When conducting an internship interview, many companies are now using competency interview styles. We have listed the top five abilities employees are looking for, an example of an interview question they may ask relating to the ability, and possible situations you can draw to answer the questions

Internship interview candidates usually lack professional work experience so you will find that more and more companies when interviewing interns will focus on the necessary competencies for the internship position rather than on actual task experience.

Based on the premise that past performance is the best predictor of future performance, the candidate is asked competency-based questions that require them to provide specific examples of when they have previously demonstrated the required competency. The intern will be expected to answer using the following structure:

• Describe the specific situation or incident
• Detail the actions and steps taken
• Describe the outcome of these actions

The 5 most commonly-explored competencies in the internship interview

Experience has shown that these are the most common things employees look for in a competency interview. We have listed the top five abilities employees are looking for, an example of an interview question they may ask related to the ability and possible situations you can draw to answer the questions. Candidates should reflect on past experiences, select appropriate examples and plan their answers.

Learn and apply new information and skills

This competency involves assimilating and applying new data or tasks as quickly as possible. The motivation to learn and the resourcefulness used in acquiring new knowledge is explored.

"Give an example of when you were able to learn something complex in a relatively short period of time."

Examples of possible situations that can be referred to include undertaking a new project, a difficult assignment and learning a new skill.

Initiative

This competency involves the ability to be proactive, generate new ideas, come up with solutions and take on new opportunities.

"Describe a time you have had to meet a major challenge."

Possible situations include your course requirements, your extracurricular activities and sports participation.

Problem analysis and Problem-solving

This involves the ability to gather, organize and analyze relevant data using different resources and use this to find an appropriate solution

"Describe a situation where your initial approach failed and you had to try something different to meet your result."

Situations include undertaking projects and assignments, reaching goals and objectives in work, sport and extracurricular activities.

Planning and Organising

Refers to the ability to plan ahead, set priorities and manage time and resources to achieve outcomes.

"What goals have you set for yourself, what steps have you taken to stay on track?"

Teamwork

Be able to work effectively as part of a team or group to reach desired outcomes.

"Describe a group project you achieved successfully, what was your contribution?"

Possible situations include group assignments or projects, team sporting activities and community work.

The internship interview should be considered a regular employment interview and prepared for in the same way.

Julia Penny has many years experience interviewing and placing candidates across a wide range of jobs. She offers her expertise to help job seekers prepare for and succeed in job interviews at her free website Best Job Interview.