Questions to Ask About Internships
Twenty questions to put to an employer, recruiter, or former intern before you commit a summer: what the work is, how you are paid and managed, what feedback you get, and what you can show afterwards.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What would I actually be working on day to day?
Why ask it
A real answer contains a task, a tool and something finished. Answers built out of exposure and learning experience, with no verbs in them, usually mean the work has not been defined yet, and undefined intern work turns into admin.
Is this one project with an owner, or general support across the team?
Why ask it
Ownership decides whether you leave with something to describe. A named project with a deadline gets attention. General support means your weeks get filled by whoever asks first.
Who would I report to, and how often would we meet?
Why ask it
Regular time with one named person is the strongest single predictor of a useful internship. If your manager is a rota, or gets assigned in week one, plan on managing yourself.
Is the internship paid, and how much, and how often?
Why ask it
Pay frequency matters as much as the rate: monthly in arrears can mean six weeks with nothing coming in. It is also worth checking the rules on unpaid work at for-profit employers where you live.
How many hours a week, and can they flex around exams or classes?
Why ask it
A vague hours expectation is where internships quietly expand. Ask what a busy week looks like, and whether they have let interns take exam time off before.
Is it in person, remote, or a mix, and is travel or housing covered?
Why ask it
Location sets the real cost. Two days a week in a city you do not live in can swallow most of an intern wage, and few employers volunteer that travel is not reimbursed.
What did last year's interns work on, and what happened to it?
Why ask it
Asking about the previous cohort gets you specifics instead of intentions. If nobody can remember what shipped, the work was probably filler.
Would I be doing my own tasks, or mostly shadowing someone?
Why ask it
Shadowing is comfortable and teaches little. Some is normal early on, but eight weeks of watching leaves you with observations rather than skills.
Who reviews my work, and would I get feedback more than once?
Why ask it
A single review at the end is too late to act on. Mid-point feedback is the difference between fixing something and hearing about it on your last day.
If I hit a wall on a Friday afternoon, who do I ask?
Why ask it
The specific version of this question exposes whether there is real cover or one overloaded person. Interns routinely lose whole days to being politely stuck.
Would I sit with the team I am supporting, or with the other interns?
Why ask it
Sitting with the team means overhearing the actual work, which is where most of the learning happens. An intern pod is friendlier and keeps you outside every conversation that matters.
What would you expect me to be able to do at the end that I cannot do now?
Why ask it
This forces a concrete capability rather than adjectives. If the honest answer is that you will learn how the industry works, you are being offered atmosphere.
What is the hardest part of this internship for most people?
Why ask it
People answer this far more candidly than they answer questions about problems. The usual replies are ambiguity, slow system access, and having nobody obvious to ask.
Is there anything I should learn or set up before I start?
Why ask it
The reply reveals the real technical bar. A list of specific tools is a gift. Nothing to prepare often means the expectations have not been thought through.
What kind of intern struggles here?
Why ask it
Asking about struggle rather than success gets a straighter answer, usually about people who wait to be handed tasks, or who go quiet when they are lost.
Can I speak to someone who did this internship last year?
Why ask it
A confident programme will connect you. Hesitation is itself an answer, and a former intern will tell you about the hours and the boredom in a way a recruiter cannot.
How many of last year's interns were offered something afterwards?
Why ask it
A rough number tells you more than a stated policy. Zero is not automatically a bad sign, since some programmes are not built for conversion, but you should know that before you accept.
If a return offer is possible, what does that decision depend on and when is it made?
Why ask it
Undefined criteria turn the decision into a popularity contest. The timing matters too: a decision taken in week six changes how you spend weeks one to five.
What should I have to show at the end, and can I talk about it publicly?
Why ask it
Confidentiality rules can leave you unable to describe your own work. Settle early what goes in a portfolio or an interview answer, because that is the part that carries into your next job.
What happens to my work after I leave?
Why ask it
Work that gets shelved in September was never real work. The answer also tells you whether interns here are trusted with anything other people depend on.
Choosing and using an internship
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Judging the offer
Compare offers on three things
Pay, the name of the person you report to, and whether the work ends in something finished. Employer prestige helps less than any of those once someone asks you what you actually did.
Ask before you accept
Start date, hours and remote days are negotiable before you sign and almost never afterwards. Recruiters expect these questions and rarely penalise them.
Get the shape of it in writing
A short email back to the recruiter summarising what was agreed prevents the common version where your new manager has never heard of the project you were promised.
What to ask, and when
At interview
- 1What would I actually be working on day to day?
- 2Is this one project with an owner, or general support?
- 3Who would I report to, and how often would we meet?
- 4What is the hardest part of this internship for most people?
Once you have an offer
- 1Is it paid, how much, and how often?
- 2Is travel or housing covered?
- 3How many of last year's interns were offered something afterwards?
- 4Can I speak to someone who did this last year?
In your first fortnight
- 1Who do I ask when I am stuck and my manager is away?
- 2When will I get feedback, and from whom?
- 3What should I have to show at the end?
- 4Can I talk about this work publicly afterwards?
What goes wrong
Do not lead with the job question
Opening with whether this turns into a full-time role suggests the internship itself does not interest you. Ask it, but after the questions about the work.
Do not treat unpaid as a foot in the door
Check the legal position where you live and ask directly which expenses are covered. An unpaid summer away from home often costs more than the experience returns.
Do not wait until the final week for feedback
Interns regularly find out in August that something was wrong all summer. Ask in week three, while there is still time to change how you work.
If the work turns out to be thin
Some internships arrive with nothing much attached to them. If you find yourself waiting for tasks by week two, pick one small problem you have noticed, write half a page on what you would do about it, and take it to your manager. Being handed something is normal in the first fortnight; still waiting in the fourth week means you need to bring your own project.