An internship interview can be very stressful for some people. They are a big deal… the last hurdle you have to clear to get an internship. This might be your first interview. Well guess what? It’s everyone else’s first time to. If you’re a junior in college, chances are none of your peers have interview experience either.
For the most part, the internship interview is what you’d expect. It’s not difficult to be prepared for an internship interview. You have an idea of what kind of questions they are going to ask and you. In some cases, you might know exactly what questions your interviewer is going to ask you. All too often, when preparing for an internship interview, students focus on having prepared answers for these questions.
I’m going to advise you against this. You’re probably thinking, “Surely, I need to be prepared for my internship interview.” You should be prepared for your internship interview. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t focus entirely on memorizing answers for questions you might be asked. You need to focus on making your internship interview less of an interview and more of a conversation.
Of course, you should look over example questions and find out what they’re going to ask you. However, you should have scripted lines prepared. If you do, then your internship interview won’t flow. It will follow the format of question, answer, question, answer. This leaves little room for you to be a human and connect with your interviewer.
Always remember that your internship interview is, after all, a conversation between two people. If it doesn’t seem like a conversation, do what you can and use your communication skills to make your internship interview a conversation.
Also make sure you do a great job on your internship resume, internship cover letter, and especially (after you are hired) your internship work! Now go get after it and have a great summer experience!
Comments