Top 44 Internship Interview Questions With Answers You Should Prepare

Introduction

Wow! You have impressed the recruiters with your resume. You got selected for the internship interview.

What is the next thing to do? Gear up your preparation with internship interview questions.

Remember, the interviewer wants to know about you and your job-related skills and other soft skills essential for the role.

They are not trying to know whether you have that professional asset but would like to know why you are interested in this internship and how will you add value? Long-story-short! These people are looking for candidates who are passionate about their work!

So, what are you waiting for? Kick start your preparation journey with this article that covers:

• The top 44 internship interview questions and answers
• Top 5 tips to ace your technical interview

Let’s start with our internship interview questions and answers!

Top 44 Common Internship Interview Questions And Answers

How well do you know yourself? Huh! Are you wondering what I am talking about? Yes! We start our discussion with the universal internship interview question you can expect from any company regardless of its niche or size.

How to prepare for an internship interview? Read on to know more.

# Question 1: Tell me about yourself

Looks like a simple interview question at a simple glance? But hold on! Take a deep breath!

Comprehend the answer the interviewer expects. In general, it is a question at your table to test your communication skills, priorities, and goals.

So, you deliver the answer that:

• Talk about the year you completed your degree
• Mention the career goals that align with the internship
• Express your passion for the internship

# Question 2: Why are you interested in this internship? / What experiences do you hope to gain from this internship?

Here, give those reasons that express your interest and passion that assure the interviewers that you can thrive and perform well in the internship. 

Be specific about what you anticipate from this internship. Also, mention what skills you would like to develop during the training period.

# Question 3: What things made you choose our company?

The question gets popped to identify:

• Whether you have spent quality time researching about the company
• How do you talk about this industry's interests?
• Analyze your cultural fit to the company
• Your ideas of joining other companies over theirs

You can try mentioning the following things in your answer:

• Unique differentiators of the company with a hint of complimentary tone
• How does yours and the organizations' goals fall in line?

Did you research the company for writing an impressive internship cover letter? Then this question is a cakewalk.

# Question 4: What skills can you bring to the company?

Thank god this is not one of the tricky internship interview questions! But a straightforward one.

The intention beneath this question is to identify

• How well you comprehend this specific role and
• How can you commit to the company?

Make sure you provide an answer that:

• Talks about your hard and soft skills that match employers’ ad job description 
• Express your optimistic attitude and the enthusiasm to learn new things, which all the recruiters hiring for interns expect to a great extent

# Question 5: Do you prefer to work alone or in a team?

Oops! It is an arrow thrown at you!

When your answer gets inclined towards either one of the choices, it shows you lack the skills to shine in another category.

Umm. What is the best way to handle this question? Converse about the advantages of both. 

# Question 6: How do others describe you?

How do the recruiters get to know you about your conspicuous qualities? They shoot up this type of internship interview questions at you.

You can include the following aspects in your answer:

• Outline the soft skills that make you the right fit for this role
• Put these skills into the framework of your peers' associations
• Describe how these skill sets help you to accomplish your goals

Make sure you provide recruiters with a realistic answer by narrating a story that supports the skills you claim to possess.

# Question 7: What work environment do you like to work in?

Do you feel this question is a bit tricky at first glance? Well, it is not!

This is one of the internship interview questions that identify your cohesiveness as a team player.

So, make sure you frame the answer that includes:

• Analyze what environments boost your productivity? Is it fast-paced, quiet, creative, flexible, or a couple of others?
• Frame your reply that is adoptive to the position you have applied for
• Giving valid reasons why you are productive in those specific work environments.

# Question 8: How did you choose your university?

Does this question matter?

Yes, it does!

The answer helps the interviewer understand how do you take your priority-based decisions.

Make sure one of the significant internship interview questions has an answer with the following context:

• Mention about the university program details or an industry-expert professor 
• Reveal your passion for your subject of study at the university
• Express your interest and understanding of the industry
• Keep a few things at bay, like the long or short distance commute from your place to the university 
• Do not mention the fact that your best friends went to that college/university

Remember that a mature reply displays your thoughtful decision-making skills and your level of interest in this specific industry.

# Question 9: Tell about your favorite and least favorite classes

A short-cut answer: What is the subject of your internship? Make it your favorite class!

Also, follow the guidelines below while you frame your answer for one of the interesting internship interview questions:

• Analyze the classes that have close relationships with this internship program and mention when speaking about your favorite classes
• Talk about the skills that acted as a ladder to reach your career goals.
• Be careful when you speak about your less favorite classes; avoid a pessimistic tone and give out some valid reasons for your disliking.

# Question 10: What do you plan to do after your graduation?

According to a recent survey, the average conversion rate for interns is 66.4% 

Do you know that internship is the way for you to determine the suitability of the profession for you? 

But companies also use this en route to search and hire the best talents. 

So, when delivering responses for this type of internship interview questions, make sure to include the following pointers:

• Your determination to stick to this career path
• Your commitment to pursue a profession in your chosen field

# Question 11: Why should we offer the internship for you? / What makes you think you are the most qualified person for this role?

This question is a golden opportunity to secure your internship by selling out yourself. But how can you do it when you do not know anything about the competition? Right?

Tap into the following information to deliver the best response for this internship interview questions:

• Express your comprehension of the organization goals and your role to make them happen to
• Talk about a few skill sets that you can deliver at the company table
• Justify your cultural fit to the company
• Narrate about your personality traits like you are committed, energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate.

Tons of info to pull out in an answer! Then you better be rehearsing for this question beforehand. 

# Question 12: How fast do you learn new things?

Yes! This behavioral question needs an elaborate response.

What is the purpose of an internship? It is an opportunity to learn new things. Right? So, the hiring personnel needs assurance that you can manage the learning pace.

Make a note that this question starts with a - “Tell me about..”

As it is a behavioral question, it is determined to know how you managed these circumstances in the past. 

Experts recommend the STAR method to come up with a reply to these types of internship interview questions.

STAR is - Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

Situation:

• A project, assignment, event, challenge you faced

Task:

• What were your responsibilities for that situation?

Action:

• What steps did you take to relieve that situation?

Result:

• What were the outcomes of your actions?

When you provide a strong response with this method, it best defines your fast-learning capabilities.

# Question 13: When was the last time you received negative feedback for your work?

OMG! What are they trying to track my mistakes with this kind of internship interview questions?

Do not panic!

This query is to know how you take the feedback from your seniors/professors and whether you take some initiatives to rectify those mistakes.

So, provide an answer to show how you utilize constructive feedback to better your skills, deliver the A-star performance, and grow.

# Question 14:  Which three words describe you the best? / Describe yourself in three words / How would you describe yourself?

First, why do employers ask this tricky question? 

They want to know about how you understand and perceive yourself. So, provide an honest answer.

This question aims to check whether your qualities suit their ideal candidate description. Thus when your response aligns with their expectations, you obtain the internship.

Remember, there is no right or wrong answer to these types of internship interview questions. 

Depending on the internship role and niche you are applying for, you can frame your answer that has the following information:

• Lists three core qualities - creative, analytical, empathetic, diligent, proactive, flexible, passionate, and anything else that you think suits your personality.
• Provide honest answers that best describes the ideal candidate job description
• Sum up a short paragraph of the qualities you mentioned
• Tell them some instances where you displayed those qualities
• Close the response on an optimistic note

Things to avoid for this question

• Speaking about your pessimistic qualities
• Delivering too generic answers
• Dragging the response for more than 60 seconds

# Question 15: Do you have expertise in software programs like Slack, Salesforce, MS Office?

When you apply for administrative internship roles or any entry-level IT jobs, you need to have proficiency in word processing, presentation software, spreadsheets. 

Salesforce, MS Office, Slack, Google Suite are productivity tools that a recruiter expects you to have expertise in.

How to answer these types of internship interview questions?

• Make sure your answer includes what tools you are adept at with your experience in handling them.

# Question 16: What are your expectations on the working hours?

Do recruiters ask this question? Yes! They do.

The question is to know about your:

• Work ethics and 
• The number of hours you dedicate to your job
• Time management skills
• Work-efficiency

The safest answer to this question is to avoid promising too little or too many hours of work unless the interviewer emphasizes it.

Also, mention that you will dedicate the required time to get the job done without touching any number of hours.

How to handle this question?

• Learn about the company culture and how many hours they expect an employee to work. These insights will help you frame a thoughtful response to this question.

# Question 17: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? / Where do you want to be in 5 years / Tell me about your career goals? / What is your definition of success?

It is the most frequently asked internship interview questions after - tell me about yourself.

