My Experience with Interviewing and Applying for Internships

Posted by Bruce

Hey guys!

Today, I would like to share my personal experience and thoughts when applying to internships/jobs and interviewing. This blog will be more geared towards inexperienced people like myself who have no idea how job hunting and interviewing works. To understand what kind of person I am and better understand why I am writing this, I will tell you a little bit about myself.

I grew up in a small town called Bethel, Alaska and stayed there till the end of middle school (8th grade). I would say I grew up like a normal kid that just went to school, had fun, and came back home and repeated that process. I never thought of a preparing myself for college or anything, and went into a technical field of Electrical Engineering. I personal didn't grow up knowing any engineers or anyone knowledgeable in technology. I looked up information of what engineers did a little bit before going into college, but I was not aware of how beneficial it is to be very technical or having many experiences a typical engineer should have.

I know this is a big topic out there and is all over the internet, but i'm not sure how many people actually prepare before going into an interview. Speaking for myself, I personally am not a very great speaker. Especially when it comes to trying to impress someone I don't know from a company and I don't know what they are looking for and what they want to hear. I might have an idea, but I usually don't have the greatest answers.

Here are some processes that go through my mind when I think about applying for an internship/job.

1) What job will be related to my interest?

2) Will that company accept me with my current experience?

3) What can I say to the interviewers if I am selected for an opportunity?

4) Do I have anything to say?

5) What if I have some of the listed skills, but not all?

6) What if I am a great worker and a great person in general? How can I show them that?

7) What is my competition?

8) List goes on.... and on.... and on...

In the end... who cares! I also freak out about applying to jobs myself, but I have to force myself to apply and take the chance. Just apply to all the jobs you think will be beneficial to you and that will be interesting. Also, if there is a goal to reach such as learning rather than enjoying a job, that is also great, because inexperienced people like myself is always looking for opportunities to learn, instead of landing the perfect career in one or few tries. Of course this doesn't happen to the majority of the people anyways I am assuming.

The best thing that could happen when applying to an internship or a job is you will hear back from them for an interview and possibly land a job. The worst thing that could happen is be rejected, which doesn't affect you at all. Just get back up and try again and again till you succeed.

Lastly, do not forget to practice speaking aloud to prepare yourself to answer difficult questions or ones that will throw you off guard. Look up practice questions online and through Youtube. I thought Youtube had a great source of how people answer questions and how long each statements should be. Also, go see the career services and ask for a mock interview. Anything that helps practice speaking and to help get to speak about yourself better is beneficial. Do note that questions online and questions you practice will not always be asked in the interview, and practicing is just to help you prepare to improve your impromptu.