Cold outreach feels awkward because most of it is bad: long, generic, and all about the sender. A good message is the opposite — short, specific, and easy to say yes to.
The framework
- Open with something specific. One real detail about them or their team proves you are not mass-blasting.
- Say who you are in one line. School, year, what you are looking for. That is enough.
- Make a small, clear ask. Ten minutes, one question, or a pointer to the right person — not "a job."
- Keep it under 90 words. If they can read it on a phone in one glance, you win.
A template
Hi [Name] — I saw [specific thing about their work/team]. I am a [year] at [school] studying [major], hoping to break into [field] this summer. Would you be open to a quick 10 minutes so I can ask how you got started? Either way, thanks for the work you share. — [You]
Send it, then follow up once a week later if you do not hear back. Persistence that stays polite is a feature, not a bug.