Behavioral interview questions for tech internships (and how to answer with STAR)

Behavioral questions ask about things you've actually done, because past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. For students, interviewers expect examples from school, clubs, part-time jobs, competitions and personal projects. That's completely fine.

The STAR method

• Situation: one or two sentences of context.
• Task: what you were responsible for.
• Action: what you did. This should be the longest part. Say 'I', not just 'we'.
• Result: what happened, ideally with something measurable, plus what you learned.

Questions you should prepare for

• Tell me about a project you're proud of.
• Tell me about a time you faced a difficult problem. How did you solve it?
• Describe a time you worked on a team and disagreed with someone.
• Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake.
• Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly.
• Why do you want this internship, and why this field?

Prepare 5 stories, not 50 answers

You don't need a unique story for every possible question. Prepare about five strong stories (a project, a challenge, a team conflict, a mistake, something you learned fast) and practice adapting them. One good project story can answer three different questions.

Common mistakes

• Rambling through the situation and rushing the action.
• Only saying what the team did, so the interviewer can't tell what you did.
• Choosing a 'failure' that's really a humble-brag. Pick a real one and focus on what you changed.
• Never practicing out loud. Answers that sound fine in your head often run long when spoken.

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