How to Put an Internship on Your Resume (With Examples)

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Internships offer a valuable opportunity to gain some real world work experience and develop important professional skills that will make you a competitive candidate for your next job.

You should put an internship on your resume if:

You’re a current student or recent graduate
You have minimal work experience
Your internship experience is highly relevant to the job you’re applying for

Here’s how to list your internship experience:

1. Format your internship experience correctly

For each internship you’ve held, include the following information:

Name of the company or organization you interned for
Your position title
The start and end dates of your internship
A bulleted list outlining your projects, responsibilities, and accomplishmentsHere’s an example:

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

VERTIAS STRATEGIES, New York, NY
Research Intern, November 20XX — present

Produced reports and crosstabs to present recommendations for company data acquisition
Assisted senior staff to clean and upload approximately 10 new datasets a month
Streamlined our data analysis process, reducing polling data processing time by 5%
Used SQL to parse data and produce reports
Guided clients towards strategic decisions using political knowledge and data-driven insights

JERSEY CITY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, Jersey City, NJ
Information Desk Assistant, August 20XX — May 20XX

Greeted hospital patients and visitors and guided them to find the department, examination room, or patient room
Processed and distributed mail and newspapers to patient rooms
Took patients in wheelchairs to their desired locations

2. Choose the right section for your internship experience

If you have one or two jobs to list on your resume, you can add your internship to the work experience section, like this:

List internships in the "Professional Experience" section

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Elite Events
Event Planning Intern
July 20XX – October 20XX

Coordinated logistics for 20+ corporate events, ensuring a satisfaction rate of 19 events
Managed vendor relationships, negotiating discounts and saving $5,000 on event costs
Assisted in designing event marketing materials, increasing attendee registrations by 300

Great Valley Co-op
Stocker and Cashier
January 20XX – May 20XX

Stocked and organized merchandise, ensuring optimal product placement and inventory levels for over 500 items
Operated cash register and handled transactions for an average of 100 customers per shift
Provided excellent customer service, resolving issues and answering questions for 50+ customers daily

If you have multiple internships but no formal work experience to list yet, then you can create a separate “Internships” section. Here’s an example of what that looks like:

List internships in a separate "Internships" section

INTERNSHIPS

Biomedical Research Intern
Health Innovations Lab
June 2023 – September 2023

Analyzed data from clinical trials, contributing to a 12% increase in study efficiency
Assisted in preparing research findings for 3 scientific publications
Conducted laboratory experiments, improving sample processing speed for 200 samples

Environmental Science Intern
Green Horizons Institute
February 2023 – May 2023

Conducted soil and water quality tests, improving data accuracy for 15 samples
Assisted in the analysis of ecological impact reports for 5 major projects
Collaborated with a team to develop a new sustainability initiative, reducing waste by 500 pounds

If you haven’t gotten your first job yet but you have a combination of other experiences like volunteer work, projects, and coursework, create a “Relevant Experience” section and put your internship experience there along with your other experience.

Here’s an example:

List internships in a "Relevant Experience" section

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

Sacramento City Health Department
Public Health Intern
October 20XX – March 20XX

Conducted surveys and analyzed data from 500+ participants to assess community health needs
Assisted in planning and implementing public health outreach programs, increasing participation by 150 people
Supported the development of educational materials, reaching an audience of over 500,000 residents

Healthy Communities Coalition
Public Health Education Volunteer
June 20XX – November 20XX

Facilitated health education workshops for 100+ community members
Conducted surveys and gathered feedback to assess the effectiveness of public health programs
Assisted in distributing health resources and promotional materials

If you’re years into your career and are struggling to fit your relevant experience on one page, you should omit your internships and use the space to highlight accomplishments from your full-time positions.

3. Use action verbs to showcase your performance

The bullet points you list under each internship need to communicate your duties and accomplishments to managers in a clear, concise way.

So, begin each bullet point with an action verb that clearly describes what you did in your internship.

Action verbs clearly express what actions you took and center you as the proactive doer. For example:

Assisted
Supported
Contributed
Initiated
Developed
Designed
Created
Conducted
Improved
Enhanced
Coordinated
Analyzed
Collaborated
Drafted

Avoid using passive verbs like “tasked with” or phrases like “responsible for” and “in charge of” because they express your actions indirectly and don’t sound as impressive as action verbs.

Here are some examples of how to use action verbs to effectively describe your internship experience:

Use action verbs

Developed a social media strategy that increased engagement by 25%
Analyzed financial data for 12 client accounts, identifying key trends and insights
Created content for marketing campaigns that reached over 50,000 users

Avoid passive phrases

In charge of social media strategy
Tasked with analyzing financial data and identifying key trends and insights
Responsible for marketing campaign content

4. Quantify your accomplishments

Use numbers like percentages, dollar amounts, and time you spent on a project to make your internship bullet points more specific. Adding metrics shows hiring managers the impact you made in your internship, and helps them understand what you’re capable of accomplishing.

Add numbers whenever you can to make your bullet points more impressive. Here’s what that looks like:

Reduced customer service response time by 40%

Saved $5,000 on event costs through effective vendor negotiations

Resolved 50 customer queries daily

Coordinated logistics for 10 events

Examples of internships on resumes

Here’s an example of how to list an internship on a digital marketing resume:

Here’s an example of how to list a computer technician internship:

And, here’s how you can list a legal internship on your resume:

Additional resources

If that was helpful, check out some of our other resources for students and early-career professionals:

The best resume templates for 2025

One of the best ways to make your resume is by filling out one of our free resume templates. All our templates are designed by experts and free to download for Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

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Nathan Soto

Career Expert & Digital Content Writer

Nathan Soto is dedicated to providing practical guidance to job seekers, especially people with nonlinear career paths. Nathan’s articles and career advice have been featured on multiple platforms, including Forbes, MSN, NBC New York, Memphis Business Journal, Newsweek, and Fast Company, offering insights into resume writing, interview preparation, and personal branding. Currently based in Taipei, Taiwan, Nathan graduated from the University of Nevada with a double B.A. in French and Music. In addition to writing, he also excels as a Mandarin–English translator.

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