How to face software engineering internship interviews ?

I got the opportunity to do few interviews and mock interviews for the interns who were trying to get into the Industry as trainees . What i have noticed from the candidates are that they are extremely skillful , had good academic track records and some of them are very good at problem solving . However what i didn't see was the preparation to face an interview . When the most common questions were asked , i saw the lack of ability to tackle those questions mainly due to the absence of preparation . So i thought of writing few tips on how to tackle an internship interview.

How to face it better ?

First things first : You should prepare a small "about-yourself " description to introduce yourself to the interviewer . Because the first question would almost always be something like "Can you first tell us about yourself a bit" . This is something everyone easily messes-up  because it is so obvious !

Stick to the script : When you introduce yourself to the interviewers , make sure to keep it short and sweet . It should be relevant to the internship . For example after stating the basic information (name , age , where you live ) , go with your overall academic records , projects you have done , any important contributions you have done to the IT community (such as open-source contributions , tech publications) , any interesting hobbies and a bit about why you selected this field . You might not want to share your pet's name , what your parents doing for a living .

Bring a copied CV : This is important and is something always expected from a interviewee .

Loud and clear : Some people are naturally soft spoken . But when it comes to interviews you need to make sure what you are saying is delivered to the interviewer . If the interviewer had to ask you again and again for something , it will create a negative impression . It will also show you that you are not in cable of having a efficient communication .

Confidence and eye-contact : Don't bore your interviewer by acting slow and dull . Show your enthusiasm in your voice and always keep a good eye contact .

Be honest : When you are asked about something about your self , make  sure you give the correct details . If you are not being honest at that time and if the interviewer later found out that you gave out incorrect details , you are done .

About your projects : Always have a look at the overall information about your university projects and you need to prepare for this before coming to the interview . There will be a question like "Tell us about your university projects" , So in that case it is important that you know how to explain what you have done . You might have done several projects , in that case , select one . 3 things need to be said during this question.
           1. Project description (domain , techs used , overall system architecture)
           2. What is your contribution
           3. Problems faced and the assumptions made

Think out loud : You will be given some kind of problem/scenario where you are required to provide a solution . The solution might be some pseudocode/algorithm or some high-level system design . Sometimes what happens is that you think about a solution in your head without expressing it ,Which will result in a uncomfortable silence between you and the interviewer . In this case a pen and paper might come in handy . You can sketch it and show as to how you will approach the issue . So the interviewer will know you got the idea.

Keeping your self updated : When it comes to IT field , It is imperative that you know a bit about the latest techs and trends . So always keep your knowledge polished by readings blogs , magazines etc. Also having a basic knowledge about the company is a must . Go through the company's website , Facebook page , LinkedIn or another SM accounts and get an overall idea as a part of the preparation for the interview .

Social media profile : Having a LinkedIn profile is a good way of marketing your self for a job . Remember to include this in your CV . Also if you managed a blog , if you have a stackoverflow or a github account , share it with your interviewer . This will help him to understand your skills better.

Passion and Mission : Another obvious question is "How do you see yourself in n number of years" . Always prepare for this question before the interview . Also your plans should be relevant to the internship and the field . "I want to buy a car and go around the world" is wrong kind of answer !

Ask questions : Interviewer :" Do you have any questions to be asked from us ? " . Keep at least two questions prepared to ask at this point which also needs to be relevant to the context .
For Example :

•          What are the new projects are being developed by your company ?
•          How this place will help me to improve my career path ?
•          If i get selected , what projects would be assigned to me ? what kind of part would i play in the company/project ? 

Few things you shouldn't do ..

Asking personal questions : Interviews are for professionals so act like one.

Lying about the qualifications : If you have a 3.45 gpa, then it is what it is . Do not round it to 3.50. Always be honest.

Do not "build" answers : If you were asked about a technical question and if you don't know anything about it , do not try to build a fake answer just for the sake of it . Remember your interviewer knows his stuff . Lying about something you don't know is a waste of time and you will lose your integrity at the very moment .

Don't ask about the salary : In your first interview for internship , asking about the salary is probably not a good idea .

Why doesn't sometimes the HR call you and say that you are rejected !

HR makes a list of people to interview. And they're not good at it. They think they're looking for a list of skills you already have. Yeah, not really. They want a checkbox, and it just doesn't work that way, most of the time. ...anyway...

Managers sometimes get the budget to hire someone, so they start looking at the list of resumes. They put a few of them in order, and ask HR to set things up.

Things go well enough to interview on site, in person. So, that happens.

Then everyone who interviewed you sits in a room, and talks about you. HR and the hiring manager ask a few questions.

And a decision is made.

The decision is one of several things:


We'd like to make an offer
This is one of the better candidates
This person might be interesting some day
Might be a better fit for a different team
No



Here's where your confusion comes in

The only one of those where HR feels that time is critical is "We'd like to make an offer."

In all of those other scenarios, HR feels no pressure to get back to you.

If you believe you're in the "This is one of the better candidates" category, you can try to speed up the process by telling HR that you're "considering other offers." Sound remorseful about it. The tone is, yeah, I'd like to work with you, but I have an offer on the table that's expiring, and I need to give them an answer. Note that if you're not in the "This is one of the better candidates" category, this won't help you at all.

One more thing

There's only one category where the company has decided to never hire you, and that's "No".

For ALL of the other categories, the company is still thinking to themselves that maybe they might offer you a job, some day, if they grow large enough, and your skills match what they need, and other candidates haven't accepted the offer.

I work with a couple people who got their offers 12 months after they interviewed. The timing happened to be right, and they were looking, so they accepted.

But it's never worth it to the company to tell you "no." It's not worth the time to pay the HR people to send you the letter, or call you. What if they called the wrong person? Or misunderstood and said "no" when they shouldn't have? There's just no value to them in telling you no.

Especially since your next question is going to be "why not," and there's no way they're going to honestly answer that. Too much legal liability.

So, if you ever get a "no" call from HR, it's because they're being super polite.

Don't ever expect a "no" call.