Hello there,
I want to apply for an internship with a Labour MP in his Westminster office in London. However, the position is very competitive. I am currently an undergraduate student and I do not have any relevant work experience. What do you think so far. Do you think this cover letter is good? I think I should include something more specific about the internship and my personal sympathies with the British Labour Party. What do you think? Thanks in advance.
Dear Mr. ,
As a politically interested German student I have informed myself about your activities and hereby apply for an internship in your office in Westminster.
I study European Studies and International Relations at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. Interstate relations within the EU, but also European social and economic policies form the main foci of my degree program. In this context, I am familiar with Europe's cultural and political diversity and gained extensive knowledge of the political system in the United Kingdom.
Due to my interest in politics, this internship would provide me with the ideal opportunity to assist at your office and have a rewarding experience. My excellent communication skills, my work ethic, and my attention to detail make me a great candidate for this position. I perceive an internship in Westminster to be an exciting and useful enrichment.
I am available to you between the 6th of July and the end of September. I thank you for your time and consideration, and look forward to hearing from you again.
Yours Sincerely,
Philip Schmitz
You might focus more on what you hope to get out of the experience. "An interest in politics" leading to "a rewarding experience" isn't particularly specific, nor does it inspire the reader to want to hire you. What aspects of politics are you interested in? Why? How do these interests and your reasons for them tie into what you hope to learn from the internship? And what about your existing interest in and knowledge of politics would allow you to contribute something special to the ministry during the time you would spend working there? What would that something special be? In other words, the reader already knows why a poli. sci. student would want a coveted and competitive internship in a gov't department. What the reader doesn't know is why you should get the position instead of all of the other people who are applying. So, that's what you have to explain to them in this letter.
And, yes, I do think you should make clear your sympathies with Labour Party platforms and policies. Indeed, if there is an issue that is especially important to you, that might be a very good thing to mention.
What Sean said about showing why you should get the position in the stead of all the other applicants holds especially true for you. Undoubtedly, many students who are represented by the MP will be wanting an internship and so, if he is going to give the position to a foreign national instead, he will have to be given a very good reason for doing so.
Not to mention that explaining your sympathies with Labour will show that you take an interest in British politics and that you have a firm grasp of the sorts of issues you might be expected to be familiar with as an intern for a gov't official.
^I agree with Sean.
'I perceive an internship in Westminster to be an exciting and useful enrichment.'
^You should discuss what will make it exciting and enriching.
Perhaps you can go as far as to say how you believe and support the UK Labor's governmental policies and how an experience at the Labor Party ties in with your political beliefs, and this is why you would find it interesting and useful.
*If however, you advocate free markets and capitalism, like I do, then perhaps talking about the above mentioned point will be difficult. So then, you would have to LIE.
The moderators have given some sound advice to be honest! Use it.
