Interviewing an intern - need some good Qs!

[robbase]

well I say if the tree question is in than how about

"what is your opinion on sexual harassment in the workplace?" (if it is a hot guy)

or "do these pants / skirt make my butt look big?"

This would be hilarious! Can you imagine having these questions asked to you?

just about every night, it is a re-occurring dream that I have an interview with an attractive female and get asked this and than things get very flirty and if I mention much more, the rest of the details may get me banned from here

[rmtvbrooks]

Best question I was ever asked:

"Tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work. What did you do about it? What steps did you take to ensure you wouldn't repeat the mistake?"

This question tells a lot about a person. Did they own up to their mistake? And do they evaluate and find ways to improve? It also puts the candidate at ease because the interviewer is acknowledging that people WILL make mistakes. You might have to tweak this for an intern who has no work history, but it would work even for someone whose only history is a job at McDonald's.

[KaraBoo]

We were able to interview our last hire as a team and these are the questions I asked:

Do you volunteer and what do you volunteer at? (If the answer is no or not currently: If you had the opportunity to volunteer, what would it be doing?) --- To me this tells me what type of things this person values.

What kind of hobbies do you have? Tell me about it/them.

Again, speaks to what type of person this is....detailed oriented, free spirit, etc.

[formerexpat]

why? I went to a school that had co-op terms built into the curriculum and schedule, so we were in the work force from the end of freshman year all the way through to January of senior year - a 5 year degree. I found that the employers were happy to receive upperclassmen if there were more detailed projects that would require skills and knowledge from higher-level classes.

Northeastern? Figuring with the Boston connection.

I went to a college that had a similar program in Philly - 5 year degree, 3 co-ops that were each 6 months in length. 75-80% of graduating students had a job offer from one of their internships at graduation.

While I graduated right after Andersen collapsed with an Accounting degree and a sub 3.0 GPA, I had a job the day I graduated while my Villanova & St Joes friends with better GPAs took 9-12+ months to get a job.

I had experience and the track record that companies wanted to see. More importantly, I had already worked with my company for nearly 2 years as an intern, so even though there was a company wide hiring freeze in the recession at the end of 2002, they were going to be sure to keep me and gave me an offer.

[chiver78]

expat - yep, class of 2001. I actually accepted my offer in early May, but couldn't start until early July - between graduation in mid-June and getting my shit in order to be working a 9-5.

in fact, most of my core group of friends from that class got jobs with companies where they had co-op service time. I'm the only one that hasn't company-hopped to date, voluntarily or layoffs, but that may change in the not too distant future as my we were just acquired by a European company.

[midjd]

I'm interviewing the main candidate Tuesday, he seemed pretty steady on the phone. He's already graduated law school and is getting an MBA in 2013, which would make him a good fit for the job (I'm a project manager), and he has a solid work history. We'll see how many of Rob's questions I can get in before the HR rep stomps my foot off

The other interview candidate never called me back.

[formerexpat]

in fact, most of my core group of friends from that class got jobs with companies where they had co-op service time. I'm the only one that hasn't company-hopped to date, voluntarily or layoffs, but that may change in the not too distant future as my we were just acquired by a European company.

Your stability on the resume should bode well for you. What industry / field? Acquisitions can be good too, for your future prospects...care to live in Europe for a bit? good luck with everything.

The other interview candidate never called me back

Well that certainly makes things easier, huh?!

[8 Bit WWBG]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The first question I will ask is: "how do you raise a gold chocobo in Final Fantasy 7".

My agency has a great intern program (great for both intern and agency). Interns get to rotate for 90 days in different areas over the span of 2 years. My boss NEVER wants to take one, because the person would not be able to learn enough in 90 days to be of real help to us. I don't disagree, but I really want one just for the fun of it.

That being said, knowing the fact that they are with us for 90 days means they can only care so much. I would probably ask a lot of the standard interview questions, but what I would be gauging them on was how many buzz words or fluff their answer had.

