Interviewing

Tips on Having a Better Interview

STUDY STUDY STUDY. Always study for your interviews. Even if you think you’re great at speaking, it’s still good to refresh yourself on the job description and the different experiences that make you qualified for that position.

Study up on the company. Go to their company website. Read their mission, vision, and goals. Read on the services and products that they provide.

Study up on yourself! The interview will be about you and your accomplishments and experience. You’d think you know your own experience, but nerves can get to ya when you’re doing an interview. Look up practice questions and think of ways in how you might answer them. This is especially good if you tend to be shy and reserved.

Phone interviews: Practice these questions

Tell me about yourself

Why do you want to work here at [company]?

Are you currently working and why do you want to leave?

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Tell me about a time you took the lead on a project.

STAR Method: Situation, Task, Action, Result

Some companies are now adopting what is the STAR method of interviewing. They will ask situational and behavioral questions and will look for an answer that shows details of how you would approach that specific situation and the result that comes out of it.

Example: Tell me about a time you faced a challenge with your teammates in your project and how you were able to overcome that challenge.

First explain the situation. Was it in a class, a club project, or at work?

Second, explain the task. What were you working on? What was the goal of the project? What was the challenge?

Third, explain the actions you took. Did you have to go back to the drawing board? Was there a specific program you used to help you over the challenge? If the challenge had to do with your teammates, how did you communicate with them?

Lastly, explain the result. Were you able to complete the project? Did you get a good score on the project/did you win a competition/what did your boss think of your completed project? Most importantly, what did you learn from the experience. With challenges come a lesson learned at the end. Let the employer know that you learn from your mistakes.

Ask questions at the end

At the end of the interview, when the interviewer asks, "Do you have any questions for us?", your answer must always be yes! Why? Because it shows that you take initiative and that you want to know more about the company or position.

Interviews are not only for the employer to get to know you, but also for you to get to know the employer.

Ask questions about the company: Where does <company> see itself heading in the next five to ten years?

Ask about the role: What are the day-to-day responsibilities of this position?

Ask about the team: Who would I be interacting with regularly? Will my efforts be collaborative, involve team brainstorming, or will I be driving projects on my own?

Ask about who they want for the position: What specific characteristics are you looking for in the person that takes this role?

Ask about longevity: What does the progression path for this role look like?

Ask for feedback and be prepared for it as well: Are there any concerns you have about me, my resume, or my experience?

Thank you email after interview

It always looks great when you email the employer after an interview. Thank them for their consideration and remind them of how you are a great candidate for the position. Bring up points you and the interviewer talked up that you thought brought out how you can be a great fit for the position.

Most Common Internship Interview Questions and Answers

Tell me about yourself.

Talk about your work experience but also highlight a couple of specific accomplishments/experiences that you believe is relevant and you want the interviewer to know.

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?

Utilize Problem-Action-Result stories.

Be relevant, accurate, and specific.

If you want to highlight your communication skills, give a specific example of when you were able to communicate your thoughts and ideas well towards your teammates/coworkers.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Does the position your interviewing for align with your future goals? Make sure to tell them.

Employers want to know that you have ambition and have thought realistically about your career.

How would your boss and co-workers describe you?

Be honest. If you end up getting hired, your hiring manager will hold you to what you said in your interview.

Discuss traits you haven’t mentioned in the interview.

Are you a hard worker? Determined? Always willing to help? Give great feedback? Always asking the right questions? Give new ideas?

Make sure to give examples.

Since you’re preparing for the interview, go ahead and ask your friends/coworkers about how they would describe you and ask for specific examples.

Why are you leaving your current job?

Be positive and honest.

If you had a previous internship and are interviewing for a new one, explain why you’re leaving your old one. Are you looking for a new challenge? New experiences? More experience in different areas of industry? Maybe this company aligns more with your values/career?

What is your greatest professional achievement?

Answer this question with the STAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result) method.

Tell a story about what happened, what you had to do, what you did, and what came out of it and what you learned.

Tell me a time you had a challenge or conflict at work and how you dealt with it.

Answer with the STAR method.

The interviewer wants to know that when challenges or conflicts come your way, you can handle them professionally.

What do you know about this company?

What do you know about this company? RESEARCH THEM.

Always be prepared to answer this question because they’re looking for people who will go out of their way to know about the company they are interviewing for.

What made your want to apply to this company? Is it because of their mission? The products they make? Explain how you understand the company’s goals and how they align with yours.

What’s a time you exercised leadership?

Answer with the STAR Method and give a specific example. Maybe you had a group project, or maybe you had to take the lead on planning an event.

If you’ve had executive positions in clubs, highlight your experience. Were you in charge of a group of people?

Don’t just tell them that you were the leader of a group, show them how you were the leader. What decisions did you have to make? Did you have to delegate roles? Were there challenges that came up and how were you able to overcome those challenges? What was the end result and did you get any feedback from people about your role as a leader?

What are you looking for in your ideal position?

If you saved your excel spreadsheet as advised in Applying, read up on the job description.

Your answer to this question should be along the lines of the internship that you are interviewing for. Of course, don’t read or memorize it word for word. Just take small parts and add in some parts of your own.

Tell me about a time you had to work with a teammate that wasn’t pulling their own weight on a project.

Sometimes employers may just ask you to example a situation. They might not necessarily ask what happened, what did you do, what was the outcome, how did you overcome the challenge. However, that’s what they are expecting from the answer. Make sure when you’re asked to describe a situation that you answer with what you specifically did.

Do you have any questions for us?

Refer to earlier.