Interview Preparation & Practice
The interview explores a candidate’s interests and qualifications beyond what is provided in a resume, application, curriculum vitae or cover letter. The interview is a two-way process. While the interviewer’s goal is to find the best candidate, the interview is also an opportunity for the candidate to gain insight into the position and organization to determine if it is, in fact, a good fit.
The Fleishman Career Center provides individualized consulting support at every stage of the interview process, along with a collection of online resources and flexible options to receive feedback that fit your schedule and needs.
Preparing for an Interview
Research:
Learn about the internship, scholarship, graduate program or job for which you are interviewing and make every effort to familiarize yourself with the field.
- Identify the skills, abilities, and attributes that are expected of candidates, which are typically outlined in the position description and on the organization’s website.
- Research current trends and news in the field/industry.
- Speak with alumni, current employees and/or past interns.
Know Why You’re A Strong Candidate:
Interviewers expect candidates to clearly articulate what they can offer. Take time to identify your key skills, abilities, and personal qualities, and consider how they align with the role. Be prepared to share specific examples of how you’ve developed and demonstrated these strengths through past experiences.
As you prepare, it can be helpful to revisit the resume and cover letter you submitted for the position. This allows you to refresh the connections you’ve already made and build on what initially sparked the employer’s interest. From there, compare the job description with your materials to further strengthen and clearly communicate your fit for the role.
Commonly Asked Questions & Sample Responses
Tell Me About Yourself
This is commonly asked as the first interview question and serves as an opportunity for the candidate to briefly introduce themselves and express interest in the position. The open-ended nature of the question can sometimes make it challenging to know how much to share, how long your response should be, and how to balance personal versus professional information. A helpful strategy for providing a more structured response is to use the Present, Past, Future formula.
- Present: Who am I right now? (Name, class year, major, and one recent accomplishment or project, if relevant)
- Past: How did my interests evolve? (Share a meaningful experience and highlight a commitment to the field)
- Future: Why am I interested or excited about this role? (One strong sentence that expresses enthusiasm and nicely concludes your response, helping transition into the next question)
“Tell me about yourself”
Present: “My name is Baxter Bearcat, and I am a graduate student at Binghamton University studying biomedical anthropology with a focus in public health.
Past: My undergraduate studies in psychology and environmental science are what sparked this interest in better understanding the intersection of public health and protecting the environment. As an intern with the Broome County Health Department last summer, I worked closely with the Healthy Neighborhoods Program, conducting benchmark research, facilitating field visits, and generating quarterly reports for internal stakeholders.
Future: I hope to bring my experience collaborating with local and state entities and my commitment to providing education on environmental health to the State of Missouri as your Health Educator.”
Why are you Interested in this Position?
This is an opportunity to appeal to the organization’s mission and connect the dots between your skills and experiences and the role they are hiring for. It also provides a chance to demonstrate your interest and knowledge of the position by explaining how it aligns with your professional goals and interests.
Rather than listing every reason you might be a strong fit, focus on 2–3 key characteristics, skills, or experiences and explain how they would serve you well in the role. This is also an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of the field and genuine interest in the organization by sharing what specifically draws you to the work, industry, or employer.
Behavioral Interview Questions
Behavioral interviewing is widely used by employers and is based on the premise that past behavior predicts future performance. Behavioral questions invite you to talk about an experience. These questions may begin with the prompts: “Describe a situation when …” or “Tell me about a time when …”. The interviewer expects you to talk about a specific situation. One strategy to use when answering behavioral question is to use the C-A-R method:
- Circumstance: Introduce a specific situation or example from your experience. Briefly describe it.
- Action: What were your tasks? Explain what skills you used. (this should be the bulk of your response)
- Result: What was the result of your action? Share what you learned.
Example behavioral interview question: Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills.
Sample response (using the C-A-R) method:
Circumstance:
“Last summer, I interned with an advertising company and was tasked with serving as a project lead on a new campaign alongside four fellow interns. The campaign focused on promoting a new eco-friendly product line to a college-aged audience.”
Action:
“I began by scheduling a meeting for us to get together, review the goals of the campaign, and discuss strategies. During that conversation, I learned that we were all coming from different academic backgrounds, ranging from majors in graphic design to public relations. I used that information to delegate tasks based on each person’s strengths. For example, having those with design experience focus on visuals and others work on messaging and outreach. Throughout the project, I helped keep everyone on track by setting deadlines, checking in regularly, and making sure everyone had a chance to contribute their ideas.”
Result:
“We had the opportunity to present a fully developed campaign to account managers and interns from other departments at the end-of-summer company retreat.”
Strengths & Weaknesses
Questions about strengths and weaknesses give you the opportunity to genuinely reflect on your skill set. For strengths, use this as an opportunity to highlight your best qualities. Support your answer with a specific example from your experience and explain how that unique strength will help you succeed in the role. For weaknesses, describe an area you truly want to improve, provide an example, and share what you’re doing to grow in that area, whether that’s what you’ve learned or how you would approach it differently moving forward. Avoid trying to play a strength off as a weakness or choosing a weakness that is essential to the position.
“Tell me about a strength and how you feel it relates to this position”
“One of my strengths is communication, particularly when it comes to connecting people or teams who may be working toward the same goal but from different perspectives. During my recent internship with the marketing team, I worked on a campaign that required coordination between the design and analytics departments. Early on in the process, I noticed there were some disconnects. Design was focused on creativity and visuals, while analytics prioritized performance metrics, making it difficult to actually get started. I took the initiative to set up a brief check-in between teams to discuss ideas and get on the same page, which ultimately led to a more cohesive and collaborative project. That experience showed me how proactive communication can help bring teams together, and it’s a strength I would bring to this role.”
“Tell me about one of your weaknesses”
“A weakness I’ve been working on is managing long-term projects. I first noticed this when transitioning to college, especially in classes where there were only a few large assignments spread throughout the semester. With so much time between deadlines, it was easy to underestimate how long things would take. For example, early on, I started working on a large paper too late and had to rush at the end. Since then, I’ve started breaking big assignments into smaller deadlines and scheduling those into my calendar. This approach has helped me stay on track and reduce stress, and I see it as a skill that will be especially important as I transition out of a college setting and into the workplace and manage longer-term projects.”
Questions for the Interviewer
“Those are all of the questions we have for you, do you have any questions for us?”
This classic final interview question is much more than a placeholder. It’s an opportunity to express your interest and ask thoughtful questions that help you evaluate the company’s culture. Understanding whether a workplace aligns with your interests and values can play a key role in where you choose to apply, accept offers, and ultimately thrive.
Prepare a few questions in advance—about the role, the organization, or the industry—to demonstrate your interest and ensure you leave the conversation with the information you need. Avoid asking questions that can be easily answered online, and instead focus on what you’re genuinely curious about.
The following questions are designed to help you brainstorm. Be sure to personalize them as needed and develop a list of a few questions you are genuinely curious about.
Role-Specific Questions
- What are the most immediate priorities for someone stepping into this position?
- What does success look like in this role within the first few months?
- What traits or characteristics do you feel would be important for the person stepping into this role?
Team & Company Culture
- How does this team typically collaborate on projects?
- How would you describe communication across teams or departments?
- Can you share an example of how the organization’s values show up in day-to-day work?
- What opportunities or resources exist for employees to connect across departments, such as through employee resource groups (ERGs) or other networking initiatives?
Growth & Professional Development
- What opportunities are there for professional development or learning?
- How does the organization support career growth over time?
- How are employees recognized or supported in their growth?
Logistics & Next Steps
- What does the timeline look like for the remainder of the hiring process and when can I expect to receive an update?
- I wanted to clarify the structure of the work schedule. The job description mentioned a hybrid model; could you share what that typically looks like in terms of in-office and remote days?
- Could you tell me a bit more about what the onboarding or training process looks like for someone in this role?
