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Questions to Ask in an Internship Interview

  • 12 min read

Getting a position in a famed company is not that much easy. You have to undergo a lot of many processes before getting a designation. Your educational qualification is not sufficient to acquire a position, you have to face interviews and other steps to pursue an internship. Facing an interview is a crucial part of any procedure and you must be prepared enough to through this. The interviewer can ask questions that can be very confusing and can lead you to distraction. You must be confident enough while answering any of the questions asked by the interviewer.

The first impression is the last, so make sure that you are wearing decent formals while going for an interview. Prepare well beforehand and hold a strong command of the English language. It is an essential role because it is the deciding factor that which candidate is going to be the right one for them. To get the internship, you need to confidently answer the questions and converse well with the interviewer. Many students are going to apply for the internship, but the company needs that one single candidate, so keeps in mind that you should be that one. 

Preparing for interviews at earlier stages of the applications can be beneficial, so for this, we have prepared a list of top questions that can be asked by the interviewer at the time of the internship.

Describe Who You Are?

The first question that can be asked from any interviewer is that how you are going to describe yourself? The reason behind asking such a question is the team wants to know about you other than what is written in your resume.

So for this speak a little bit about yourself, your qualification, your certificate or previous experience and that too in a confident manner. Describe yourself as a hardworking and honest person. You can also say that you are self-driven and can work in a company independently and as a team member. Just let them know that you are energetic and can perform the tasks inefficiently way. You can also include some of the other qualities which you think you possess.

Don‡t say anything which you are not because it completely looks fake. Try to use the present tense. The HR or interviewer is interested in every little detail of yours as it will help them to shortlist the candidates.

Why We Should Hire You?

Every hire is a risk to the company because a wrong candidate joining the company can lead to the loss of the company‡s growth and reputation. HR keeps in mind that the person they are hiring must be qualified enough and intelligent to take the company to next level of development.

In such types of questions asked by the interviewer, you must show your keen interest in the internship and company. Just let them know that this is the best opportunity for you and you are willing to do this. Tell them about your skills and experience if any. Each candidate applying for the post is better in some or another part, but what makes you different is that what the actually want to know. Impress them by saying that you are going to help in the welfare of the company and can complete the task in a timely manner.

Punctuality, Flexibility, and some other qualities can help you to achieve the position. If you are a fresher then also you can make them assure that you will fulfill the duties properly and will never let down the company.

What Are Your Strengths?

Just saying that I am honest does not make any sense because every other candidate is going to say this only. The company wants to know that features of yours that will help them in present and also in future.

Some of the common strengths you can tell them are leadership quality, writing skills, analytical skills, determined and self-motivator. You can also add the extra skills which you have like any technical skills that are going to help the company, this will make you a little different from other applicants.

Adding extra strength can be useful at the time of the interview only, but after that, it is going to create a lot of trouble for you only. So just speak what is true about your strengths. Don‡t be too sugary that it looks sweet for the interviewer.

What Are Your Biggest Weaknesses?

This is somewhat every team wants to know because the right person can be an asset but a wrong one can be a curse for the fortune of the company. No one is perfect, everyone has some weaknesses which should be overcome with time. Speaking about weaknesses can be tricky, so you need to be very careful when sharing examples of yours because this single question can lead to elimination.

If you have some weaknesses inform them, don‡t lie. Tell them the weaknesses you possess are lack of creative writing knowledge, facing the public, being too sensitive, and expecting too much from other peers. You can also tell them the other weaknesses which you have other than this. Don‡t use such terms as lack of confidence and knowledge because this is not going to be treated as your weaknesses.

Ensure the interviewer that you are to work on your weaknesses and this will not hamper the quality of your work. A positive attitude is necessary to pursue any job or internship. You can end with a positive note that you will also learn new things while working in the company that is going to help you in the future.

Where Do You See Yourself After the Completion of Your Degree?

By asking this question the company wants to know your plans. They just simply want to know whether your goals imply theirs or not. After pursuing the internship you are interested in working with the same company or not. If you speak the truth then the chances of getting hired are higher.

