How to Include a Current Internship on Your Resume — Easy!

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Listing any current experience is one of the most important parts to get right on a resume.

Employers want to know what you are doing in the present, and listing current internships is an excellent way to tell them! How can we format this in the best way?

 

How to list a current internship on your resume?

Current internships should be listed in the experience section. Because an internship is “real-world” experience, it is formatted the same as other jobs. You can list this experience using past or present tense. Include the company name, position, and list all jobs in reverse chronological order.

 

Should you include a current internship on a resume?

More often than not, you should include a current internship on a resume. Because this experience is current, it means that it is your most recent experience. If you were to leave it out, it may leave a gap on your resume (and gaps in the present are worse than gaps in the past).

If you are working a regular job and an internship at the same time, you may choose whether or not you wish to include the internship.

Leave it off if it is irrelevant to the job you are seeking, but leave it in if the experience is impressive and relevant. 

 

How to format a current internship on a resume

Internships are almost always listed in the experience section. Whether it is a paid or an unpaid internship, it should be listed in the same way. Be sure to include the company’s name, your job title, and the dates worked. 

The date is the biggest difference between listing a current internship and listing a previous one. Always include the word “present” as the finish date in this experience’s date range. 

If you write today’s date instead of “present”, an employer may assume that this employment has recently ended.

When properly formatted, a current internship will look like the following:

 

Experience

ABC General Hospital – Medical Intern (January 2020) – (Present)

• Conducted physical assessments of patients and logged results
• Ordered and analyzed the results of diagnostic tests
• Updated and stored patient charts in accordance with HIPAA policies

 

Should you list current internships in the present tense?

Contrary to the usual way of listing experience in the past tense, current internships may be written in the present tense. This is because they are ongoing, and continue to be responsibilities you take care of day-to-day. 

There is no “right answer” as to which tense you should use in this case.

Some choose to write in the present tense as it is more grammatically correct, but some choose to keep it uniform with their other experiences, and list it in the past tense. 

Try reading your resume out loud, and see which way flows the best to you.

Using the word “present” ensures an employer knows this experience is ongoing, so the tense really depends on what style you are going for. 

 

How to format a current internship in the present tense

Writing out responsibilities in the present tense can be challenging, because it is less common. Make sure that all words listed are either in the past OR the present tense.

Do not mix and match, otherwise it looks like you simply made an error. 

Let’s look at what the same example looks like in the present tense:

 

Experience

ABC General Hospital – Medical Intern (January 2020) – (Present)

• Regularly conduct physical assessments of patients and log results
• Order and analyze the results of diagnostic tests
• Update and store patient charts in accordance with HIPAA policies

 

The only exception to the “don’t mix and match tenses” rule is if an award or certification was given during your current employment.

In this case, there is often a date associated which can be listed to clear up any misunderstandings. This could look like the following:

 

Experience

XYZ Office Supplies – Secretary Intern (March 2020) – (Present)

• Field incoming calls and redirect to the necessary departments
• Keep logs of customer emails, and ensure feedback is recorded as needed
• Obtained employee of the month (May 2021)

 

Official certifications such as CFA or Six Sigma, however, are typically put in a separate certifications section.

Listing them this way can help to avoid any past or present tense confusion within a single experience.

 

Should you put a current internship in a separate internships section?

It is not a great idea to create an internships section in this case. Because it is an ongoing internship, you want it to be high-up on your resume.

However, an internships section should not be placed above the regular experience section. This is because internships are generally valued less than regular jobs. 

This means that creating a separate section for a current internship is breaking at least one basic resume rule.

The best way to list it will always be in the experience section, and this is particularly important because it is current and should be displayed prominently.