Practice Interview Questions For Your Internship

Have an internship interview coming up ? Do you want to make sure you are prepared ? Check out these REAL questions that come from REAL internship coordinators on www.quarterlife.com/intern. Print this out and use as a practice ! Good luck !

 

Note: I will update this list frequently.

Common Interview Questions for Internships

 

What are you looking to get out of this internship?

(Internship Coordinator at Nu Image Films)

 

What is your long term goal in the industry?

(Internship Coordinator at Nu Image Films)

 

What are some of your favorite movies and why ?

(Internship Coordinator, Polsky Films)

 

Give me a logline for your favorite film – as if you are selling it to me ?

(Internship Coordinator, Polsky Films)

 

What is your biggest weakness and why ?

(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

 

What is your strongest attribute that you really bring to the table ?

(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

 

What kind of tasks would you like to be involved with ?

(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

 

If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be ?

(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

 

Can you recall a situation where you were a leader ?

(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

 

If you commit to this internship, what does that mean to you ?

(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

 

What is it that you want to do within the industry ?

(Internship Coordinator, Intrepid Pictures)

 

Are you bothered by profanity in movies ?

(Internship Coordinator, Jinks/Cohen Productions)

 

What do you know about the company ?

(Internship Coordinator, Imax Corporation)

 

What interests you about working in this industry ?

(Internship Coordinator, Imax Corporation)

 

 Helpful Links

AdHoles Weblog: http://adholes.com/postings/d2d66d27f4e95147cfb3297cfe77e96d

 

What to Expect From Your Internship

 

I wanted to take a moment to let interns know what they should expect during the first few days/weeks of their internships. A misconception that many students have is that they will be VERY BUSY at all times. Here are some tips that I put together:

 

• EXPECT lots of downtown. Just as you are getting used to the new job, new tasks, new hours – the company and your boss is getting used to you. They might not be used to having an extra hand around the office so everyone needs time to adjust.
• Don’t get frustrated after the first few hours on the job or internship because you aren’t given anything to do. Just wait patiently and give yourself and those around you the opportunity to get situated.Be prepared to outside your comfort zone in plenty of professional and social situations. High school isn’t over quite yet ! Be prepared to find new friends to lunch with and to explore the different social circles in the workplace.
• Be patient while the LEARNING CURVE takes its course. Even though the people around you are used to the day-to-day in your new office doesn’t mean everything will click right away. It takes time to learn each companies individual systems in and around the office. Everyone keeps track of things like emails, phone sheets, and databases in different ways. Give yourself a break if you don’t get it right away.

• Extra  It’s a NEW job. You don’t have to love it the first day and most likely you won’t. Don’t be so hard on yourself and make sure to give yourself credit and take the proper time to adjust.  

Intern’s Speak Out on Their Experiences

 

I AM INTERN Presents The Intern’s Speak Series ! Learn from the internship experiences of others ! Read on !

The Intern: J. Tyler, Senior at the University of Arizona

Position: Intern at Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI) and at quarterlife.com in Santa Monica, CA for Summer 2008

PAST INTERNSHIPS:

 True Fabrications

WHAT IS THE MOST VALUABLE LESSON YOU’VE LEARNED WHILE INTERNING ?

Get contacts and keep in touch with them.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INTERN HORROR STORIES?

Just my lame living situation.  Oh, and one weekend I had to go back to Tucson, Arizona to move stuff from my old apartment into my new one for the upcoming school year.  Well, my car decided to not have air conditioning when going above 50 miles per hour.  So I had to drive 1000 miles in a single weekend with no air conditioning in 110 degree weather.

HAVE YOU EVER SPILLED COFFEE ? 

I’m from seattle, of course.  But I haven’t had to make a single coffee run while interning.

JAMMED PAPER IN THE COPY MACHINE ?

 Nope

BROKEN ANYTHING ?

 nope.

WHAT IS THE COOLEST THING YOU GOT TO DO AT YOUR INTERNSHIP ?

 I visited the CSI set and had a meeting with Carol Mendelson (show runner for CSI.)  I also visited Asylum, visual effects facility and got a meeting with Nathan McGuiness, CEO.

DOES YOUR COMPANY DO ANYTHING EXTRA FOR INTERNS ? 

