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Intern Interview Questions

Edited by Indeed Employer Content Team
Last updated March 19, 2025
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Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

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9 min read

2025-10-012025-10-312025-09-012025-09-302025-11-05Interns are typically current college students, recent graduates or other people looking for exposure to a new career. Internships usually last a fixed period of time and may be paid or unpaid, depending on if the intern will be receiving college credit. Common intern duties and responsibilities include performing clerical tasks, doing research, creating presentations and shadowing employees.

When hiring an intern, look for ​​career goals that align with tasks the candidate is expected to accomplish, experience working in a team environment and a strong work ethic. Great candidates for your internship may also have transferable skills from college classes, community service or extracurricular activities.

Ask 5-10 of the following interview questions to get a better sense of a candidate’s skills and experience that may help them succeed in your intern role.

Whether you are preparing to interview a candidate or applying for a job, review our list of top Intern interview questions and answers.

  1. Why did you choose to interview with this company for this position? See answer
  2. How do you plan to make an impact during your 2025-10-012025-10-312025-09-012025-09-302025-11-05internship? See answer
  3. What are your plans after completing this internship and graduating from school? See answer
  4. What do you expect to gain from this internship, and what are your work expectations? See answer
  5. What skills do you have that will help you excel at this position, and how do you plan to implement them? See answer
  6. What recent industry trends do you think are important to address and why? See answer
  7. Describe a time when you had to learn how to perform a brand new task. See answer
  8. How will this internship prepare you for your future career goals? See answer
  9. Provide an example of a time when you had to take the lead in a group setting to overcome an obstacle.
  10. Walk me through how you recently handled a challenging project from start to finish. 
  11. Why did you choose your university and major?
  12. Do you prefer team work or working alone?
  13. What do you already know about our industry, and what are you excited to learn about it?
  14. Tell me about the most rewarding project or assignment you’ve completed recently.
  15. What is your preferred type of work environment?
  16. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a professor or had a conflict with a peer.
  17. How do you juggle multiple projects at once?
  18. What are your long-term career goals?
  19. What is something you would be excited to learn about?
  20. Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision.
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Hire your next Intern today.

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Hire your next Intern today.

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Our mission

Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

Read our editorial guidelines
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10 Intern Interview Questions and Answers

A young individual sits across the desk in business casual attire from the hiring manager. POV of the hiring manager.Text reads: "Interview questions to ask interns:How will you make an impact during your internship?,How will this internship help you meet your career goals?,How would your classmates describe you?,Why did you choose your major?"

Why did you choose to interview with this company for this position?

The answer to this question reveals the candidate’s motivation for pursuing this 2025-10-012025-10-312025-09-012025-09-302025-11-05internship position. This can help you determine how well they might fit within the organization and how much effort they might put into the job. It also shows how well they've researched the position to know how they can fit within the company. What to look for in an answer:

  • What motivates them to interview for the company
  • What they plan to learn as an intern
  • Knowledge of your company
Example:

“My goal is to work in a forward-thinking company, which is why your company's innovative ideas and emphasis on continuing education appeal to me. Companies that consistently innovate often lead in their industries and constantly grow. I value continuous learning and want to grow as a prolific business leader with an innovator. I believe your company and this position can help me achieve this.”

How do you plan to make an impact during your internship?

Asking about the impact they plan to make gives candidates the chance to show off their ambition and leadership skills. It helps give you an idea of what you might expect out of the candidate as an 2025-10-012025-10-312025-09-012025-09-302025-11-05intern. Their answer can help you decide if what they have to offer aligns with your needs for the position and your company's goals, values and mission. What to look for in an answer:

  • A broad overview of the impact
  • How the candidate plans to initiate the strategy to create impact
  • Tactics the candidate plans to use
Example:

 “I plan to learn as much as I can about the industry and my role so I can get up to speed quickly. I'll identify key areas of opportunities where my skills can enhance the operational process and map out the necessary resources to achieve change. Working with my team, I'll procure resources, identify key performance indicators and create a plan for implementing the changes.”

What are your plans after completing this internship and graduating from school?

The answer to this question demonstrates if your candidate has the potential to work for your company long-term. It helps you determine if you're investing your resources wisely into a candidate who could transition to a full-time employee who already knows the ropes. This question can also reveal the candidate's motivation and how well they've thought out their next steps. What to look for in an answer:

  • Potential for continued work at the company
  • Application of learned skills
  • Where and how skills will be applied
Example:

“After this internship, I plan to complete my final semester in college where I will apply the leadership, project management, communication and technical skills that I’ll gain in my academic, volunteer and extracurricular activities. My plans after graduation include pursuing a career as a business analyst for your company.”

What do you expect to gain from this internship, and what are your work expectations?

