My name is Joseph. I spent 6 months applying to internships the normal way - LinkedIn, Handshake, Indeed. 500 applications. Zero interviews. I built this cold-email system out of desperation and it produced 3 offer letters in 3 weeks. Everything in this guide is what I actually did.
Preface
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You can email anyone. Everyone is reachable. The higher up you go, the more likely you are to get a response.
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Target CEO, founders, and VP/Director level - and nothing below that. Managers don't have that kind of authority or social pressure working in your favor.
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"If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter." - often attributed to Blaise Pascal
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Rambling is easy. Being concise takes actual effort. Executives will delete your email if it looks like an essay. They will close your Loom video if you take 20 seconds just to introduce yourself. Spend the extra time to cut the fat. Make every word earn its place. If a sentence does not directly push the prospect to reply, delete it.
The Setup
Here is what you need before you do anything else:
- A subscription to a solid LLM (large language model - an AI tool like Claude or ChatGPT). I recommend Claude. You will use this for research, POC ideation, and resume tailoring throughout this whole process. A POC (Proof of Concept) is a quick, targeted piece of work you build to demonstrate value. Phase 3 covers this in detail.
- One bulletproof resume built in LaTeX. Use the LaTeX Resume Template if you don't have one. If you've never used LaTeX or Overleaf before, 30 minutes on YouTube is enough to get started - search "Overleaf LaTeX resume tutorial." If I figured it out with zero technical background, you can too.
- A polished LinkedIn account with real activity. You want CEO, founder, VP, and Director-level contacts at companies you actually want to work at. You will be emailing these same people. Don't worry about your current connection count - building this list is what Phase 1 is for.
- Your .edu email. Use this for all outreach. It does not hit spam the way a personal Gmail does, and it signals immediately that you're a student.
- A design tool. Figma (free), Canva (free trial), or Lovable. You will use this to build your POC in Phase 3.
- Loom or any screen recording software. Free plan is fine.
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What to expect
- Week 1: Build your LinkedIn list, get your resume ready, start sending connection requests.
- Week 2: Begin outreach. Emails go out. Silence is normal - this is expected.
- Weeks 3–4+: Replies start coming in. POCs get built. Calls get booked.
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The system does not produce results in 24 hours. It produces results in 3–4 weeks if you do not quit in week 2.