Internship tracker: how to keep track of internship applications
Xiang (Arnold) Shang · · 2 min read
Short answer: keep one row per internship with the company, role, deadline, status and the next step with its date. Sort by deadline before you apply and by next step after. You can download a free tracker template or use ApplyKoala, which does the same thing without the spreadsheet.
Why internships are harder to track than jobs
- Fixed deadlines. Many programmes close on a date, and some review applications as they arrive, so applying early matters.
- Several rounds. An online test, a recorded video interview, an assessment day. Each has its own deadline, usually a few days after the invitation email.
- Many applications at once. Students often apply to dozens of programmes in the same few weeks, with the same questions asked in slightly different words.
What to write down for each one
- Company and programme name. “Summer Analyst” and “Spring Insight” at the same company are different applications.
- Deadline. The closing date, or “rolling” if they review as they go.
- Status. Saved, Applied, Test sent, Interviewing, Offer, Rejected.
- Next step and its date. “Online test due 14 March”, “Video interview by Friday”.
- What you sent. Which CV version and cover letter. Interviewers ask about them.
- Your answers to long questions. “Why this company” answers take an hour to write; keep them, and adapt the next one instead of starting from nothing.
- The posting text. Programme pages change or disappear after the deadline.
A routine for the busy season
- Sunday, fifteen minutes: sort by deadline. Which close in the next ten days? Those are this week’s applications.
- Every time an email arrives: update the status and next step straight away. Test invitations often give you three to five days.
- After each rejection: close the row and move on. A list full of dead applications hides the live ones.
Questions
Spreadsheet or app? For ten applications, a spreadsheet is fine. Past twenty, most students lose track of test deadlines and which answers they gave where; that is where a tracker that keeps the posting, your answers and the next step together helps.
Should I track internships I have not applied to yet? Yes: as Saved, with the deadline. That row is how you remember to apply in time.
Can ApplyKoala fill internship application forms? Its free Chrome extension fills the standard fields (name, contact details, links, work permits) on common job sites and applicant tracking systems; you check the form and press Submit yourself.
Everything here works on paper. If you would rather not keep the paper,the app does this bit — paste a posting and it fills in the details, and it all stays on your own computer.