Page 80 - How To Answer Interview Questions (II)

Job Interview Question 37

I see you had an internship.
Did you pursue a full-time job with them? What happened?

Internships are fantastic opportunities, and if you’ve had one, that puts you ahead of someone who
didn’t.

Very often when someone has an internship, it turns into a full-time job for them. So if yours didn’t,
why not? Did that company have a problem with you? (Which means, will they have a problem with
you?)

They are looking for reassurance that there is no risk in hiring you, so what you are trying to
do in answering this question is to eliminate any perceived risks.

If you did NOT pursue a full time job with them, that's no problem. There are lots of reasons
why you might not have, not all of them negative. For now, talk about what a great relationship you
had, and what a great internship it was. If you can, mention that they could even give a reference for
you. If they will give you a good reference, the risk of hiring you is gone.

If you DID pursue a full-time job with them, and it didn’t work out, make sure the interviewer
understands it wasn’t you; it was them (the company). You could say that they didn't have an opening
at the time, or that they cut back on new hires and didn’t hire any interns, or that they were in the
middle of a layoff and weren't bringing in any new staff. You could say that they didn't have a position
open in your area or in your preferred geographical location. They would have liked to hire you, but
it just didn’t work out. Again, if they can give you a good reference, that is a complete risk-
eliminator.

If you pursued the job with them because they did have open position and you just didn't get
it, maybe you could speak about the fact that you didn't have some sort of an experience that now you
do have. Something needs to have changed in you or on your part between when they decided they
didn’t want you and now.Whatever it was that made you a risk before should be gone, so that you
are not a risk to your new company.