Interview Questions to Ask an Intern
The main sit-down interview with a candidate who has no employment history to discuss. Every question here is designed to build evidence out of what a student does have: coursework, group assignments, clubs, part-time jobs and things they made on their own. If you are still at the first-round stage and screening a stack of applicants, the shorter set at questions to ask interns handles dates and dealbreakers faster. If you would rather test judgement than history, the situational set at questions to ask an intern in an interview puts the candidate inside a week of the placement instead.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What made you apply for this internship in particular?
Why ask it
An opener that separates the students who read the posting from the ones who sent fifty applications. You are not looking for flattery, just evidence that something specific caught their attention.
What are you studying, and which parts of it have you actually enjoyed?
Why ask it
The subjects a student volunteers as enjoyable predict the work they will do well without being pushed. A student who cannot name one is often studying something someone else chose.
Tell me about a project you put more work into than you had to.
Why ask it
Discretionary effort is the closest thing to a track record a student has. If the extra work went into something outside class, a club, a game, a small business, that counts fully.
What have you taught yourself outside of coursework?
Why ask it
Interns spend much of the term learning things nobody has time to teach them, so evidence of self-teaching matters more than any specific skill they arrive with.
Walk me through a piece of work you are proud of. What was your part in it?
Why ask it
Listen for the shift between "we" and "I". Students often present group work as their own by accident, and one follow-up question clears it up without embarrassment.
Tell me about a group project where someone did not do their share. What did you do?
Why ask it
Almost every student has this story, which makes it a fair question. The answer shows whether they spoke to the person, quietly did the work themselves, or escalated to the instructor.
When you get stuck on something, what do you do in the first hour?
Why ask it
The useful answers involve trying something, then asking. Students who say they never ask for help tend to disappear for three days, and students who ask immediately need a stated time limit.
Tell me about feedback you disagreed with. What did you do about it?
Why ask it
Interns get corrected constantly, so this predicts a lot. A candidate who cannot recall any critical feedback has either not received much or has not registered it.
Which tools or software have you used enough to be quick in?
Why ask it
Asking for speed rather than familiarity gets you a more honest list. Nobody needs to know your entire stack, but you do need to know what you are teaching from scratch.
How do you keep track of deadlines in a heavy week?
Why ask it
Any system they can describe, a notebook, a calendar, a list, is a decent sign. A student who says they just remember everything is telling you what will slip first.
Tell me about a brief or an assignment where you were not sure what was actually being asked. What did you do?
Why ask it
Every student has met a vague coursework brief, so the evidence is there to be had. Listen for whether they went and asked, looked at a past example, or produced something confident in the wrong direction.
Tell me about something you got wrong. How did you find out, and what happened next?
Why ask it
You are listening for ownership without self-flagellation. Blaming an instructor, a teammate or unclear instructions for everything is the pattern worth noting.
Have you had a paid job of any kind, and what did it teach you that a class could not?
Why ask it
A summer on a till or a weekend shift in a warehouse is real work history, and students routinely leave it off applications because they think it does not count. It does, and the answer often carries the best evidence of reliability you will get.
Which part of your course have you found hardest, and what did you do about it?
Why ask it
The difficulty is not the point; the response is. Getting a study group together, going to office hours or rereading the same chapter six times are all answers, and doing nothing is one too.
What do you understand about what we do here?
Why ask it
Set the bar at basic preparation, not expertise. A candidate who read your site and can describe roughly who your customers are has done what an interview requires.
Have you organised or run anything outside class, however small?
Why ask it
A society, a five-a-side team, a fundraiser, a Discord server with rules and members all involve chasing people who did not reply. That is most of what junior coordination work turns out to be.
What is something you know a surprising amount about that has nothing to do with your degree?
Why ask it
Sustained self-directed learning is the trait you are actually buying, and it shows up more honestly in a hobby than in a module list. Note how they explain it to someone who knows nothing about it.
Tell me about a piece of work you had to redo. What was different the second time?
Why ask it
Redrafting is the closest thing in student life to revising work after review, which is what most of the first month will be. A student who can describe what changed has already done the job in miniature.
What questions do you have about the role or the team?
Why ask it
Students are often coached to ask something, so weigh substance over presence. Questions about the actual work usually beat questions about company culture.
Is there anything on your application you would like to explain or add to?
Why ask it
Gives a nervous candidate a second chance and lets someone account for a gap or a low grade without being asked about it pointedly.
Interviewing candidates with little work history
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Adjust what you are measuring
Judge learning speed, not experience
For an internship the useful signals are curiosity, how they handle correction, and whether they finish things. Screening on prior industry experience mostly selects for who already had connections.
Accept non-work evidence
Coursework, clubs, sports teams, part-time retail jobs and personal projects all demonstrate reliability and teamwork. A student who has held a weekend job through a full course load has told you something about stamina.
Expect nerves
Many candidates are in their first professional interview. Give the question in writing if they freeze, let them take a moment, and do not read shyness as lack of interest.
Keep the process fair
- Ask every candidate the same core questions so you are comparing answers rather than impressions.
- Write down what you heard immediately after each interview; memory blends candidates together by the fourth one.
- Score against the two or three things the internship actually requires, not against a general sense of polish.
- Send the questions or topics in advance if you can. It reduces the advantage held by students who have been coached.
- Tell every candidate when they will hear back, and then tell them either way.
Be specific about the offer
- Say what the intern will work on, who supervises them, and what happens if that person is away.
- State the hours, the pay, and the start and end dates in the offer, including any flexibility around exams.
- Say plainly whether a return offer or full-time role is possible, and do not imply one that does not exist.
- Confirm what equipment and access they will be given, and request it before their first day.
Signals worth weighing
- A student who asks what would make them useful in the first week is thinking like a colleague already.
- Detailed answers about a small project usually beat vague answers about a prestigious one.
- Repeated blame of teammates or instructors across several answers is a pattern rather than one bad experience.
- A candidate who admits not knowing a tool, then describes how they would learn it, is showing you exactly what you need.