The application process for internships is always, in my opinion, touch and go. You’re never quite sure when or if you’ll get a response back, especially if the company is huge, as was my experience with an international music company. If a company is expecting enough applicants, they simply won’t get in contact with you unless you’ve made the first round of cuts, and oftentimes you don’t know how long that first round of cuts will take. So, how do you ensure that you’ll stand out and be noticed by your future employers and will get a call back? Let’s think. How does someone make an impression on you? Why does someone stick in your memory long after you’ve met?

Odds are, that person made a fantastic first impression. In the application process today, a first impression is made in your cover letter. For my application to join the Livefyre team, I wrote a cover letter in a nervous, smiling frenzy. Even though the last intern at the company had been a college grad, and I was sure I was out of my league, I sat down and wrote an honest letter that wasn’t based off of a format or generic letter. I confessed that I didn’t know much about professional online community management, but I was eager to learn. I emphasized the fact that I helped run an online community for fun, and I’d always enjoyed helping out members with their problems. I had worked at a start-up before, and I talked about what a fantastic experience it was and how I wanted to continue in that line of work. The response was quick, and it was clear that my enthusiasm and my eagerness  to learn at their company. After all, that’s what an internship is all about. Make sure you write an honest cover letter addressing what excites you about the company, what you can learn from them, and what you can bring to the table. You’ll be noticed for your enthusiasm and tenacity right away.

What cements a person in your memory? Remembering their name is a good start. Always do your research. I made sure I scoured the Livefyre home page, Facebook page, and Twitter account, as well as researching who would be interviewing me and what exactly I would be doing in the company. That research paid off, too. The day of my interview, I saw that my interviewer (and future boss) was discussing a blog post with a Livefyre user, Gini Dietrich. The article just so happened to be called First Impressions: Eight Ways to Avoid a Bad One. Yikes. I followed the link and read the article, which was absolutely wonderful. Since Livefyre breeds live discussion on blogs, I tuned into the comments, which were flying in. Industry professionals were all chiming in with interview do’s and don’ts, and what their best interviewees had done to seal the deal with the company. I was reading this the day of my interview. I took about two pages of notes, taking time to address what my interviewer liked and didn’t like in internship candidates. At the time, it felt a little bit like Internet stalking, but you want to know something? Researching my future boss and reading what she was discussing got me the internship.

You see, even if I felt like I was going overboard at the time, I brought up the blog post in my Skype interview a few hours later. My boss was pleased that I’d been researching the company as well as following her work. Not soon after our interview, I saw that she posted a new comment on the same blog post:

You wouldn’t have been able to believe my excitement after that. Not only had I secured my internship (huzzah!) but the CEO of a well-known marketing firm in Chicago was following me on Twitter, too! I’d secured my internship and already started building connections. All of it started with an honest, thoughtful cover letter where I wasn’t afraid to speak my mind about the internship opportunity, and a healthy amount of research before I interviewed. Believe me, both are completely doable, and you’ll stand out against your competition because of it!