How to write an internship report?

In the course of your academic career, you'll be asked to write an internship report, whether you're studying for your bachelor's, master's or vocational degree...

It's a must for any student doing an internship with a company or organization. However, for your assignment to be effective and structured, it's important to follow a precise plan.

• In this comprehensive guide, you'll learn why you're required to write an internship report and who's with you.
• You'll learn how to write everything that goes to make up your internship report: the cover page, acknowledgements, plan or summary, introduction, development, conclusion, bibliography and appendices.

The cover page of an internship report

The cover page of an internship report is the first page of the report. It contains key information about the internship and the student who completed it. It's an important page, as it gives a first impression of the internship report.

The cover page of an internship report should contain the following information:

• Name of the school and department where you completed your internship.
• Name of diploma and current academic year.
• Title of your internship report.
• Name and logo of the company or organization where you completed your internship, as well as the department in which you worked.
• Duration of your internship and the start and end dates.
• Your last name, first name, e-mail address (if applicable) and photo (or professional image).
• Name of your internship tutor and the name of the teacher supervising your internship report.

It's important to keep the cover page simple and professional. Use a simple font of sufficient size (between 10 and 14) to make all the information easily readable.

The detailed plan or summary of the internship report

The summary is a table of contents that helps the reader find his or her way around your internship report. It should be clear and precise, indicating the different parts of your report. 

The summary should include :

• introduction, 
• structured development of the parts, with the titles of the main parts and any sub-titles, 
• conclusion, 
• bibliography, 
• appendices.
   

The plan of the report associates the parts with the corresponding page numbers. The plan must be adapted to your internship subject and meet the expectations of your internship tutor.

When submitting your internship report online using Word or Google doc, remember to title your sections clearly (e.g. Title 1, Title 2, etc.) to facilitate navigation and display of the outline on the left. The advantage is twofold, since with this method you can generate an automatic table of contents, and page numbers adjust automatically.

The development and parts of the internship report

The development is the most important part of your internship report. It should be structured into different parts, depending on your internship topic, the issues addressed and your plan. Each section can be introduced by a clear and precise sub-heading, announcing the content of the section. The development should be well-argued and illustrated by concrete examples and personal reflections. Try to balance the length of the paragraphs so that they flow smoothly.

Your examiner will judge your ability to transcribe the skills acquired in class and during your student internship. 

The internship report generally comprises 2 main sections:

• A presentation of the company: its business sector, organization chart, market, trends, competitors, strengths and weaknesses, etc.
• A presentation of your internship assignments: the different tasks carried out, the tools available, a personal assessment of the experience gained, the difficulties encountered, etc.

Appendices in your internship report

Appendices can be presented in a separate document or included at the end of your internship report. They are not mandatory. They provide details on the data used in your professional project: graphs, tables, diagrams, images, text extracts, etc. 

10 mistakes to avoid in an internship report 

Here are 10 common mistakes to avoid when writing an internship report:

1. Spelling and grammatical errors: Reread your report carefully and use a spell-checker to spot and correct any errors. Have someone else proofread your report, too, if you need an outside perspective.
2. Poor layout: Make sure the layout is clear and airy, with appropriate headings and sub-headings to facilitate reading. Use a legible font and avoid fancy or too-small fonts.
3. Lack of structure: Present information logically and coherently, following a clear structure for your report. Be sure to include an introduction to the training report, sections describing your internship and assignments, an analysis of skills acquired and a conclusion to close the internship report.
4. Plagiarism: Don't copy other people's work. Cite all your sources correctly and be sure to use your own words to describe your experience and thoughts. Analyze your internship report in our plagiarism checker for students, before submitting it for correction. This will allow you to check beforehand that you have cited your sources correctly.
5. Unprofessionalism: Avoid using colloquial language or inappropriate abbreviations. Adopt a professional, objective tone throughout the report.
6. Lack of self-evaluation: Analyze the skills you have acquired and the lessons you have learned from your internship. Be reflective and self-critical to show that you have benefited from the experience.
7. Too many unnecessary details: Avoid overloading your report with information irrelevant to your internship or apprenticeship. Keep it concise and to the point.
8. Forgetting to mention difficulties encountered: Don't hesitate to mention the challenges and obstacles you had to overcome during your placement. This demonstrates your ability to learn from your mistakes and adapt to difficult situations.
9. Lack of coherence: Make sure that the different parts of your report are consistent with each other. The ideas and arguments presented should be logically linked and developed.
10. Neglecting acknowledgements: Don't forget to include a thank-you section to express your gratitude to the people who contributed to your internship experience.

Examples of internship reports: 

• How to Write an Effective Internship Report - Indeed
• How to Write an Effective Internship Report - GRIT

In short, to write a well-structured and effective internship report, you need to follow a precise plan, and take care with the summary, introduction, development and conclusion, as well as the bibliography and appendices. By following this advice, you can write your internship report with peace of mind.

Then you can prepare for the oral presentation of your internship report.

To find out more : 

• "Introduction to an internship report", Compilatio article.
• "Conclusion of an internship report", Compilatio article.
• "How to Make Appealing Visual Presentations?", Compilatio article.
• "Paraphrase = plagiarism?", Compilatio article.
• "Guide for an internship report or a research paper" Paris 8 University.
• "How to Write a Report After an Internship" Wikihow.

Information: this informative article, which does not require any personal reflection, was written in part with the help of ChatGPT. We have reworked the automatically-generated content (corrected repetitions, corrected turns of phrase, added clarifications, added quotations, checked the veracity of information, etc.).