Questions to Ask During Your Internship Interview

Internship interviews can be stressful. Whether you’re looking for a summer internship, a 3 month internship or a 6 month internship, you don’t know what you’re going to be asked, what the company is looking for or what you can expect from your interviewer. However, interviews are also an opportunity for you to find out more about the company you’re applying to work at. 

There are so many different companies in New York City and so many different intern roles that it’s worth finding out a bit more before you commit. Plus, asking questions can be an opportunity to show off your expertise outside of the questions that they ask you. Here are the questions you should ask before you sign on the dotted line.

What does the job involve day to day?

Before you rush excitedly into an internship, check that you will be interested in and prepared for your day to day tasks. Internships can vary from making coffee to researching, pitching or creating work of your own, so it’s important to know what you’re getting yourself into. For instance, a marketing internship or a journalism internship might involve writing or editing website copy, while a legal internship or an investment banking internship is likely to be largely research focused. The best internships are the ones which interest you the most, so discuss the tasks you’ll be expected to do with your interviewer before you accept the role.

What are the training and development opportunities?

Internships are all about learning new skills so you need to know what you’re going to get out of this role. Think about what skills your supervisor can teach you and what exactly it is that you want to learn during your time at this company. You want to make sure that the company is invested in training you and developing your career skills, so that you can find employment after your internship. At the same time, don’t arrive at the internship with unrealistic expectations; you’re much more likely to be given responsibility at a small company than on a Vogue internship, but this doesn’t mean that either is the wrong choice.

What are the hours (or other commitments)?

Before you start an internship, you need to figure out what the terms of your contract will be. Are there any other commitments outside of your regular hours, such as event hosting or weekend work? Make sure you have the time and ability to commit to everything the internship involves before signing and, of course, always read the contract (although this comes after the interview!), particularly if you’re starting an internship abroad. Remember to always ask questions in a positive and polite manner and express your enthusiasm in tasks which you truly are interested in working on.

Where are your past interns now?

This is a good indicator of how helpful the internship will be to your career, plus it will give you ideas and aspirations for your own career trajectory. It’s great news if past interns are now doing jobs which you would like to move into one day, perhaps even better news if they’re still working at the company itself, as this shows a good retention rate and might mean that you have a chance of a job after completing the internship, too.

Ask a question about a recent project or campaign the company worked on.

This is optional and depends on the situation, but it can be a good move to ask a question of this type which shows your interviewer that you’ve done research on the company outside of the interview. If you know the names of clients they worked with or news articles which featured them recently, it shows that you’ve got your finger on the pulse of the industry and that you really want to work there (as opposed to applying to twenty internships with the same cover letter and with little thought given to any of them). The question(s) you ask will vary by industry, but a question about market trends in an investment banking internship interview or the latest look book in a fashion internship interview could be the thing that makes you memorable above other candidates.

Best of luck with your internship interview. And remember, you can ask questions too!