Get Our Internship Interview Questions For Free | 2023 Updated

Everyone knows that the best way to get the job of your dreams is to have as much experience as possible in related fields and have a resume that highlights and presents that experience. So understanding the internship interview questions is key to scaling through an interview and securing your dream job.

Of course, this is easy if you’ve worked in your chosen field for years, but what about people with little to no experience? People like college students and college graduates. How do you make the leap from no experience to the right kind of experience?

An easy way to start your dream job is through an internship.

Practicing these internship interview questions will prepare you to express why you want the internship and how well you fit into the team and organization.

What Is An Internship?

By definition, an internship is an opportunity for a student or intern to gain valuable work experience by working in a company, either for payment or for student loans but it’s so much more than that.

Internships are a great way for you to gain real experience and network with potential future colleagues and managers, and are a great way for you to build your resume and ultimately lay the foundation for the future of your own career.

In addition, many HR managers use internships as a good way of assessing employment potential. This means that you want to make sure that you are ready to take the interview, gain valuable experience, and lay the foundation for your chosen career.

Internships are primarily intended as an educational experience, which means you should actively participate in assignments that will help you gain the experience necessary to get paid employment in the near future.

Some internships have come under fire lately because unscrupulous employers can keep an unpaid staff, which is why you should also ensure that there is some form of legal compensation for your work, be it either a fair wage or an exchange for a school loan.

Just as important as properly preparing for the interview is to conduct due diligence before agreeing to an internship and to ensure that the person you are doing your internship for complies with all specific conditions.

What are some of the internship interview questions?

Let’s move on to how you would prepare for a legitimate internship interview, starting with the tried and tested internship interview questions.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
2. Why have you applied for this internship?
3. Why have you applied for an internship at our company?
4. Why do you want to work in this industry?
5. What are your strengths?
6. What’s the Best Team You’ve Ever Been a Part of, and Why?/What’s Your Ideal Team?
7. How do you prioritize your work?
8. Let’s go over your resume (and what’s not on it).
9. Tell Us About a Situation Where You Took Initiative or Took on a Leadership Role
10. Tell Us About an Assignment or Project From Start to Finish—What Went Well, and What Would You Have Done Differently?
11. Tell Us About a Time You Had to Learn Something Completely New
12. Can You Tell Us About a Project or Accomplishment You’re Proud of and Why?
13. Tell us about a time when you have successfully dealt with a difficult situation.
14. What are your career goals (a.k.a. where do you see yourself in ___ years)?
15. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?

#1: Tell us a bit about yourself.

This is often used as a warm-up question so that you can relax a little while talking about a familiar topic: you.

But don’t relax too much; Your answer needs to strike a balance between showing your personality and avoiding answers that are incompatible with the focused, the professional self you want to convey throughout the interview.

We suggest you make three brief points in the direction of 1) your academic year and your field of study; 2) your professional goal or which profession you are interested in; 3) a hobby or interest that you pursue in your spare time.

#2: Why have you applied for this internship?

The reasons for your application give your interlocutors a sense of whether they can find you an internship in which you are successful and feel motivated to perform well. You may have already answered this question in your application.

Tell recruiters what you really want out of the internship. Think about how it will affect your career choice, what skills you want to learn from it, and other things that you brought up while reading the job description.

The reasons for your application give your interlocutors a sense of whether they can find you an internship in which you are successful and feel motivated to perform well.

Be sure to mention the company or organization and why you are particularly keen to take advantage of this opportunity, but don’t focus your entire answer on it unless it specifically addresses why you chose this employer.

#3: Why have you applied for an internship at our company?

This focuses on the employer. You may also have applied for internships with other organizations – the interviewers suspect this and want to assess how seriously you take your opportunity and how likely you are to take it if they offer it to you (so they don’t have to).

Your reasons must show that you are familiar with the company beyond just reading the “About Us” section on their website and that you and the employer are a good match.

#4: Why do you want to work in this industry?

Describe what first inspired you or what fascinated you about the industry after further exploring it. Give specific examples that show that you have already researched whether you are suitable for work in this industry, e.g., Participating in career talks or choosing a related subject.

