The @HoustonChron received more than 250 applications for our summer 2021 internship this year, which is absolutely wild! We’re v happy about that.

Here are some tips and tricks from the recruiting committee for future interns to keep in mind when applying: 1/

Do keep your resume and cover letters to one page each. We love to see how much work and experience you have, but with 250+ applicants, we don’t have time to read a whole thesis on 'why journalism.' 2/

Don’t send a cover letter with typos/errors. We had multiple (!) addressed to the Post this year. We respect the hell out of WaPo’s work, but we are not them. When we have as many applicants as we did, the toss-up between who moves forward could come down to one mistake. 3/

It's best to send your clips as PDFs (or self-hosted links.) We had several applications where we were paywalled out of their work.

And send your best work. Few, if any, typos, and definitely nothing with a correction. Show us the full range of your journalistic abilities. 4/

Don’t regurgitate your resume in the cover letter. (Why college career counselors are still recommending this?) Tell us what’s driving you to be a journalist, and why Houston. Show us your personality. All of our final summer internship candidates did that in their letters. 5/

Don’t insult the company you are applying for in the cover letter. PLEASE do not tell us you can bring us into the 21st century with a better reporting/digital/video strategy. It will not earn you bonus points with our multimedia producer as she reads cover letters. 6/

Do send work that matches which internship you're applying for. Going for social? Instagram share cards. Multimedia? Videos/podcasts. Other beats? Business/feature/sports reporting. We are happy to train you, but we need to know where you started. 7/

Don’t send multi-byline clips unless you can tell us what work you’ve done on it. Investigations take a team, but for all we know, all you did was send a request for comment while your colleagues did the heavy lifting. 8/

Bonus tip to make your time at the internship worth it:

Reach out to former interns or current staffers to get an idea of what the internship entails. Will there be good mentorship? What about chances to get on A1/the homepage? Will you get to pitch your own work? 9/

Last, I asked @mdougreeve for common threads on the apps that stood out the most. Her response: “a kick-ass cover letter that shows some personality. standout clips.”

(I would trust her on this because ultimately, she has final say.)

This thread, I hope, doesn't scare future applicants. TBH, we were really impressed by the applications we got this year! To quote one of the people on our recruiting committee, “they’re so much more prepared than I was in college.” 11/

But I hope it helps good students turn their applications into great ones.

Ultimately, we're looking for people who can work well with others, have a good work ethic, are willing to learn and have so many questions about the world around them. 12/

I wish we could take everyone, but unfortunately, we can't.

So I hope this info helps more people land internships at other media outlets (or to try again next year!). CC @aaja @nabj @nahj @najournalists @TransJA @nlgja @writersofcolor @poynter @collegemedia @acpress

(Also, I am very excited about the interns we have coming to us this summer. Houston is not ready for them.)