Interview Advice for Accounting Internships

Hi CC,

I am going to be interviewing for accounting internships this upcoming fall, and I could really use some advice on interviews. Are there specific things I should or should not do? I am going to go to mock interviews at my university for practice, but I would like to know if there is anything in particular I should focus on. I am going to be interviewing with local/regional firms.

Also, any anecdotes from those of you with really good or really bad interviews?

The biggest and most useful interview tip I ever hear is to research beforehand. Both the company and the position. The more you know, the less you’ll have to think about an answer to anything they bring up. To be clear, they won’t be expecting a report on how the company works, but your knowledge will possibly surprise/impress them and will make your answers more relevant to the position. I would say you only need to have a basic idea for answers to common interview questions, they may or may not use a few. It depends on how good you are at making up answers on the spot. But seriously, research, research, research! And finally, come up with at least 4 questions beforehand. I came up with 2 because that was a recommended amount, but then both of them were answered during the interview without me asking and it would look bad to say I dont have any questions at the end, so I awkwardly made a couple up. Luckily I still got the position but I learned that lesson. Hope some of that helps!