shows that you took time to research about the company.
It also adds a personal touch to your message, thereby increasing the probability of your email being read
The Best Email Subject Line For Internship Applications are:
- Question about [Internship opportunity]
- Quick Question about [Role]
- Congrats [On Latest Event]
- Interested In [Company’s Internship opportunity]
- Is [Internship opportunity] open?
- Applying for [internship Position]
- Referred by John Doe
- Question about [Internship opportunity]
This subject line can be used when you’re emailing a recruiter or hiring manager to know more about the internship position or job you’re applying for.
If you’re looking for a job, you can also switch it up to something like “Question about [Job opportunity]”
- Congrats [On Event]
The easiest way to make your email stands out in the inbox of your recipient is to do something others are not doing.
If you’re applying for an internship at a company that just got funded, or just won an award, then you should make use of this subject line.
How do you know a company’s latest event? Visit the company website or go to Google and search for the company under the news category.
For example, Congrats on winning the PCCF Award, Congrats on your $15M Funding.
A subject line like this work well because they creates a personal touch between the sender and the recipient.
- Interested In [Company’s Internship opportunity]
If you happen to come across a job posting or internship opportunity that you’re interested in, then you can use this subject line.
It’s a great subject line that’s simple and straight to the point.
- Referred by John Doe
In your job application or internship application emails, try as much as you can to include the full name of the person that referred you.
All things being equal, hiring managers and even business owners have a higher level of trust toward people that were sent by someone they know.
The power of referrals should not be underestimated when it comes to getting an internship
So if you have someone internally in the company who has referred you, lead with that in the subject line.
Even if the hiring manager doesn’t directly know the person who referred you, a referral is a sign of trust, so they’re likely to open your email and look at your application.
The tips I listed above should help you craft the perfect email subject when applying for an internship.
If you follow the tips I listed above, you’ll drastically improve the chances of your email being read.
Always cut straight to the point and leave out the fluff.
Using tricks, hooks, and clickbaits to get hiring managers to open your emails is not a good idea, it might backfire and hurt your career in the future.
Remember that once you capture the attention of the hiring manager or recruiter, you want to have a solid resume that clearly states your skills and why you’re a good fit for the position or company you’re applying for.