How To Write A Cover Letter When You Have No Experience

My son, a freshman at UCLA, recently asked me how to write a cover letter. He’s planning to major in communications, and an upper classman who’s already in the major (you have to apply), forwarded him a listing for an internship at a boutique Los Angeles public relations firm whose client list includes major brands like Dove and Banana Republic.
I’ve been covering careers for four years now and one of my most-trafficked stories, with more than 1.7 million page-views, is about precisely that topic. (You can read it here.) But it’s geared toward mid-career professionals, not kids starting out, whose only work experience, like my son’s, may be volunteering at a non-profit bike shop, interning on a political campaign and working as a tennis coach for eight-year-olds. Oh, and feeding the cats for an overly generous neighbor who paid him $20 a day. How would any of this translate into a convincing cover letter for a PR internship?......Read full story