Congrats on the MBA! There are two types of internships: the internship you apply for and the internship you create.
For well-known PMM internships, you apply for an existing role. There is often a lot more demand (applicants) than supply (internships available) so honestly your best bet to stand out is to build relationships at the company and prepare a compelling application that shows you are a self-motivated, high potential individual.
But you might also consider creating your own internship. It takes work, but you can convince a company to build an internship around you. I should know, I hired an intern at AdRoll and my team hired an intern at Segment all based around a persuasive candidate.
How to get a PMM internship when the company doesn't have a formal program*:
- Define your own timeline, budget, and responsibilities
- Define the business impact you hope to help the company achieve
- Define your intentions for when the internship is over
- Sell the dream to the company
*This will likely only work at startups under 500 people! Once a company gets bigger, it's harder to make one-off exceptions happen!
The theme behind 1, 2, and 3 is to make it as easy for the company to say "yes" as possible. Here's what a prospective intern sent to me when I worked at AdRoll:
"I would like to intern at AdRoll for the next two quarters and help with [opportunity] which I noticed in your latest press release. I have experience in a similar area and I believe that I can help [business metric]. I would love to be considered for a full-time role after the six months, but I am happy to discuss that once I've started meeting or exceeding your expectations. While gaining experience is most important to me, I am exploring other opportunities where compensation ranges [desired comp]. I'd appreciate if I could make my case with you in a quick 15-min call this week. Let me know when is a good time to connect."
I took the call and they got hired as an intern (and then as a full-time employee). All because they made it very easy for me to make a business case and hire them.