With this question, you can assess what the candidate knows about the internship. It also helps you better understand their expectations to ensure they're aligned with what you have to offer. This provides insight into whether you can fulfill the interviewee’s expectations so that neither of you wastes time. What to look for in an answer:

  • Realistic objectives
  • Goals the candidate expects to achieve
  • Understanding of the expectations of the internship
Example:

“I expect to learn how to identify business problems, how to choose strategies to address these issues and how to plan and execute the tactics needed to achieve these goals. By learning this, I can gain real-world experience of what it takes to drive business operations forward. I expect to have hands-on experiences to develop the skills I need to excel in my future career.”

Provide an example of a time when you had to take the lead in a group setting to overcome an obstacle.

Based on the candidates’ answer to this question, you can gauge their leadership, problem-solving and collaborative skills. All of these skills can help them excel in your internship program and can help you get the most out of your interns. They should offer a relevant example with details to back up their skills. What to look for in an answer:

  • Results
  • Experience with working in a team environment
  • Thought process and experience for solving issues
Example:

“The pet shelter I volunteer at needed to reach new audiences and increase awareness of adoption opportunities. However, funds were limited. I rallied volunteers and mapped out a content and social media marketing plan that could be implemented within the budget using free marketing tools and platforms. As a result, awareness and adoptions increased by 10 percent within three months.”

What skills do you have that will help you excel at this position, and how do you plan to implement them?

The way candidates answer this question determines whether they have the skills to do the job. This is crucial so you can gauge how much training will be required for skills development if you decide the candidate is a good fit for the position. It also gives you an idea of how self-aware and confident the candidate is in their skills. What to look for in an answer:

  • Soft skills like leadership and communication
  • Hard skills related to the position
  • Awareness of their skills
Example:

 “I have a variety of skills that I can use on the job, including public speaking, writing, planning, data analysis and leadership skills. I plan to apply my communication and technical skills in this position to lead team projects, research and solve business problems, identify trends and present findings.”

What recent industry trends do you think are important to address and why?

The answer to this question helps you gauge the candidate’s research skills and how closely they pay attention to the industry. It’s crucial that candidates are aware of what’s going on in the industry so they can make better business decisions, and research skills can help them identify these issues. What to look for in an answer:

  • Risks and opportunities identified
  • New or innovative concepts
  • Methods of research
Example:

“I noticed that live-streaming is picking up as a way to engage audiences in business. Content marketing is a must nowadays for any business to generate leads, and live video content marketing can quickly demonstrate how to use a service or product to engage audiences with exclusive content. I believe this is an innovative opportunity your business can leverage to engage your audiences and generate leads.”

Describe a time when you had to learn how to perform a brand new task.

2025-10-012025-10-312025-09-012025-09-302025-11-05Interns often have very little work experience. Many are in college or newly graduated, so they should have experience in learning new concepts and skills from their time in school. Asking an intern candidate this question can show you how they approach problem-solving, their comfort level with tasks outside their scope and their ability to ask for guidance when needed. What to look for in an answer:

  • Interest in learning
  • Knowing when to ask for help
  • Process for dissecting a problem
Example:

"My first biology lab involved writing a thorough, highly templated lab report. When I received the assignment, I closely read all the instructions. I went to my professor's office hours for clarity and asked to look at an example lab report. I sought feedback from my peers, and we worked together to ensure our reports matched the template. I find that asking for guidance and ensuring I have enough time to practice helps me learn new tasks effectively."

Walk me through how you recently handled a challenging project from start to finish.

The answer to this question can help you see how the candidate approaches challenges. It can show how they prioritize tasks, create plans and follow through. This can give you insight into what you can expect if you give the intern an assignment or project to do. What to look for in an answer:

  • Problem-solving skills and attention to detail
  • Ability to prioritize duties
  • Organized, logical and structured approach to projects
Example:

"I was asked to chair the marketing club's annual fundraiser, which I had always attended but never planned. I pulled up plans from previous years to determine what worked well and what didn't. I pulled together a planning committee, created a task list and developed a timeline. Then, I delegated duties to committee members to ensure all tasks were covered without spreading myself too thin. The fundraiser was a success and broke the previous record for funds raised."

How will this internship prepare you for your future career goals?

Asking this question requires the candidate to think about the internship and their future goals to determine how they align. It can help you choose a candidate who can get the most out of the opportunity if the internship is similar to their career goals. What to look for in an answer:

  • Understanding of the internship duties
  • Clear future career goals
  • Realistic expectations based on the role that align with career goals
Example:

"Working as an intern in your marketing department will help me better understand how to craft a marketing campaign from start to finish. I'll learn key marketing skills that I can apply to my future career aspirations of becoming a marketing specialist. The internship will also provide me with industry experience in software, which is the field I hope to pursue after graduating.”

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