Good Questions to Ask About an Internship
Questions to ask a recruiter, a hiring manager or a former intern before you accept an internship. They cover the actual work, pay and hours, who you report to, how your work gets reviewed, and how many interns are hired on at the end.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What would I be working on in the first month?
Why ask it
You are testing whether the work exists yet. A specific answer means someone has scoped it; "we will find the right fit once you arrive" often means several weeks of shadowing while a project is invented around you.
Is this one project with something to show at the end, or support work spread across the team?
Why ask it
Both can be worthwhile, but they lead to different summers and different things to say in your next interview. Ask which it is now rather than discovering it in week three.
Is the internship paid, and what are the weekly hours?
Why ask it
Ask it plainly and early. A recruiter who cannot state the rate and the expected hours in one reply is either not authorised to or is hoping the question does not come up again.
Is it in person, remote, or mixed, and are the office days fixed?
Why ask it
This decides your housing and your costs, so you need the actual pattern rather than the policy. Ask what the team does in practice, which is frequently different from what the offer letter says.
Who would I report to day to day, and how often would we meet?
Why ask it
The named person matters more than the team. Interns assigned to a manager with no scheduled check-in tend to spend the last month working on something nobody asked for.
How many interns will there be, and do you run them as a cohort?
Why ask it
A cohort brings structured training and peers to compare notes with. Being the only intern means more direct access and less scaffolding, which suits some people and strands others.
What did last year's interns actually build or produce?
Why ask it
The most useful question on this list, because it is answered with evidence or not at all. If nobody can name a single output, the programme may not have produced one.
How many interns from last year received full-time offers, and how many accepted?
Why ask it
Ask for both numbers. A high offer rate with a low acceptance rate says something about what interns learned during the summer that the recruiter will not tell you.
If there is a conversion process, what does it involve and when is it decided?
Why ask it
Some decisions rest on a final presentation, some on a manager's write-up in week six. Knowing which changes how you spend your time, and a vague answer means the decision is discretionary.
How will my work be reviewed, and when would I hear if I were off track?
Why ask it
You want a named point in the calendar, not a promise of continuous feedback. The common failure in internships is finding out in the final review that expectations were never stated.
What tools and access would I have on day one, and how long does setup usually take?
Why ask it
A dull question with real consequences. Interns routinely lose the first fortnight of a ten-week placement to accounts, permissions and a laptop that arrives late.
Who do I go to when I am stuck and my manager is not available?
Why ask it
Look for a named buddy or a rota rather than an encouraging statement about how everyone helps each other. Without one, being stuck turns into a whole quiet day.
How much of the work is independent, and how much is done alongside someone?
Why ask it
Sets your expectations about isolation, which is the most common complaint from interns in remote or thinly staffed teams. Ask specifically who you would be pairing with.
What happens in the first week: training, onboarding, or straight into the work?
Why ask it
Tells you whether the programme is a routine part of the year or something being organised as you arrive. Ask who runs the training and whether it is run for interns specifically.
Would I be presenting anything, and who would be in the room?
Why ask it
A final presentation to senior staff is worth preparing for from week one. It is also a reasonable proxy for how seriously the organisation treats the programme.
What does a good intern here do differently from an average one?
Why ask it
Gets the unwritten expectations out loud: asking earlier, writing things down, shipping something small quickly. Managers usually have a clear answer and rarely volunteer it.
What has gone wrong for interns here before?
Why ask it
A question people answer more honestly than you expect. Answers about scope creep, an absent supervisor or a project cancelled mid-summer tell you what to watch for.
Is anything happening on the team I should know about before I accept: a reorganisation, a launch, someone leaving?
Why ask it
Asked directly, this often surfaces the context that explains everything else. An intern whose supervisor leaves in week two has a very different placement from the one described in the interview.
If I finish early, could I pick something else up?
Why ask it
Shows how flexible the placement is and whether there is other work available. A firm no can mean tightly controlled access, which is worth knowing before you accept.
What would you want to see from me by the end for this to have been a success?
Why ask it
Best asked last, and best asked of the manager rather than the recruiter. Whatever they name is the thing your final review will be written against, so write it down.
Getting real answers before you accept
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Ask the right person
- Recruiters can answer pay, dates, logistics, cohort size and process. Push them on the work itself and you will get a description written by marketing.
- The hiring manager is the only person who can tell you what you would do in week one and what a good outcome looks like. Ask for ten minutes with them before you accept.
- Former interns give you the accurate version. Search the company on a professional network, filter for last year's intern title, and message two or three politely with one specific question.
- Ask the same question of two people. Where the recruiter and the manager disagree is usually where the risk is.
When to raise what
- 1Before applying: pay, dates, location and whether the programme leads to full-time roles. These are public-facing facts and asking early saves everyone time.
- 2During interviews: the work, the team, how success is measured. These show you are thinking about doing the job rather than getting it.
- 3After an offer, before signing: hours, start date flexibility, the named supervisor, conversion process. You have the most leverage here and the least risk in asking.
- 4In your first week: tools, access, who to ask when stuck, and what your manager wants to see by the end.
Common pitfalls
- Accepting a placement with no named supervisor. It is the single strongest predictor of a summer spent looking for work to do.
- Not asking about pay because it seems ungrateful. It is a normal question and the answer determines whether you can afford to take it.
- Taking a stated conversion rate on trust. Ask for last year's numbers rather than a general statement about most interns receiving offers.
- Asking questions the careers page already answers, which uses up the short window you have with the manager.
- Treating an unpaid internship as an investment without checking what previous unpaid interns went on to. Often nobody can name one.
Comparing two offers
Write the answers down the same day, in the same format, for each place. Then compare four things: what you would actually build, who would supervise you, whether last year's interns got offers, and the real cost of living there for the length of the placement. A better-known name with no defined project is usually worth less than a smaller organisation where a named person has scoped work for you and will read it. If both are equal on those, take the one where the manager sounded like they had thought about your first month.