Internships, internships, internships — the one main thought on every college student’s mind. After you send out all of your resumes and writing samples comes the dreaded interview. What should I say? What if I don’t know how to answer a question? What should I wear? These are all questions that students panic over, and it’s completely normal. But before you go rushing to research how to prepare for an interview, you need to realize that times have changed. Here are the 5 major ways interviews have changed:
1. Companies
Past: Back in the day companies would expect you to know every detail about their company prior to the interview. They would also expect you to know and be able to preform the position you’re applying for.
Present: Today, companies want to tell you about their history and what they’ve accomplished. Think of it as their bragging right. They still want you to have an idea about what their company does, but they won’t exile you if you don’t know. They also don’t mind helping you learn the position you want. Most companies are used to teaching their interns, considering that even if it isn’t your first internship chances are the other company you worked for did some things differently.
2. Appearance
Past: It was said that when going to an interview you should dress extremely professional, meaning usually one dark solid color (aka. black) with very limited self expression.
Present: Today, companies want to see your unique sense of style! It helps them relate to you more and see your true personality. So wear whatever your heart desires (just not Girls Gone Wild attire please!). If you need help finding an outfit this site is here to help!
3. Knowledge
Past: In the past, companies would expect you to have the knowledge of how to do mediocre tasks, such as filing papers or getting coffee. Even if they had interns who had special knowledge of a certain task they would rarely give them a chance.
Present: Now, that is not the case at all! Companies value their interns. They want to help their interns become successful within their company. Often, companies will help their interns gain knowledge about anything they ask to network with them later on. Especially with technology on the rise they need new blood to constantly keep them up to date with Social Media.
4. Experience
Past: Employers used to only hire interns based on how much experience they had. The interns who had little to no experience often had a tough time landing their first “gig”.
Present: Employers now aren’t necessarily interested in experience as a key factor anymore. Don’t get me wrong — experience is always great to have, but it isn’t a necessity. More and more companies are hiring the inexperienced but driven interns, so they can train them from the start. Companies like the idea of building a relationship with their interns from the start, so they will want to move up in the company and stay loyal to it.
5. The Actual Interview
Past: You always hear those horror stories about how interviewees would walk into a room with a large group of employers staring straight-faced at them. It almost seemed that employers would try to intimidate their interviewees to see if they could handle tough situations.
Present: Today, it is completely opposite. Employers pride themselves on making the people they are interviewing completely comfortable. They want to see the real you, not the uptight, sweaty-palm you. They mainly want to see if you will fit in with their company, so they are interested in you, not necessarily what is on your resume. So just take a deep breath and be yourself.
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