15 Internship Interview Questions You Must Be Ready For

By Hannah Morgan | Career Sherpa | January 19, 2022

There are a number of internship interview questions that give you a great opportunity to impress your interviewer. Some are straightforward, others are tricky, but they’re all important!

This list of common interview questions for interns will help you prepare for your big day, and walk away happy with the outcome.

1. Can You Tell Us a Bit About Yourself?
Here’s a pretty common internship interview question that often comes up at the start of your conversation. It seems like a simple baseline query, but there’s more depth to this question than most realize.

Interviewers ask this question for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a way to learn more about you and your career goals. It can also highlight your priorities, which might impact whether you get the internship or not.

Secondly, this question provides some insight into your communication skills. It shows the interviewer how well you convey ideas and contribute to the conversation.

How to Answer It
The best way to answer this internship interview question is to talk about your background a bit while showing enthusiasm for the position you’re trying to get. Keep the details short and sweet (under a couple of minutes). Most importantly, keep it relevant to the company and job.

You can talk about your education and experience, but don’t go too far off-topic. The goal is to communicate clearly and add to the conversation in meaningful ways.

2. Tell Us About a Time When You Had to Lead
Some assume that questions about leadership only come up when you’re interviewing for managerial positions. That’s not always the case. This question can come up if you’re trying to land an internship as well!

Why is this asked? The interviewer is trying to determine if you’re someone with a natural sense of drive. Are you the type of person who will step up when the company needs you, or will you wait until someone asks you to do something?

How you answer will say a lot about your character. It provides some valuable insight into what you can bring to the table.

Read the full article here.

By MIT Sloan CDO
MIT Sloan CDO