Internship application
An internship costs supervision time before it returns anything. So the letter has to answer a silent calculation: how long until this person contributes more than they cost, and will they stay long enough for that to pay off?
The example below answers both questions in its first two paragraphs, and never apologises for lacking experience.
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Give the period, your course and the company: the generator writes a first draft that leads with what you can already do, without apologising for the rest.
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Application for a communications internship, 1 August 2026 to 31 January 2027
Dear Ms Kunz,
I am finishing my BA in Communication Science at the University of Zurich and am looking for the mandatory six-month internship my course requires, from 1 August 2026 to 31 January 2027. The dates are set by the programme regulations, so they will not move.
What I can already do: my semester project analysed crisis communication at Swiss public transport operators, covering 240 published statements over six months. I also ran the student association's social channels for two years, taking the page from 400 to 2,100 followers — not through advertising, but by posting consistently at fixed times.
What I want to learn with you: client-facing consulting work, which the university does not teach. Your agency works with public institutions, and that is exactly the field I would like to specialise in after my degree.
I am Swiss-Swedish, so there is no permit question, and I am available for an interview at any time and happy to come to your offices.
Kind regards,
Mia Andersson
What matters here
- Exact dates, start and end: predictable beats flexible.
- Say which kind of internship it is — mandatory, voluntary, or a gap year.
- What you can already do counts, even if it was unpaid.
- Say what you want to learn: an intern who knows why needs less supervision.
- Do not apologise for being at the start. The company knows — that is why the position exists.
What the company is really weighing
An internship costs supervision time before it returns anything. The silent calculation is: how long until this person contributes more than they cost — and will they stay long enough for that to pay off?
What follows is what belongs in the letter. The exact period, with start and end dates: predictable beats flexible. What you can already do, even if it was unpaid — a semester project, a coursework build, a tool you know. And what you want to learn, because an intern who knows why they are there needs less supervision than one waiting to be told.
What does not belong: the apology for having no experience yet. The company knows. That is why it opened the position.
Mandatory, voluntary, gap year — and what Switzerland pays
These three are not the same thing, legally or practically, and the letter should settle in one sentence which is meant. For a mandatory internship that forms part of a degree, the duration and often the allowance are set by the school — that removes an uncertainty for the company, so say it.
For a voluntary internship after graduation the expectation is different: the company is largely assessing whether you might suit a permanent role later. The letter can be correspondingly more ambitious.
In a gap year, what counts is knowing why this industry specifically. An internship taken to find direction is entirely legitimate — but "I would like to explore my options" with no direction reads as indifference.
On pay: Switzerland has no national minimum for internships, but several industries and cantons have collective agreements or established norms that set one, and a mandatory internship tied to a degree is often covered by the school's own rules. This is worth knowing before you negotiate, and it is another reason to state which kind of internship you mean.
FAQ
- Are internships paid in Switzerland?
- There is no national minimum for internships, but several industries and cantons set one through collective agreements or established practice, and a mandatory internship attached to a degree is often covered by the school's own rules. Say in the letter which kind yours is — it changes what applies.
- Do I need to give exact dates?
- Yes, start and end. "As soon as possible" makes the company plan around a blank, and a defined period is exactly what makes an intern easy to say yes to.
- What do I write if I have no work experience at all?
- What you have produced elsewhere: a semester project with its method and scale, a coursework build, running an association's channels, a tool you know well. Those are checkable facts, and they are all that is asked for at this stage.
- When should I apply for an internship?
- Four to six months before the intended start in most industries, and further ahead at large companies that recruit interns in fixed intakes.
- Can an internship lead to a permanent job?
- Often, and it is a common route into Swiss employment. Saying so is useful for a voluntary internship after graduation; for a mandatory one it sounds premature.
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