Unique Questions to Ask in an Internship Interview
Twenty questions your interviewer has almost certainly not been asked this week, aimed at getting an unrehearsed answer rather than the version in the brochure. They ask what the team argues about, what went wrong recently, what interns never get shown, and who actually has time to explain things. If you want the standard ground covered first, the full list of questions to ask at an internship interview is the safer starting point.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What does this team disagree about at the moment?
Why ask it
Nobody prepares an answer to this and most people enjoy it. What they choose to share tells you how openly the team handles disagreement.
What is the last thing that went wrong here, and what changed afterwards?
Why ask it
Teams that learn can answer this quickly and without blaming anyone. Teams that cannot think of anything usually are not looking.
Who would I go to when I'm stuck, and what's the usual way to reach them?
Why ask it
Ask for a role and a channel, not a reassurance that everyone is friendly. Interns lose the most time to being blocked and not knowing whether it is acceptable to interrupt anyone, so having the answer in advance is worth more than it sounds.
Is the internship paid, and how is that structured?
Why ask it
Ask it plainly and early rather than hoping it comes up. You want the rate, whether it is hourly or a stipend, when it is paid, and whether housing or travel support exists. An unpaid arrangement may also carry legal conditions depending on where you are, which is worth checking separately.
What would I not get to see as an intern, and is there a way around that?
Why ask it
Every placement has closed doors: client meetings, pay discussions, planning. Knowing where they are lets you ask for what is actually possible.
Who here has the most time to explain things, and would I be able to sit with them?
Why ask it
The person with time matters more to an intern than the person with the title. Interviewers often name someone unexpected.
What tools or software should I be comfortable with on day one?
Why ask it
Practical and it lets you prepare in the weeks before you start, which is the highest return work available to you. A long list is not a warning; a list nobody can produce is.
Is there onboarding, or does it start with the work?
Why ask it
Real onboarding for a ten week placement is a serious investment on their part. If it starts on day one with a ticket and no context, ask how the last group got up to speed, which reveals how much of that is on you.
How do interns get feedback, and how often?
Why ask it
Ask for the mechanism: a weekly check in, a mid point review, a written evaluation at the end. Feedback that only arrives at the end is feedback you cannot act on, and it is worth knowing that before you start.
What is a question you wish interns asked before they started?
Why ask it
This hands the interviewer the floor and usually produces the most practical answer in the conversation. It also shows you are thinking about the job rather than the offer.
What do people here complain about that outsiders never hear?
Why ask it
Asked lightly, this gets a genuine answer about the parking, the software, the meeting culture. The complaints are a fair picture of daily life.
What has an intern here changed about how the team works?
Why ask it
It sounds flattering but it is really a test of whether interns are listened to. If nothing comes to mind, expect to be an observer.
What is the strangest task an intern has ended up doing here?
Why ask it
The answer arrives as a story rather than a policy, and it shows how far the work strays from the description. It also lightens the end of an interview.
Is the team in person, remote or split, and where would I sit?
Why ask it
Sitting near your team matters more for an intern than for anyone else, because most of what you learn is overheard. If the team is split, ask which days people overlap and whether your manager is in the same location.
What are the hours actually like?
Why ask it
Ask for the normal week, not the policy. It is a reasonable question, and an evasive answer about being flexible and doing what it takes is itself a description of the hours.
Where does this team's work go once it leaves you?
Why ask it
Few candidates ask what happens downstream, and the answer shows you the wider picture. It also gives you something specific to raise on day one.
How many interns from this team have been offered full time roles recently?
Why ask it
A factual question with a number attached, which is harder to dress up than a description of the pipeline. If conversion is rare, that is fine to know now, and you can plan the summer around the reference and the portfolio instead.
What would you want me to be able to do by the last week that I cannot do now?
Why ask it
Asking for a target rather than a description gives the interviewer something to commit to. Write down the answer and hold the placement against it.
What is the part of this job you would not want to give up?
Why ask it
Interviewers rarely get asked anything personal and most answer warmly. What they name tells you what the work is actually like when it goes well.
What are the next steps, and what's the best way to follow up with you?
Why ask it
A plain closing question that gets you a timeline and a channel. Note the date, and if it passes without word, one polite message referring to what they told you is entirely reasonable.
Getting the Most Out of an Internship Interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Ask the Right Person
The recruiter or campus contact
Best on pay, dates, logistics, cohort size and the steps in the process. They usually cannot describe the technical work, so save those questions.
The manager or team lead
Best on the first week, the project, who supports you and what they want you to be able to do by the end. Ask them the goal question and the deprioritisation question.
A current or former intern
Best on hours, seating, how feedback really works and whether the project shipped. If you are offered a chat with one, take it, and ask what they wish they had known in week one.
Whoever sends the offer
The only source that counts on pay, start date and length. Get the dates and the rate in writing before you turn anything else down.
How to Ask
- Bring five questions and use three. The window at the end is usually shorter than you expect, and a follow up beats a longer list.
- Ask for specifics: a number, a name, a week, a tool. Questions that can only be answered with a description tend to get one.
- Ask about pay in the first conversation rather than the last. It is normal, and finding out at offer stage that it is unpaid wastes everyone's time.
- Take notes in the interview. Writing down an answer is read as interest, not rudeness, and you will need it when comparing two offers.
- Ask one question that shows you read something specific about the team's work. One accurate reference does more than five prepared questions.
Answers Worth Worrying About
- Nobody can describe the first week. It usually means the project does not exist yet and will be assembled around you in July.
- No named person to go to when you are stuck. Interns in this position spend the summer blocked and quiet.
- Feedback only at the end. You cannot act on a review you receive in the final week, and it is often the only written record of your work.
- Evasiveness about pay or hours. Both are simple facts, and reluctance to state them tends to predict how other simple facts get handled.
- No previous intern anyone can name. Ask directly whether they have run this before, since a first attempt can still be good if they say so honestly.
- Heavy emphasis on how much exposure the role offers instead of what you would do. Exposure is not a deliverable and does not go on a resume.
Afterwards
- Send a short thank you within a day, referring to one specific thing you discussed. Three sentences is right.
- Write down the answers about the project, the manager and the pay while they are exact. Two interviews a week apart merge quickly.
- If they gave you a date and it passes, follow up once, politely, quoting the date they gave you.
- If you accept, ask before you start what you could read or set up in advance. Almost nobody does this, and it makes the first week substantially easier.