 I get to listen/sit in on meetings, sets up personal meetings with each executive as well as sister companies that they work for.
 

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU GRADUATE ?

 I WANT to produce films, but it’s a long ladder to climb.

IF YOU ARE INTERNING IN A CITY WHERE YOU DON’T LIVE…WHAT IS YOUR HOUSING SITUATION LIKE ?

 Horrifying.  I live with four girls.  3 of which are amazing.  The one that I happen to share a room with is terrible.  She’s extremely messy, is a bit of a nymphomaniac to the point that I don’t trust any of the couches in my living room, she randomly showed up with a dog one day without asking anyone else who lives in the apartment, and she has a friend who got thrown in jail for assault with a deadly weapon, the kitchen has a roach problem, my desk has an ant problem, my toilette needs to be plunged every three flushes (even if they’re urine), the hot water from my shower has practically NO water pressure, the roommates dog has peed on my bed twice resulting in a bed that vaguely smells like urine, and I have had to replace all the chargers to my electronics because the dog chewed the rest of them up.  There’s more but I can’t think of the rest of the crappy living situation.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR INTERNSHIP ?

 Through my school for the Bruckheimer one.  Quarterlife I stumbled upon by working as GM at my college TV station.

 

The Intern Queen’s Internship Rules

What To Do and What NOT To Do During Your Internship

During the first week of an internship, you should arrive on time. An email should be sent to your hiring manager asking about parking, food, dress, etc one week prior to your first day at the job.

If you are sitting at your desk with nothing to do you should approach your employer and ask if there is anything you can do to help. If they don’t need help ask if there is anyone else in the office you can help.

Whenever you meet someone in passing, you should introduce yourself. If you are in the breakroom with others don’t be afraid to extend your hand and meet everyone around you. When you go back to your desk write down their name. If you aren’t sure of their last name try to look on your company directory and figure it out. Once you know the person’s first and last name, try to get their email address. Keep this information stored so that at the end of your internship or job you have all of your contacts properly stored .

Whenever your boss calls you into their office, go in with a pen and paper. NEVER go in their office without a pen and paper. This shows that you take your job seriously and that you begin each task with a sense of urgency and importance.

·         Don’t sit on Myspace, Facebook, or LinkedIN while on the job. Make it a point to keep your personal social activities separate from work.

·         Don’t give close friends your work email account. Have them email your personal account. This will help you to separate your work from your play.

 

Cool Internship Alert: Win an Internship Around the World !

My good friend and Twitter Pal, Patrick, at STA Travel, let me know about the amazing contest they are running for 2 LUCKY interns to win ! If you need more information let me know and good luck – this would be an amazing opportunity for all of you. Here is what Patrick said:

We are offering quite possibly the best internship to come across your desk. Free travel to 15 countries in 3 months for 2 interns. All of the details are at www.statravel.com/wti. All people have to do to apply is submit a video about why they are the best choice.

Intern Queen Advice: Where to stay in Los Angeles

Q: Hi Lauren,

I am currently a junior in marketing at the University of Illinois and was hoping to get an internship in LA this summer for a movie or television production company. The one for Universal Pictures particularly interests me, but there seem to be a lot of great ones you have listed. I was wondering if we can still apply for these even if we are not currently living in the LA area but know we will be able to find housing over the summer? Thank you so much for your help, and really appreciate everything you do! Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Paul

A: Hi Paul ! Thanks for writing. I would definitly suggest the Oakwoods Corporate Housing for Los Angeles. However, they do tend to be a bit expensive. I suggest calling them up and asking about their internship rates – please let them know that The Intern Queen referred you ! Also, you can look into subleasing an apartment for a few weeks which is what I also did one summer. Let me know if I can help further and please send in your resume !

Best,

Lauren Berger

“The Intern Queen”

www.quarterlife.com/intern

Shout out to the Fashion PR Addict !

Thanks so much for posting this ! http://bit.ly/aeex

Love it ! Everyone check out fashion and PR internships at www.quarterlife.com/intern !