What is the purpose of the recruiter shooting this question at you? Well, to check whether you would stay longer in this new position.

The best answer for these types of internship interview questions can include:

• How do you plan to grow in your career?  
• How the company and the job role can bolster it?
• Any specific goals associated with the company.

Do you know that this question is realistic and vague at the same time?

# Question 18: What is the most challenging project you have worked on to date?

Wow! It is another behavioral interview question on our list.

What is the objective of this question? Well, the recruiter wants: 

• To evaluate your attitude when you encounter a challenge in the workplace 
• Know how you handle unexpected tasks or project complexities
• Your clever use of skills to complete the projects
• Your stress handling strategies

Your answer should give them insights into

• Your potential and skills to handle complex projects
• The strategy you deploy to deal with complexities
• Your acumen in decision making and planning 
• How can your skills profit the organization?

Remember to use the STAR technique mentioned in question number 12 of this article.

# Question 19: Have you ever faced any difficulty in working with any team member?

Yes! This is another teamwork-based question.

The objective of this question is to identify your team synergy and the willingness to accept and work under constant supervision.

So, make sure you do not fret about your ex-managers or team members that can frame you as a fusspot.

# Question 20: Describe your experience as a team leader

Why do recruiters want to know about your previous leadership experience? Well, they think that a candidate with solid leadership traits tends to be loyal and stay longer in their job roles.

When you encounter this question, talk about:

• How your skills can beef up the company efforts to realize their goals
• How do you manage your previous leadership role at your college or workplace?

These experiences define and demonstrate your confidence to deal with pressure and your decision-making abilities during those times.

Some steps you can utilize to answer these kinds of internship interview questions are:

• Rewind your leadership experiences
• Your ability to work and execute plans effectively as a team member
• Describe the steps you deployed to reach your goal (Use STAR method)
• Tell how you assigned the tasks to the right members
• Quantify your achievements during the leadership roles

# Question 21: What was the biggest challenge in your student life?

Do you know that this is one of the internship interview questions for an entry-level job role?

Here, the interviewer wants to know: 

• Your ability to tackle problems
• Your self-motivation level
• Whether you like to face new challenges to enhance your skills and earn experience through it
• Whether, under pressure, you opt to walk out of a difficult situation

Make sure your answer includes:

• Instances that displays your act of embracing challenges
• Honest answers but not bragging responses that might create a negative impression

# Question 22: Tell us about the toughest decision you have ever made at your work

Another behavioral question!

The intent behind these types of internship interview questions is to know:

• Whether you can face and manage a difficult decision
• What types of decisions do you regard as the toughest ones?
• How did you manage those situations in the past?

The answers you provide for these questions will help the interviewer make predictions if it happens in the future.

Well, this question to evaluate your decision-making skills and so while answering this one, include the following things:

• Recall any event you faced at your previous work and your decisions to solve those problems. Go with a storytelling approach here.
• Be specific with your answer  
• Describe how did that decision benefit your team and your organization.
• A positive answer that shows your confidence in making tough decisions 

# Question 23: What motivates you to keep going?

A broad question that is framed short! 

But, there are no fixed right or wrong answers for these types of internship interview questions.

When the recruiter asks you this question, it can mean any of the following: 

• What inspires you the most?
• What boosts your energy?
• What is your success driving factors?

Your immediate response will reflect your cultural fit for the company and how good an employee you will be if selected.

Few responses for your inspiration:

• Learning new skills
• Training others
• Figuring out a solution for a problem
• Delivering creative ideas 

When an organization requires only the best talent, they usually pop this question.

# Question 24: Tell me what you know about this company

Do you that this question is always on the ask-the-candidate checklist of the recruiters?

The question can be any one of the forms - 

• What are the things you have heard about us?
• What do you know about our company?

Well! All mean the same!

Why do the recruiters ask this question? 

To know about:

• Your interest in this job opening and 
• Your industry knowledge.

So, research about the organization beforehand. It will help you deliver a reply that will reflect your enthusiasm and interest to work in their organization.

# Question 25: What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Do you know that this staple question gets asked at almost every interview?

The problem, many think that this is an easy question. Well! It can be true, to a certain extent. But it needs preparation.

Why does the interviewer present this question to you?

The interviewer wants to check whether your answer reflects your confidence and self-awareness levels.

How to answer it?

