Cold Contact: Emails and Calls
The unsolicited application, done right.
Why this matters
Many of the best internship opportunities don't come from posted job listings. They come from reaching out to firms that aren't actively recruiting but who encounter the right candidate at the right moment and find a way to make it work. The cold application is a legitimate professional move. The firms most worth working for are often the ones with the longest waitlists — and no open postings at all.
The cold email
Your cover letter goes in the body of the email — not as an attachment. The full letter, written specifically for this firm, knowing it's arriving unsolicited. Every sentence should earn its place.
Your portfolio is the attachment. Name it clearly:
LastName_FirstName_Portfolio.pdf
Not portfolio_final_v3.pdf. Not mywork.pdf. Not LA309_Portfolio_submission.pdf. Your name. Your document. This is basic professional housekeeping that a surprising number of applicants get wrong.
Subject line and structure
| Element | What to do |
|---|---|
| Subject line | Landscape Architecture Internship Application — [Your Name] or similar. Direct, specific, professional. |
| Email body | Your full cover letter. Not a shortened version. Not a single sentence with "please see attached." |
| Attachment | Portfolio PDF, correctly named. Include your resume as a second PDF if the cover letter doesn't make your background clear. |
| Signature | Name, email, phone, portfolio link if you have one. Clean and professional. |
The cold call
Cold calls are less common than they used to be, but calling to ask who applications should be addressed to — before you send anything — remains an effective move. It gives you a named contact for your letter and signals initiative. Keep it brief, professional, and focused on a single clear purpose: finding out who handles applications and confirming the best way to submit.
What not to do
- Write a specific letter for this specific firm
- Name your files with your own name
- Use a professional email address
- Send at a reasonable time of day
- Follow up same-day asking if they received it
- Send a cloud storage link as your "portfolio"
- Send from an unprofessional email address
- CC multiple firms on the same email
Annotated cold application email showing subject line, cover letter body, clean signature block, and correctly named portfolio attachment. Each element labeled with a callout explaining its purpose and format.