QUICK TIPS FROM THE INTERN QUEEN: PRE-INTERNSHIP INTERVIEW 411

I’m so excited for one of my students, Jenna, who has a big interview with a fashion magazine that I set her up with in NYC ! She wrote me today to ask how she can best prepare for the interview. Here are a few internship interview pointers I put together:

1. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Take an evening and plan to study up on the company you are interviewing with. First, find the company website – most WILL have websites. Study the “About us” tab on the company website. You want to be familiar with when the company was founded and who the founders/leaders of the company are.

2. KNOW THE MISSION. Become familiar with the company mission statement. This information can be found on the company website. You want to slightly reference the mission statement of the company in your interview. If they ask why you think you should work with the company you can say, “Well, I am familiar with the company’s mission to ________ and I’m interested in ______which goes hand in hand with the company goals. (or something like that).

3. GOOGLE ‘EM. Play around on  Google.com and search “News Results” and the company name. You want to be familiar with any recent news that the company has been involved with. You also want to be familiar with their clients and any recent projects they are working on. If any names/topics are “off limits” you will most likely find out from a news article on the subject.

4. PICK OUT YOUR CLOTHES. As if it is the first day of school, your clothing for the interview should be prepared beforehand. You want to dress the part. If the company is extremely formal than you should dress like you already work there. You never want to go TOO casual. If you aren’t sure what to wear – always go with a simple suit – for both guys and girls.

5. SPEAK SLOWLY. Don’t talk the interviewers ears off. Speak slowly and clearly and don’t let your nervous energy speed up your pace.

6. SHOW YOUR PASSION. You want to go into this WANTING this job more than anything. Your passion and excitement needs to shine through. If they ask you if you’ll have trouble handling a task, the answer is “NO, I understand that I need to start somewhere and that I can learn something from any situation. This is what I want to do and I can’t see myself doing anything else.” An employer WANTS someone with a positive attitude and not someone that is going to roll their eyes with every task. This is an internship – you are going to have to do things that aren’t that glamorous. You are starting from the bottom!

Clear Channel Online Internships Available at www.quarterlife.com/intern !

Now, whoever lands this Super cool internship will be one lucky intern ! Clear Channel’s Online Digital Media and Social Marketing Team is looking for Spring Interns in NYC ! Go to www.quarterlife.com/intern to apply for it and make sure to copy/paste your resume into the body of the email for me. Holler !!

Clear Channel Online Music & Radio, a division of Clear Channel Radio (Z100, KTU), is looking for motivated college students to intern within the Digital Marketing and Social Platforms department. Interns will be working with two important projects. The first is NEW!, an online and on-air platform that exposes unsigned and developing artists’ music on over 400 radio station websites across the country. The second is iheartmusic.com, Clear Channel Radio’s music and entertainment portal, which aggregates over 750 of America’s favorite radio stations and tens of thousands of songs and videos on demand. Iheartmusic.com also features the latest in celebrity news, gossip and photos as well as access to exclusive artist performances and contests!

This position will provide high exposure to all aspects of the music industry, particularly in the areas of online marketing, programming, digital media, editorial and music content.

Interns will be responsible for listening to and organizing artist song submissions, providing feedback on song submissions, taking part in a large volume of viral marketing initiatives, researching artists and competitor sites, writing descriptive teaser texts for artists and more!

Q & A – Canadian Internships. Short – Term Internships.

Hi Lauren,

I have been searching for a Public Relations Internship for about a year now. I am in the Public Relations program at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. To fulfill academic credit, I will need to complete 120 hours between February 17 and March 27, 2009. It is basically, three weeks full-time or six weeks part-time. I am having a lot of trouble finding an organization to hire an intern for this short time. I found your website just this morning and it is absolutely incredible. It has the types of internships that I am looking for, except they are all about a semester in length. Do you have any advice for me about how to look for such a short internship?

Thanks!

Rebecca

Hi Rebecca !! I think that by simply explaining your schools requirements to the internship coordinators at specific companies you could get what you want/need. Companies want help and if you can get any sort of credit they should be happy to work with you. The formal internship programs won’t go for this but the smaller companies definitly will. If it’s internships in the states you are after, let me know, and I’ll send your resume out with a note explaining your circumstances. Otherwise, best of luck and please spread the word to any of your Canadian friends who might want to come to the USA to intern !

Best,

Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen