How to Prepare for Internship Interviews: A 3-Week Plan

9 min read · Updated September 23, 2026

Most interview prep is reading. Most interviews are talking. The students who do well have said their answers out loud enough times that the words come easily, and have stories ready for anything. Here's a three-week plan to get there, whatever you're recruiting for.

Know the process

Large firms usually move through the same stages: an application screen, an online assessment, a recorded video interview, a first round, and a final round (in banking, a superday of back-to-back interviews). Then, often, silence while they decide. Knowing the stage tells you what to prepare.

Week 1: research

Learn the firm, the group and the role. Read recent news or deals. Most of all, build your answer to “why this firm?” out of real conversations. “When I spoke with an analyst in your Houston office, she said...” beats anything on the careers page. If you haven't talked to anyone there yet, read how to network for finance internships.

Nail “tell me about yourself”

It's the first question in almost every interview, so it sets the tone. Keep it to 60 to 90 seconds: where you started, what you're doing now, and why this role is the obvious next step.

Week 2: build your stories

Behavioral questions all ask the same thing: show me you've done this before. Answer with STAR: the Situation, your Task, the Action you took, and the Result. Write six to eight stories covering leadership, teamwork, a failure, a conflict, initiative and an analytical problem. Each story can answer several questions, so you don't need one per question.

Technicals by track

• Investment banking: how the three financial statements link is the single most common technical question. Then valuation basics and walking through a discounted cash flow.
• Consulting: case interviews. Practice structuring, mental math and a clear recommendation. McKinsey, BCG and Bain all publish practice cases on their sites.
• Software: coding problems on data structures and algorithms. Talk through your reasoning while you code, not after.
• Quant trading: probability, expected value and quick mental math, usually out loud and under time pressure.

Week 3: practice out loud

Reading an answer and saying it are different skills. Record yourself, listen back, and cut anything that rambles. Then do two or three full mock interviews with a person or a realistic simulator, in the same format as the real thing.

The day before and the day of

• Walk through your resume line by line. Anything on it is fair game.
• Prepare three questions for them that you actually want answered.
• For video interviews, test the camera, the light and the sound, and look at the lens.
• Have one sentence ready for each story so you can start fast.

After the interview

Send a short thank-you within 24 hours to everyone you spoke with, each mentioning something specific from your conversation. Then write down the questions you were asked while you still remember them. They're your best prep for the next round.

Mistakes to avoid

• Memorizing answers word for word. It sounds recited; know the points, not the script.
• Stories without results. Always end with what changed, ideally with a number.
• A generic “why us.” If it could apply to any firm, it won't land.
• Going silent on technicals. Talk through your thinking even when you're stuck.