You will probably be up against several other candidates who will all be asked the same basic questions.
If you’re invited for an internship or work experience placement interview at the end of the selection process you have a very real chance of being offered the position (recruiters are always busy and won’t waste time interviewing someone they have serious doubts about). You will probably be up against several other candidates who will all be asked the same basic questions. Your interviewers will also dig a bit deeper, getting you to clarify the answers you give and expand on what you’ve written in your application and CV.
We’ve compiled a list of common interview questions for interns. If you practise answering these questions it will help you approach most other questions you may be asked, whether you are interviewed in person or over the phone, or asked to take part in a live or pre-recorded video interview.
- #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: How do you prioritise your work?
- #7: Tell us about a time when you have successfully dealt with a difficult situation.
What types of interview are there for internships and placements?
In this article we focus mainly on motivation and suitability questions (which are designed to find out why you want the internship and what makes you suited to the position and the employing organisation). Your interview may also include competency questions and strengths-based questions . You can also make use of our graduate careers advice with these nine tricky interview questions for graduates .
Intern interview question #1: Tell us a bit about yourself.
This is often used as a warm-up question, allowing you to relax a bit as you talk about a familiar subject: you. But don’t relax too much; your answer needs to find the balance between showing your personality and avoiding answers that are incompatible with the focused, professional self that you plan to convey throughout the interview. We suggest making three brief points along the lines of: 1) your year of study and degree subject; 2) your career aim or what career you’re interested in; 3) a hobby or interest that you pursue in your spare time.
Similar questions: 'Why do you want to work here?' ; 'Why should I consider hiring you?' and 'Tell us a bit about your work experience/extracurricular activities.'
Intern interview question #2: Why have you applied for this internship?
Your reasons for applying will give your interviewers a sense of whether they can provide you with an internship in which you will thrive and feel motivated to perform well. You may have answered this question in your application. Expand on it. Tell recruiters what you really want to get out of the internship. Think about how it will inform your graduate career choices, what skills you are keen to learn from it and other things that appealed to you when you read the role description.
Your reasons for applying will give your interviewers a sense of whether they can provide you with an internship in which you will thrive and feel motivated to perform well.
By all means mention the company or organisation and why you would especially like to take up this opportunity with them, but don’t focus your whole answer on this if the question isn’t specifically about why you’ve chosen to apply to that employer.
Some internship employers – especially the big organisations that hire lots of graduates – offer pretty good pay and perks . It’s safest to stay away from this topic when talking about your motivations. There’s no doubt that you should only apply for things that pay you enough to live on during the internship, but if the pay and perks are the main reason you applied, consider whether you will really enjoy the role and feel driven to do well.
Similar questions: 'What do you want to achieve on this internship?' and 'What are your career goals and how will this internship help you meet them?'
