Internship interviews are a key step in identifying candidates who can grow with your company. Unlike traditional hiring, these interviews focus less on professional experience and more on potential: adaptability, motivation, and alignment with your team’s goals.This guide covers how to prepare for internship interviews, including sample questions and evaluation tips to help you select the best candidates for your internship program.
Ask the Right Internship Interview Questions
A strong interview process includes a mix of general and creative questions. General questions help establish a baseline for comparison across applicants, while creative ones uncover deeper insights into candidates’ thinking, values, and fit.
Career Aspirations and Motivation
- Why did you apply for this internship, and how does it align with your future goals?
- If you could write your ideal job description, what would it include?
Creativity and Problem-Solving
- Share a time when you had to solve a problem in a creative way. What was the outcome?
- What’s a skill you’ve always wanted to develop, and how would you apply it in this role?
Company Alignment and Culture Fit
- What company values matter most to you, and how do you see them reflected here?
- How do you typically contribute when working in a team setting?
Performance and Adaptability
- How do you prioritize when juggling multiple deadlines?
These questions reveal how candidates approach challenges, collaborate with others, and align with your organization’s values.
Evaluate Class Projects and Extracurricular Experience
Because many interns lack professional experience, focus on academic projects and extracurriculars that demonstrate their abilities.
Consider asking:
- Can you describe a team-based academic project and your role in it?
- What was the most challenging task you've faced in a project, and how did you overcome it?
- Have you led or participated in any clubs or events that developed your leadership skills?
- What tools or skills have you learned in class that are relevant to this internship?
These insights help you assess the transferable skills that students bring to your team.
Use the STAR Method for Better Responses
Encourage candidates to use the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to structure their responses. This method helps you evaluate how applicants think, act, and learn from experience.
- Situation: Ask them to describe a real scenario they encountered.
- Task: Understand the specific goal they needed to achieve.
- Action: Learn what steps they took to solve the problem.
- Result: Evaluate the outcome and what they learned.
Framing questions to elicit STAR-style responses ensures interviews focus on problem-solving and communication—critical qualities for interns.
Key Qualities to Look for in Interns
While technical know-how matters, some of the most important qualities to evaluate are:
- Adaptability: Ability to learn quickly and handle new tasks.
- Collaboration: Willingness to work well in teams and across departments.
- Communication: Clear and professional in verbal and written exchanges.
Look for candidates who demonstrate these traits, even in non-professional contexts.
Prepare for the Interview Process in 3 Steps
1. Write a Clear Internship Job Description
Make sure candidates understand what the internship entails, the skills required, and how it supports your company’s goals.
2. Share the Internship Widely
Promote the role across job boards, social media, and university networks to reach a broad and diverse candidate pool.
3. Prepare Interview Questions and Scoring Criteria
Use structured, role-specific questions and a clear evaluation system. Align your criteria with the internship’s responsibilities and your workplace culture.
Showcase Your Company Culture
Interns are often exploring their first professional environment. Use the interview to highlight your company's values and team culture.
- Core Values: Emphasize mission-driven values like collaboration, innovation, or sustainability.
- Management Style: Share your approach to feedback, mentorship, and growth.
- Team Dynamics: Offer examples of how teams work together and celebrate success.
Giving candidates a realistic view of life at your company builds trust and helps them see where they fit.
Connect Internships to Career Paths
Help candidates see the bigger picture. Internships should be more than a temporary role—they can be a launchpad for a full-time career.
- Set Growth Expectations: Let interns know how this experience connects to future opportunities.
- Align Goals: Ask what they want to learn, and show how you can help them achieve it.
- Offer Development Pathways: Highlight how interns will build skills relevant to roles within or beyond your organization.
Let Virtual Internships Simplify the Process
Hiring interns doesn’t have to be overwhelming. At Virtual Internships, we make it easy for companies to connect with pre-vetted, motivated interns from around the world.
Here’s how we help simplify internship hiring:
- Pre-Screened Candidates: Save time with interns matched to your goals.
- Global Talent: Access diverse, driven learners from top institutions.
- Zero Cost: Our programs are funded by education partners, so there are no recruitment fees.
- End-to-End Support: From job description creation to onboarding, we’ve got you covered.
Whether you're running your first internship or expanding your program, Virtual Internships helps you build a talent pipeline with less effort.
Ready to meet your next intern? Let’s make it happen.