 Avoid giving reasons related to pay or working hours.

#5: What are your strengths?

Think about the skills or personality traits you have to fit into an existing team. Good interns are interested in what others are doing and are eager to learn.

They ask a lot of questions but know when to let their colleagues have their say. In addition, they are conscientious – they can rest assured that they will do their job as soon as it has been explained to them – and they are self-motivated enough to know what they want to get out of the internship or placement.

#6. What’s the Best Team you’ve Ever Been a Part of, and Why? What’s Your Ideal Team?

The “team” question can take many shapes and sizes. However it is delivered, the interviewer wants to understand how you work with others so they can imagine how you will work on their team. Simply put, do their team culture and the leadership style of your potential boss make sense to you?

#7: How do you prioritize your work?

You will not do any bogus work during your internship, and you will be very busy at times. Intern interviewers often ask this because they want to get a feel for whether they can entrust you with tasks that ultimately have an impact on the company as a whole.

#8.  Let’s go over your resume (and what’s not on it).

The purpose of this question is to see how you discuss previous educational and work experience. Take this chance to market yourself successfully.

An interviewer can start by going through your resume, but at the end, they’ll ask you to provide more details on a variety of topics, be it a project you’ve worked on, the time intervals between jobs, or subjects that you enjoy or are on least liked.

This question is a big reason why you should know your resume inside out. In addition to sounding confident and prepared, you will sound professional.

#9. Tell Us About a Situation Where You Took Initiative or Took on a Leadership Role.

This question will help the interviewer decide if you are someone with drive. In other words, will you be able to level up if necessary?

#10. Tell Us About an Assignment or Project From Start to Finish—What Went Well, and What Would You Have Done Differently?

The interviewer wants to know how you do things. This question doesn’t necessarily relate to the final product – but make sure you share this as well as the impact of the project.

It’s an opportunity to understand your process and how you approach tasks. Are you organized? Efficient? A team player? Do you change course when you know you need to? 

#11. Tell Us About a Time You Had to Learn Something Completely New.

Basically, the hiring manager wants someone who is open and eager to learn, not someone who is narrow-minded, does the bare minimum or gets nothing out of their experience. You also want someone willing to develop a new skill or take on a new role for the good of the team.

#12. Can You Tell Us About a Project or Accomplishment You’re Proud of and Why?

This is one of my favorite questions I ask because I want to know what makes the person glow. Interviews are nerve-wracking, and at times it can be difficult to gauge how a candidate will actually appear at work. This question is meant to put a smile on your face and give you the word to brag a little.

#13: Tell us about a time when you have successfully dealt with a difficult situation.

Many internship interviews have a competency question section like this one that asks you to provide an example of a time when you demonstrated a certain strength or behavior.

#14. What are your career goals (where do you see yourself in ___ years)?

Interviewers usually ask this question because they may be interested in learning how serious you are about a particular academic or professional field.

In the internship context, this question should make you dig longer and think about your career interests: Are you planning on going back to graduate school?

Are you interested in gaining a few years of practical experience? Would you like to work full-time in an organization similar to the one you are applying for?

There is no “right answer,” but you have to give an insightful one as you plan to continue building your professional skills after your internship. 

#15. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?

At the end of the interview, you should always have questions ready – about the internship, the potential manager, the team, or the company as a whole.

They literally have an expert at your disposal, so use your time with them wisely, going through the specifics and addressing any remaining concerns.

The interviewer wants to know that you are involved in the interview process, and asking thoughtful, provocative questions is a great way to show this.

Conclusion

There you have it. In conclusion, you should thoroughly prepare your answers to these 5 basic questions. In fact, let a friend teach you to keep your answers short and to avoid gossip. Talk to a mirror.

Repeat the answers in the shower. Write down your answers, and keep learning. The result: a successful interview and newfound confidence in your ability to interview well.

References

• How to answer common internship interview questions |targetjobs.co.uk
• 8 Common Internship Interview Questions |themuse.com
• Sample Internship Interview Questions – The Balance Careers
• Top 30 Internship Interview Questions |theinterviewguys.com

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