How to write a thank you letter for an internship

Figure out your supervisor's and/or company's style

It is a good idea to determine this before you write them a thank you letter. You should take into consideration how formal your supervisor or the company you worked for is. If they tend to be more on the formal side, you should write a traditional letter with a polite and professional tone. If they are more laid back you can strike a more personal and unique tone.

Greeting

Next you should write an appropriate greeting. "Dear" is the most common and formal option, but you could also just choose to start with your supervisor's first name, depending on how close you are. You should base your greeting on your relationship with your supervisor, and the level of formality you want the letter to have.

The body of your thank you letter

Here is the main portion of your letter. A good way to start is by expressing gratitude for the internship. Try to go into a little bit of detail to let them know how appreciative you are of the experience.

This section can be one to two paragraphs and shouldn't be much longer. Try to avoid vague compliments and reference key skills or experiences that have been most valuable.

Leave the door open

If you would like, you should also add a short paragraph stating how you plan to keep in touch with your supervisor and the company as a whole. If you are seeking to turn this internship into a full-time position, this could also be mentioned in this paragraph. However, you should try to keep the letter more focused on your appreciation.

Conclusion sentence

The last step in the writing process is to do a conclusion sentence. This one should not be too long but should encapsulate the gratitude and other information you included in the body of the letter. Think of it as a summary.

Closing phrase

To stick with formality it is customary to add a closing phrase before your signature. Some common options include:

• Sincerely

• Warm regards

• With appreciation

• Kind regards

• Thank you

• Respectfully

After writing the closing phrase you can sign the letter. If you are doing a printed version you can include your name in typed form and then sign underneath when printed.

Proofread

The last step is to proofread your letter. It should be a fairly short letter so it should not take long. This is necessary because you don't want your supervisor to receive a thank you letter that contains grammatical errors or typos.