• Talk about the strengths that turn out to be skill assets for this job you have applied for
• Highlight how your strengths differentiate you from the rest of the candidates
• Ace your communication skills while presenting the answer (Yes! The interviewer might be looking for it)

Do you know what is your strength question gets combined with weaknesses?

Some common instances for strengths are:

• Problem-solver
• Creative thinker
• Analytical thinking
• Time management skills
• Multitasking skills
• Communication skills
• Team player

Some instances of weaknesses are:

• Hesitate to say no to anyone
• Low confidence 
• Impatience

Depending on the niche and job role, pick up strengths and weaknesses to offer your reply.

# Question 26: Tell me how do you prioritize your work

Another universal question you can expect in an interview!

Why does the interviewer come up with a question? It is to know:

• Your time-management and organizational skills during the workload
• How do you differentiate between less-important and high-priority tasks?

So, you can frame your answer that includes:

• Your efficiency in time management and organization skills to achieve that work-life balance
• Your efficacy in multitasking and excelling in it
• Talk about how you plan your day before starting with your work
• Your ability to shift your priorities and complete an urgent task that pops up all of a sudden (It shows your adaptability)
• Your task prioritization strategies based on deadlines

Yeah! Make a connection of these things with your job requirements using the STAR technique.

# Question 27: What is your biggest achievement to date?

Once again, Why do the interviewers throw this behavioral question at you?

Well! It can be to know:

• Whether you brag about or remain a humble and down-to-earth person while narrating your achievements, that helps them determine what kind of a person you are
• How do you relate success with your job?
• Do you go that extra mile of working beyond the work hours to reach that success-oriented personality trait?

How to answer this question? Let us see.

• Make use of the STAR technique along with your examples
• Be down to earth and ensure that your reply resonates with your take on success strategies

# Question 28: What are your passions?

Well! It is another one that can accommodate your interview question checklist!

The hiring manager or recruiter put this on your plate to know about your:

• What things motivate you always
• Strengths - can be soft or hard skills
• Personal and professional interests
• Commitment to a specific hobby or task
• Your cultural fit for the company based on attitude and beliefs 

Your answer provides an insight into these factors that help them determine how they can motivate you at the workplace if you get hired.

How to handle this question?

• Pick any skill or idea that genuinely you are passionate about to date
• Describe the reason behind those passions
• Instances of how you got into those passions
• Connect it with your job 

# Question 29: What do you think are the most significant elements for teamwork?

Do not be surprised if you encounter this question.

In general, the intent behind this question is to check the suitability of teamwork atmosphere for you. 

If their work environment is team-based, they need to know whether you can collaborate with other team members. Your team cohesiveness is significant for project success.

A few things you can mention in your teamwork answer are:

• Delegation skills
• Effectively communicating with introverted people
• Leadership
• Active listening
• Appreciating others achievements

# Question 30: Can you brief your resume?

You can otherwise hear this as - Can you walk me through your resume?

Does it sound like a simple question? Well! Many get chills when they hear this question.

It is not a question of panic. Remember, it is a straightforward question but needs a different approach.

They do not expect you to brief everything in the resume as it is time-consuming. Provide recruiters with the following

• A short shot or summary of your professional life
• Your growth of experience and skills in these years

How to answer this one?

• Get started with the year you graduated from school and college
• Shift your focus on the start of your career and make it super short
• Highlight some aspects that portray your professional development
• Conclude with your current goals and how the next job is going to help you achieve it
• Make sure to include your hard and soft skills along with the achievements list

Too many things to pull off in 2-3 minutes! Yeah! I get it. So, refer to your resume to frame an short, engaging, and relevant answer.

To be on the safer side, rehearse for this question in advance.

# Question 31: Tell me how you manage your busy schedules/How do you work with tight deadlines?

• It is more of a time management question.
• It is a more reframed version of how you prioritize your task. 
• I am not reiterating the same answer that consumes your time!

So, kindly rewind to question number 26. 

# Question 32: Tell me about your hobbies

Do you write your hobbies such as watching movies, listening to music, reading books? Well! Millions of people mention the same, and the recruiters get pissed off when they read the same answers. 

So, the next time you write or talk about your hobbies to recruiters, make sure they reflect and communicate your true personality.

Some resume-worthy hobbies that you can bring up during the interview are

Writing:

• Researching, collecting, documenting information that happens in all office premises. So, when you mention your case study publication, it reflects your writing skills.

