Questions to Ask for Internship
Twenty questions to ask in an internship interview. They cover what the work actually is, who supervises you, what previous interns produced, conversion to full-time roles, pay and logistics, and how the decision gets made.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What would I actually be doing in a normal week?
Why ask it
Job descriptions for internships are often written before anyone has decided what the work is. An interviewer who can describe a week in specifics has a plan; one who talks about exposure and learning may not.
Is there a specific project waiting for an intern, or would that be decided after I start?
Why ask it
A defined project means someone has thought about how you fit and reserved the work. Being assigned later usually means you spend the first weeks looking for something to do, which is the most common way internships get wasted.
Who would I report to day to day, and how often would we talk?
Why ask it
The gap between a nominal manager and the person who actually answers your questions is where interns get stranded. Ask whether that person has supervised an intern before.
Who had this internship last time, and what did they produce?
Why ask it
One concrete example tells you more about the role than any description of responsibilities. If nobody can name a piece of finished work, the role may be more open-ended than it sounds.
How many of your interns have gone on to a return offer or a full-time role?
Why ask it
For many candidates this is the real point of the internship, so ask it plainly rather than hinting. A company with a pipeline will have numbers; one without will change the subject to experience.
What does an intern do here that is genuinely useful to the team?
Why ask it
Phrased this way it is hard to answer with a platitude, and the answer distinguishes a role built around real work from one built around headcount. Listen for whether the team wanted an intern or was given one.
Would the work I do carry on being used after I leave, or is it self-contained?
Why ask it
Work that ships is the work you can talk about for years afterwards, and it changes how much attention the team gives it. A deliberately self-contained project is not automatically bad, but you should know which you are getting.
How many other interns would there be, and would we be working on the same thing?
Why ask it
A cohort of thirty runs on a programme with structure and competition for return offers; being the only intern means more access and less scaffolding. Either is workable once you know which it is.
What would you want me to be able to do by the end that I cannot do now?
Why ask it
Turns training into something checkable, and reveals whether anyone has thought about your development at all. It also tells you which of your existing skills they are actually interested in.
How does the team handle questions from someone new?
Why ask it
You will spend the first fortnight interrupting people, so their tolerance for that determines how quickly you become useful. Ask whether there is a documented onboarding process or whether you learn by asking.
What tools and systems would I need to learn in the first week?
Why ask it
Gives you a concrete list to prepare against, and shows you how modern or improvised the team's setup is. It is also the easiest way to demonstrate initiative before you start.
Is the work in the office, remote, or mixed, and what are the hours in practice?
Why ask it
Stated policy and actual practice often differ, particularly around how late the team works. Ask what time people leave, which is a question few interviewers deflect.
Which meetings would I sit in, and would I ever present my own work?
Why ask it
Being in the room where decisions get argued is most of what you learn from a summer, and presenting once is what makes people remember you at return offer time. Ask whether any of that is standard or has to be requested.
How firm are the start and end dates?
Why ask it
Term dates, exam periods, and other offers rarely line up with a company's default twelve weeks, and the flexibility usually exists if raised before an offer. After acceptance it becomes a favour rather than a term.
Is the internship paid, and does it include anything towards housing or travel?
Why ask it
Ask directly and early, because an unpaid or barely-paid role may be unaffordable no matter how good it is. Find out whether pay is hourly or a stipend, and what happens on public holidays.
What would make you call this internship a success at the end of the summer?
Why ask it
This is their standard rather than the handbook's, and it is the sentence to write down and revisit halfway through. If there is no answer, expect no review either.
What is the hardest part of this team's work at the moment?
Why ask it
Interviewers usually answer this honestly because it lets them talk about something real, and their answer shows you what you would be walking into. A team under acute pressure has less time to teach.
Would I be allowed to show this work afterwards, in a portfolio or another interview?
Why ask it
Much of what interns build is confidential, and finding that out in August leaves you with nothing to show for the summer. Ask what a sanitised version could look like and who would approve it.
What are the next steps, and when do you expect to decide?
Why ask it
You need this to manage other applications and to know when following up is reasonable rather than pushy. A vague timeline is worth noting if you have another offer with a deadline.
Is there anything in my background you would like me to fill in?
Why ask it
Gives you the chance to address a doubt in the room instead of learning about it in a rejection. The answer also tells you which part of your application they actually read.
Using an internship interview well
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Find last year's intern
A search on a professional network usually turns up someone who held the role, and a short polite message often gets a candid reply. What they tell you will be better than anything in the posting.
Read something the team made, not the careers page
A product, a paper, a repository, or a recent announcement gives you one specific question to ask. That question does more for you than any general statement about admiring the company.
Pick four questions, not twenty
You will normally get five to ten minutes. Choose the ones that would change your decision, and keep the pay and logistics question among them.
Know your own constraints
Term dates, visa status, whether you can relocate, and the minimum you can live on are all things to have settled before you are asked. Hesitating on these reads as indecision.
During the conversation
- Ask a question that follows from something they just said; it shows you were listening better than any prepared question can.
- If an answer is vague about what you would actually do, ask again for a specific week or a specific task.
- Ask the pay and logistics question without apology. Interviewers expect it and evasiveness on their side is informative.
- Note the answer about supervision, because a good manager on a dull project usually beats the reverse.
- Write your notes down within an hour, and record what they said the next steps were.
Afterwards
Send a short note the same day
Reference one specific thing from the conversation rather than thanking them in general terms. Three sentences is enough.
Follow up on the timeline they gave you
If the date they named passes, one message is reasonable. Quote the date back to them, which makes the follow-up a question rather than a nudge.
Get the offer terms in writing before accepting
Dates, pay, hours, location, and who you report to should all appear in the letter. Ask for anything promised verbally to be added.
Common pitfalls
Only asking questions designed to impress
Interns often spend their five minutes of questions signalling keenness and then arrive in June with no idea who their supervisor is. Ask about the project, the pay, and the dates; nobody has ever lost an internship for asking what the work is.
Accepting exposure as a description of the work
If nobody can name the project, the tools, or the supervisor, the role is probably undefined. That is worth knowing before you turn down another offer.
Skipping the money conversation until the offer
Unpaid or low-paid internships can carry hidden costs in rent and travel that make them impossible. Find out early enough that it can affect where you apply.