Internship interview: a balance between professional and personable.
What are a few things you want your employer to get from an internship interview? It’s obvious for me. I want them to know that I am both professional and personable. Regardless of what boxes your interviewers is checking and what she is asking you in your internship interview, the bottom line is that she wants to know if you are professional and personable. And you need to show her that you are cool and that you can get things done.
But too much can be a bad thing. If you are in your internship interview, and your interviewer thinks you take work too seriously and don’t have another side, it can work against you. Also, in your internship interview, you don’t want your interviewer to get the idea that you are a Chatty Cathy and won’t be able to get anything done. There is a balance between the two that you need to strike in your internship interview so your interviewer can tell that you are both very professional and very personable (in good ways).
How can you strike this balance and ensure that you are both professional and personable? There is a lot more to this than I am saying, but for the most part, it’s in the flow of the conversation of your internship interview.
In your internship interview, take serious questions seriously. Don’t force smiles or fake laughter when your interviewer is trying to get to know your professional history. Tell a serious story about your success, or have a serious answer to her questions. If you are a confident and take your professional self seriously in your internship interview, your interviewer will take the lead and know you can get things done. But don’t feel the need to just stick to the questions and treat the internship interview like nothing more than in interview. If conversation goes elsewhere or lightens up, go with it. Trust your instinct at your internship interview and you will land the internship.
Take this advice and let your interviewer know that you are both professional and personable at your internship interview.
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