Simply say to them that after the completion of my degree my looking for a good position in your company and assure them that you are delivering the best output. You can also include that you are going to do further studies along with the job that can be beneficial for you and the company or you can inform them that you are going to pursue some course that will help you to build a resume.

If you are not interested in working with the same company, they also do not mention it because it will build a negative impression on the interviewer. Show your abilities so that you get a job after the completion of your degree. So answer accordingly.

How This Internship is Going to Help You?

The company is providing an internship to you and that too at its own cost because they are creating an asset for future purposes. The company will give you this position only when they will think that it is beneficial for you and you are going to learn many things and help in the hikes of the company. If they anyhow found that you are not an appropriate person they will not consider you.

You can start the answer by saying that this internship will help you to evaluate your inherent abilities and potential. You can tell them that it is the best way to move forward to get practical working experience in the renowned company. You can enlarge the answer by saying that the internship is a part of the career that will help you to find more about your strengths and weaknesses.

Make sure that you not only say those things that are beneficial for you, inform that you are also going to work for the benefit of the company. If they are going to train you then you are also working for the fortune of the company.

Describe Your Dream Job?

The first trick to answer the question is that the hiring person is not only interested in getting the answer that the job provided by their company is your dream job. Instead, they just want to know your long-term career goal and other plans related to the job. They just want to figure out that whether the job makes you happy or not.

It is obvious that your dream job will be that job that is related to your major field in graduation. So you can answer that I job that involves helping other people, a job that will help you to work with cutting edge technology is your dream job. A job that is intended for the well-being of others and yours also.

The interviewer is excited when you show them some overlap between the job and what you love doing. This is because that means you are more likely to be motivated and stick around longer if they hire you in a future job position.

What Are Your Career Goals?

All the questions and their answers are linked to each other. The primary motto of the interviewer is to know that what actually you are and what are your aims. The goals can be both short-term and long-term depending upon you. As this is an internship interview question then you can start saying your answer like this only. You can keep SMART goals that means specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.

Like you can say that your short-term goal is to intern with your company and long-term goals include getting a job that makes you happy. Your career goals must be unique, it should not look like you are saying something irrelevant. The professional goals must be included in your statement. You can also say that your career goal is to become an expert in your field.

You should not speak about getting a designation and a high package is only your career goal. As many candidates lose the opportunity to get hired. No, don‡t say that you are not having any goals because this is not what the interviewer is interested in hearing. Always say something about your goals related to your job profile.

What Extra Skills Do You Have for Internship?

The company hiring you is not interested in your skills related to educational qualifications. But they need some more communication skills, a strong command of English, and many such skills that the company is looking for interns. The skills might not be listed in the description, but the skills are common that are needed to do the job. From the very beginning, you should start working on the skills.

While speaking the answer includes interpersonal skills, ability to think critically, researching and analyzing ability, and technical proficiency. These are skills that make you extraordinary. You can add up other skills you are punctual or technology-friendly. Positivity is something that everyone does not possess so if you having this as a skill then it is a plus point for you.

Skills are more than your GPA, if you and your opponent both possess a 6-7 GPA, then whom the company will consider will completely depend on the skills which you and your opponent are having. The interviewer is looking for something that is not going to be in other, as it will help to eliminate those candidates.

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What Are Your Hobbies?

This is a question which seems useless to candidates that how your hobbies are going to help the company. But the company wants to know you to the fullest. At each point, they are judging you, and asking you such questions is definitely meant to judge you because your hobbies tell you much more about you than what you are from inside.

There is no end to hobbies some love to travel and some love to collect antique things. So just mention your like whatever you love to do in your free time can be considered as your hobby. You can say that my hobbies include dancing, cooking, gardening or anything of your choice

Your hobbies reflect many things about you. So speak wisely and do not mention things that you don‡t do like I love to sing and what if they ask you to sing. So just want you actually do in your free time.

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