So you’ve printed out your resume, put on your lucky professional outfit (jacket included), and strut into the building ready to utterly impress your interviewer with your academic and professional brilliance. You have a good GPA, ice in your veins, brains in your head, feet in your shoes, and are ready to handle any question or scenario thrown at you.
Until you walk in.
The interviewer comes out and gets you, you introduce yourself, sits you down in a meeting room, and the first thing the recruiter asks is “So, what do you know about Maxim Integrated and why are you interested in the semi-conductor business?” You freeze, dismayed that this is not the men’s lifestyle and entertainment magazine. After a second, you mumble some half-baked answer that thankfully does not include any of the four letter words racing around your head. The recruiter accepts your answer, and moves to the next question, “Tell me a little about yourself.” Your heart rate skyrockets. This should be the easiest question in the book, and right now you can’t even remember your name. Another awkward answer of word vomit spills out of you and the conversation doesn’t get much better from there, before a weak handshake and an even weaker “We’ll let you know within the next week.” from some guy whose name you forgot a mere tenth of a second after he told it to you.
Hopefully nothing quite this extreme has happened to you, but most of us have been in that awkward position of seeking an internship and having no idea what we’re doing, and no confidence to boot.
Here are some friendly tips to turn that around at your next interview.
1. Do your homework
Research talking points to “casually” bring up during your conversation with the recruiter. Be sure to reach outside of the company’s website. Depending on your major, check Google News or a finance website for some interesting things going on with the company and its sector.
2. Look good
Attractive people get paid more. Obviously this is a professional environment, so dress appropriately, but do all of the little things correctly as well. Walk and talk with your head up and shoulders back, it will show confidence. Smile, especially when introducing yourself (you should at least appear to be happy to meet this person), everybody becomes much more engaging when they are smiling! Even if you are super nervous, all you have to do is look confident, and the recruiter will believe it. I would recommend Googling looking confident for some more tips if necessary. These companies know they are recruiting college students, I assure you that you are qualified.
3. Prepare for questions that you know will be asked.
Tell me about yourself.
This one messes with a lot of people, here’s a simple formula that has brought this writer some success:
“My name is (1. State your name). I am a (2. State your year) studying (3. State your major) at Santa Clara University. I am/was (4. State something relatively interesting about yourself, it doesn’t have to be huge, I use my birthday, which is the day after Christmas) and am excited to learn more about internships at (5. State company name). How’s your day going?”
The “How’s your day?” going is important because it will lessen the power dynamic of the conversation, instead of it being recruiter to student its more of a person to person conversation.
What do you know about (company)?
Here’s where that handy dandy research you did will pay off. They aren’t looking for an in-depth answer, just one or two sentences generally summarizing their operations, and maybe an interesting tidbit you picked up from the news if they have any.
What are you hoping to get out of an internship this summer?
So many people (including me in the past) screw this one up. Do NOT say something like “I want to gain experience.”
Instead, say how you want to help the company. Tell them you want to help grow the business, improve the bottom line, help customers, help the business, anything. Just frame it in the interests of the business, not your own. Particularly for paid internships, no company is going to send you checks for a “Personal and Professional Growth Intern” position. You get paid to help the business, that’s the entire point of working. Show you are aware of that.
There will almost certainly be other questions asked as well, hit up the internet and see what you can find. There are lots of great resources out there.
4. Ask the right questions.
Here’s a little secret: these recruiters have basically the exact same conversation with every single person they interview. Here’s another little secret: you are not that different from your peers. Stand out from the crowd by asking the right questions.
During the Conversation, Ask Questions Like:
· Did you intern here? What was your experience like, what were the best and worst parts?
· What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were still in college?
· If you could do it all over again, would you follow the same path?
Be sure to let the conversation flow naturally, asking follow up questions as necessary and appropriate. The recruiters will be very impressed.
As Things are Wrapping Up:
· What is the next step in the application process?
· Could I get your business card?
5. End things on a strong note.
Stick out your hand, shake theirs firmly, and thank them for their time, SAYING THEIR NAME (read it from the business card if you forgot), and if you really liked the conversation, tell them you will be contacting them.
6. Leave.
Go home. Relax, and then when you are ready in the next day or so, send an email to the recruiter thanking them again for their time, and inform them that you are excited to take the next step in the process. Drop in a personal anecdote from your conversation as well if you can, such as: “It was really interesting to hear about your time as an intern because…”
Good luck!