Volunteering activities:

• Many hiring managers view and believe the candidates who have been part of any volunteering activities to have more moral values and strong leadership skills.

# Question 33: What are your long-term goals?

Have you wondered how your long-term goal and the company are related? Well, it has some associations.

The interviewer asks you this question to know:

• Whether the candidate is determined to work and progress within the company
• The interviewee can earn great skill sets that define their potential for leadership opportunities in the future.
• Your long-term commitment to the company
• Whether you comprehend the skills, roles, and responsibilities the job role might require for the next five years that prove your suitability for that specific role
• About your goal-setting capabilities to achieve your objectives 
• Whether you display your long-term goals that speak more about your qualifications

How to respond to this question?

• Describe your long-term career goals using the SMART formula - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based
• What are your ongoing initiatives to achieve these goals?
• Future initiatives you plan to take
• How does the company help you reach your long-term goals?

Whoa! These are a few common intern interview questions. Let us shift our focus to some technical internship interview questions answers.

How to prepare for an internship interview? Move on to the next section for more insights.

Questions to Ask the Interviewer if Selected:

# Question 40: What would be my roles and responsibilities?

# Question 41: How do you evaluate my performance?

# Question 42: Who will be working with me during this internship?

# Question 43: How do you choose your interns?

# Question 44: Is overtime expected?

Depending on the organization's size and type, answers may vary.

Bonus section: 

Tips to follow for asking your questions to the interviewer

• Avoid asking about vacation time, health insurance, and questions related to concession, which puts more emphasis on "me"
• Avoid asking multiple questions at the same time.
• Do not ask yes or no questions.
• Do not go for personal questions.

That is it for the question bank! 

Our final section of the common interview questions internship article is all about a few tips to ace your interview.

5 Tips to Ace your Internship Interview (Technical Interview Tips)

Our first bite of this segment starts with resources you can rely upon during your interview preparation.

Go through resources

Preparing for an interview can be nerve-wracking, but it need not be if you plan and prep in advance. For technical interview questions, several resources can help you out.

Some of them are:

• YouTube video tutorials
• Online forums like Quora, GitHub, Reddit, TopCoder, Java67 to help improve your coding skills.
• Read https://www.janbasktraining.com/blog/motivational/
• Technical whitepapers related to your niche
• IT podcasts

Check the interviewer panels.

Find out the key players of the company and their titles. Gather some details by reading the organization about us page and their bios. Also, you can check out their LinkedIn or Twitter accounts to know what they have mentioned about the company.

These senior employees might be in the interview panel and researching about them beforehand helps you prepare accordingly.

Communicate about your skills or past work experiences

Read your resume and memorize your information related to your previous work experience, which can help you avoid any stuttering while outlining the same. But make sure you do not speak like a robot emitting all the information, sound human.

Have work samples handy

If you have previous experience and applying for an internship, make sure you have your soft copies of work samples handy.

Even though you have sent them beforehand, they might ask more during a remote or one-to-one interview. Either way, be ready to present.

• Prep for whiteboard interviews
• It is a crucial part you cannot miss out on. 
• The whiteboard coding challenge is the final stage of an onsite interview. 

Here, the interviewer presents you with coding tasks that you need to solve on a whiteboard present right before them. If it is a remote interview, the same process gets conducted through a video conference.

The whiteboard challenge lasts between 1-2 hours.

Remember, each company has its patterns to interview its candidates. Also, few tech companies do not consider a degree as a criterion to choose their ideal candidate. 

Check out this blog >> If you want to know about the top-paying jobs without a degree?

Yes! All information delivered!

Conclusion

Hope our how to prepare for an internship interview article helped you out?

Gearing up for an interview is a process that needs commitment, research, patience, and practice. When you prepare to face the interview, you are halfway through success. 

Stay calm and composed, get your eight hours of sleep, keep your attire and documents ready and, go to bed early and rise early.

Above all, make sure you revise these internship interview questions answers before leaving for the interview. 

We have done our part in compiling the best intern interview questions and tips for you. Let us ask you something:

• Do you find these sample internship interview questions informative?
• Did we miss out on any intern interview questions?
• What is your way of preparing for the interview?
• Do you want us to add more typical internship interview questions?

Whatever be the query, let us know in the comments below.

Happy reading! Best wishes for your interview!