If a student or recent graduate is interested in proposing an internship program to an organization at which they would like to work, the student or recent graduate should provide the potential employer with a paragraph or two of information about the value to employers of having internship programs as many employers don't realize that internship programs can be beneficial to both the candidate and the employer rather than just the employer.

The candidate should explain their thought for the specific internship position that should be created and the value to the employer of creating that position. They need to show the employer that the hiring of an intern for the specific position will increase the employer's revenue, decrease its costs, or both. The candidate should explain why they are well qualified for the position.

The format the proposal should be created will depend upon the employer. I recommend asking the employer how they prefer to receive it. Larger employers with multiple recruiters may have as many preferred formats as they have recruiters. Some recruiters prefer Word, others email, others PowerPoint. If the candidate doesn't know, I recommend send the proposal in the body of an email and offering to send the same information in a Word, PowerPoint or other program if the employer prefers. If the candidate sends the information to the employer contact in the format that the contact prefers, then it is more likely that the contact will read and take positive action on the proposal.

The student or recent graduate should first find out who is the appropriate contact and ask how they prefer to receive the information. The student or recent graduate should then send the information and follow-up with the contact by phone to make sure that the contact received the information and get an estimated date by which the contact will have reviewed it. The student or recent graduate should then follow-up with the contact a business day or two after that date and repeat if necessary. All of these follow-ups should be courteous and the language used by the student or recent graduate should about trying to help the contact, not about the needs or wants of the student or recent graduate. For example, you wouldn't want to say that you are calling because you want to find out if they are going to hire you. Instead, say that you're calling to make sure they received your proposal because sometimes spam filters delete emails that shouldn't be deleted and you want to make sure that the contact received the email that they asked you to send.