Then, to make them fit in, I'd probably ask them a lot of pop culture junk. Like:

1) What does Akeem reply when asked who the man that was fawning over him at the St. Johns game was?

2) Fill in the missing word: Derka derka, ____ Jihad.

3) What does the banker reply when investing the kids money in the episode of southpark about the credit crisis?

4) How often do you eat at Chick Fil-A?

5) What was the name of the private investigator in Arrested Development?

...and so on.

[mtntigger]

I would fail WWBG's questions. Arrested Development... that was 5 years ago! Now, if you asked about Jersey Shore... well, I would still fail, but at least it's more recent.

During the interview arranging call, I ask them to bring in a sample of their writing and tell them it is very important to me. In the interview, I do not mention it. If they give me a sample, I know they are able to listen, to remember and to follow through with an assignment. I don't have time to hold hands.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"Arrested Development... that was 5 years ago!":::...

I pull the DVDs out every few years. They are good for plane rides.

...:::"In the interview, I do not mention it. If they give me a sample, I know they are able to listen, to remember and to follow through with an assignment. I don't have time to hold hands.":::...

Interesting. If that were me, I might offer to e-mail it to you as soon as you asked. I'd have the paper with me, but if you didn't mention it I might assume you were no longer interested.

Interviews are just like dates... you never know who is playing games and when!

[mtntigger]

Interesting. If that were me, I might offer to e-mail it to you as soon as you asked. I'd have the paper with me, but if you didn't mention it I might assume you were no longer interested.

It could be the industry too. I'm a consultant, so people are always throwing out things to do to everyone. Listening is a critical part of the job and why I specifically say during the call how important a writing sample is.

You would pass if you e-mailed one to me.

ETA: Interviewees usually bring in a couple of resumes to hand out, so it's not like I'm asking for a separate action. They open their portfolio, hand out the resume, and see a copy of a paper and hand that over also.

[midjd]

3) What does the banker reply when investing the kids money in the episode of southpark about the credit crisis?

;D I love that episode.

I may ask if they'd be interested in writing for Bob Loblaw's Law Blog...

In all seriousness, I do think I might throw in at least one question about shows or music they enjoy toward the end of the interview. It'd be good to gauge if we would have anything to make small talk about besides work and the sorry state of the market for 2011 law graduates...

[chiver78]

Jun 24, 2011 21:35:57 GMT -5 formerexpat said:

in fact, most of my core group of friends from that class got jobs with companies where they had co-op service time. I'm the only one that hasn't company-hopped to date, voluntarily or layoffs, but that may change in the not too distant future as my we were just acquired by a European company.

Your stability on the resume should bode well for you. What industry / field? Acquisitions can be good too, for your future prospects...care to live in Europe for a bit? good luck with everything.

biotech/engineering. basically my group built our manufacturing plants. I don't know details about how our products are effective, but I can easily translate what I do across to other industries. I've spent some time in Europe already, when we built our facilities in various countries over there, so I wouldn't be against spending *some* time across the pond.

thanks for the well wishes. I have a feeling there's going to be some major changes in the next few months. I'm hoping for a not-so-bumpy ride.

WWBG - that's awesome. I wish I was more awake, I'm sure I could pull the answer to #1 out of my brain. Coming to America was one of the movies we were channeling yesterday at the cookout. lol.....

[TheOtherMe]

I do not know the questions my nephew got asked for internships in accounting, but he had two of them during his summers as an undergrad. One offered him a job when he graduated and that is where he worked now.

The second place is his dream job, but they are only hiring interns at the present time. The summer he was there, they hired three. One was let go by July 4. Must not having been making the grade and he said all they were doing was busy work.

[Mrs. Dinero]

Ask them to complete a task or explain what steps they would take to complete the task (something relevant to the job). This will give you an idea if they'll need a lot of hand holding or the extreme opposite of making huge decisions/errors without consulting a higher up.