We Analyzed 1,000+ Internship & Co-op Interviews: Here's What Companies Actually Ask

At Internia, students anonymously share their real internship and co-op interview experiences: the questions they were asked, how many rounds they went through, and whether they got the offer. Over 1,000 interview experiences later, we finally have enough data to answer the question every co-op and internship student asks before their first interview:

What do companies actually ask, and what actually leads to an offer?

We broke down every data point and read hundreds of interview descriptions to find the patterns. Some of what we found confirmed what you'd expect. Some of it didn't.

Half of all internship interviews are behavioral. The other half are technical.

The two most common interview types across 1,000+ co-op and internship experiences were almost perfectly split:

• 50% included technical questions: coding challenges, system design, case studies, or domain-specific knowledge
• 49% included behavioral questions: situational prompts, resume walkthroughs, and "tell me about a time" questions

But the split isn't as clean as it sounds. Over 52% of interviews had multiple rounds, and many of those combined both formats. A behavioral screen followed by a technical deep dive, or a case study paired with a culture fit conversation.

If you're only preparing for one type, you're underprepared for the majority of internship interviews.

The most common technical skills mentioned in interviews

We pulled every technical skill, tool, and framework mentioned across 1,000+ interview descriptions. The ranking might surprise you:

Skill	% of all interviews
SQL	8.0%
Python	4.3%
Java	2.0%
Excel	1.9%
DSA (Data Structures & Algorithms)	1.8%

The majority of people grinding LeetCode fail when it comes to a simple database question. SQL is being asked in interviews 2x as much as Python.

This is the single most under-rated piece of interview prep advice. Students spend months on dynamic programming and tree traversals, then freeze when an interviewer asks them to write a JOIN. SQL spans every industry: banks, tech, consulting, and finance. It shows up in more interviews than any single programming language.

If you're going to learn one technical skill before your next interview, make it SQL.

The most common internship interview questions, straight from students

We read hundreds of interview descriptions to identify the most frequently mentioned question patterns. Here's what students actually reported hearing in their internship and co-op interviews:

The most common behavioral interview questions

1. Resume walkthrough: mentioned in ~11% of interviews. Interviewers ask you to walk through your resume, then drill into specific projects or experiences.
2. "Tell me about a time...": the classic STAR-method prompt. Students reported being asked about leadership, conflict resolution, teamwork, and handling pressure.
3. "Why this company?" and "Why this role?": especially common at banks and consulting firms, where interviewers want to see you've done your research.
4. Situational/hypothetical questions: "How would you handle X?" or "What would you do if Y happened?" These were distinct from behavioral questions because they ask about future scenarios, not past experiences.

The most common technical interview questions

1. SQL queries: JOIN logic, GROUP BY, window functions. Universal across industries.
2. Coding challenges: HackerRank and LeetCode platforms dominated. Most companies stick to easy/medium difficulty for interns.
3. System design: appeared in about 3% of interviews, almost exclusively at tech companies and for senior co-op roles.
4. Data structures and algorithms: explicitly mentioned in 1.8% of interviews, but underlies most "coding challenge" mentions too.
5. Case studies: heavily concentrated in consulting and finance. Students described analyzing company financials, recommending strategies, and doing market sizing.

What interviews look like at banks vs. tech companies vs. consulting firms

The data showed distinctly different interview styles across industries. Here's how the three biggest co-op employer categories compare:

Banks (RBC, Scotiabank, TD, CIBC, BMO)

Banks were the most common employer category in the dataset. Their interviews lean heavily behavioral. Students described resume walkthroughs, situational questions about client interactions, and "why banking?" questions. Technical components typically involved financial modeling, