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Espresso and Ambition

A not-so-serious gal with some serious dreams.

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How to Land Your Dream Internship – Part 3: The Interview

January 22, 2018 by Taylor Leave a Comment

How to Land Your Dream Internship, Part 3: The Interview - Espresso and Ambition

Happy Monday! This is officially the last post in my internship series, and conveniently it’s also typically the last step in the internship application process. Yep, it’s the interview!

*If you missed the previous posts in this series, check out some of my résumé and cover letter tips!*

To be completely honest, interviews are the part of the application process that I always feel least confident about. While you can edit written materials to your heart’s content, you can’t edit words once they’ve come out of your mouth. As a result, I always end up ruminating on what I could’ve done better and feeling less-than-fully-satisfied at how the interview itself went. Despite this, I’ve been told that I interview well, so my lack of confidence is likely due in part to the fact that I’m typically way harsher on myself than I should be.

 

Tip #1: Dress the part (aka business professional)

Unless the dress code is specifically stated, assume that you’re expected to wear business professional for an interview. Yes, this means a blazer and pants/a skirt/a dress. It’s always better to be overdressed than underdressed, so business professional is always a safe bet. While I’d love to say that people don’t judge other people based on their appearance, that almost always happens during the internship application process – if you appear messy, the assumption will be made that you are messy, even if you’re not.

If you’re doing a phone interview, you get to skip this part. Yay for interviewing in sweatpants!

 

Tip #2: Think of it as a normal conversation

I saw someone post about this on LinkedIn, and it’s so spot-on. You may not have a ton of “interview experience,” but chances are you’ve got almost 20 years of “conversation experience.” Essentially, an interview is just a slightly more formal conversation. Your résumé showed your accomplishments and your cover letter showed your passions – your interview is the time to show YOU. Many interviews are designed to get a good sense of your personality, so make sure you show it. These interviewers are likely going to be people you’re going to work with, so not only are they looking for a qualified candidate, but they’re also looking for someone they’ll want to work with. Being yourself and showing that you’ve got a good personality backing up those qualifications goes a long way.

 

Tip #3: Practice your answers, but not too much

It’s good to have a general grasp on how you’ll answer questions like “why do you want to work here?” and other common interview questions, but there’s such a thing as too much practice. If you basically have a script that you rattle off for these answers, your answer may sound automatic and forced rather than showing off your genuine personality. Going back to tip #2, it’s a conversation – having talking points is good; having an exact script, not so good.

 

Tip #4: It’s ok to give yourself time to think

Have you ever gotten a question during an interview that’s so far out of left field that you have no clue how to respond to it? I know that I have. In moments like that, the natural tendency is to dive straight into an answer, even if you’re making it up along the way. I’m here to point out that that’s not actually necessary. When you’re caught off guard and need a moment to gather your thoughts, say just that: “that’s an excellent question, can I have a moment to think about that?” Unless you’re in a strictly timed interview, your interviewer isn’t likely to have a problem with that – if anything, it shows that you’re good at thinking through a problem instead of jumping in too quickly. Use those few moments to draw up a general outline of your answer in your head. This way you have a good sense of direction before you reply instead of having to find your direction while you’re already talking.

 

Tip #5: Have (good) questions prepared 

At the end of the interview, there’s a 95% chance that your interviewer will ask, “do you have any questions for me?” The answer to that question should always be yes; you should always prepare a question or two before your interview. Don’t ask questions that you can find the answer to on the website; ask either qualitative questions (like “how would you describe your experience at this company?”) or questions that show you’ve done your research (like “I noticed the company prioritizes this value; can you explain how the company does that?) Those types of questions show the interviewer that you’re genuinely interested in what the organization does and already thinking of how you’ll fit in with the company.

 

Tip #6: Send a thank-you note 

Always, always, always send a thank-you note after an interview. It can be short and sweet, but make sure you acknowledge that they took time out of their workday to talk to you. It also doesn’t hurt to bring up something specific you talking about during the interview or ask another question that popped into your mind afterwards – this will help the interviewer remember you. For more thank-you note tips, check out this post.

Also, if you’re like me and ponder over things you wish you mentioned in an interview, the thank-you note is an excellent place to throw those comments in.

 

Best of luck to any of my gals applying to internships right now! I hope this series gave you a few new helpful tips to add to your arsenal.

xo, Taylor

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Meet Taylor

A real-life combination of Elle Woods and Hermione Granger. Recent graduate of the University of Georgia, currently living and working in DC. New blog posts every Monday, new YouTube videos every Thursday. Subscribe by clicking the link below for post updates and exclusive content!

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tayy_kay

📍 dc
🔥 nasm certified personal trainer
✨ self-love + balance
🎥 2 new workouts per week!

tayy_kay
without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little c without heavy weights, it’s sometimes a little challenging to really feel like i’m working at my full potential on leg days 😶 enter: single-leg movements. since all the weight is in one leg, you’re putting way more emphasis on it than you do during two-leg movements - and you’ll definitely feel that 🔥 you also get some added bonuses in the form of ensuring you’re working each side of your body equally AND a balance challenge!!
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you can add in weights or bands to up the challenge level, or do it all bodyweight like i am here!
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1️⃣ 15 single-leg box squats per leg (use other leg as a kickstand for an easier modification!)
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2️⃣ 15 bulgarian split squats per leg
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3️⃣ 15 single-leg hip thrusts per leg
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4️⃣ 15 single-leg deadlifts per leg
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throw on at the end of a longer leg day workout or do it 3-4 times as a workout all on its own!!
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👚 @girlfriend 🎧 numb - neffex
🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time 🖤 go easy on yourself 🖤 this is a weird time to be alive, and it’s more important now than ever to listen to your body and stop being so hard on yourself. motivation is a fickle thing and working out when you don’t have all the equipment you love is weird. give yourself permission to take a break when you need it. don’t beat yourself up for missing workouts - exercise should be something you do because it makes you happy, not because you feel like you have to punish yourself. if it doesn’t make you happy that day, that’s okay. give yourself a break, come back and try again tomorrow. 💪🏼
circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not circuit-style upper body workout 🖤 honestly not kidding about how much i love this long resistance band, it’s so versatile! definitely worth getting your hands on one for home workouts 😊 (although almost all of these can be completely with dumbbells or heavy objects if that’s what you’ve got in hand)
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also please watch to the very end of the fourth video for quality footage of greg 😂
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1️⃣ 12 long band shoulder presses to standing chest presses
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2️⃣ 12 upright rows to bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 overhead triceps extensions per arm (the one leg stance is some bonus balance work!)
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4️⃣ 12 rear flies, featuring greg trying to fight my shadow
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5️⃣ 12 commandos
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6️⃣ 12 side-to-side pushups
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repeat 4x total!!
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👚 @underarmourwomen
🎧 best of me - neffex
giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, cra giveaway 🔥 we’re all handling this weird, crazy time in the world a little differently, and for me, it’s looked like a lot of establishing to and sticking to routines (seriously, sometimes it feels like my skincare routine and workout split are the only thing still giving meaning to days of the week, lol). my morning smoothies have been another important one - there’s a recipe in my story highlights and surprise surprise it uses this protein powder 😛
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anyways, onto the real reason you’re here! i’m giving away 25 $20 giftcards for @310nutrition with NO STRINGS ATTACHED 🤯 you hear that? you ain’t gotta do a thing to win - the first 25 people to use the code KAYGC20 on their order automatically win. get your hands on some fire plant-based protein powder, courtesy of me and 310 😋 (p.s. if you’re still seeing this caption, there are still giftcards available!!)
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#310gc20 #310shake
sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and sometimes you just gotta get hella dressed up and hold a fake photo shoot just to prove to yourself that you’re still a real human
posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangen posted a new youtube video. this picture is tangentially topical. link in bio.
upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating upper body circuit ‼️ i’ve been gravitating towards circuit-style workouts lately, because they really work up a sweat and home workouts just don’t feel as legit to me unless i’m hardcore sweating 🤷🏼‍♀️ i don’t mind not breaking much of a sweat at the gym, but it feels weird not to when i’m working out at home - anyone else feel this or am i just weird?? 😅
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do all exercises back to back with no rest in between!
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1️⃣ 10 push-ups to renegade rows
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2️⃣ 12 alternating bicep curls
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3️⃣ 12 diamond front raises
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4️⃣ 8 sets of 3 tricep pulses to this lil cross-body weight move that doesn’t have a name {keep your core tight to feel it on your obliques!}
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5️⃣ 15 bent-over rear delt rows
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6️⃣ finisher!! 🥵 10 burpees with 2 shoulder taps and 2 toe taps in the middle of each rep
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repeat 🔁 for a total of 3 rounds!!
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👚 top from @gymsharkwomen, shorts from @nike 🎧 dangerous - neffex
would be nice if both sides of my head could agree would be nice if both sides of my head could agree on whether my hair is wavy or straight, but apparently that’s a little too much to ask of it 😂
got a circuit-style leg workout for you today! 🥳 there are 3 sets of 3 exercises that you’ll complete back-to-back - once you’ve done those three moves, rest for 30 seconds before repeating them all over again 2 more times! rest for 1-2 minutes in between each circuit - keeping your heart rate up is the goal here, i was driiiiiiipping sweat by the end of this one 🥵
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circuit 1️⃣: 10 step-ups to reverse lunges per leg
10 reverse lunges to curtsy lunges per leg
20 lateral lunges
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circuit 2️⃣:
10 squats to surrenders (stop in a squat position before standing up at the end to really feel this one)
10 stagger-stance rdls
20 criss-cross squat jumps
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circuit 3️⃣:
15 leg lifts per side
10 single-leg glute bridges per side
15 frog pumps
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👚 top from @fabletics, joggers from @gymsharkwomen
🎧 watch me - neffex
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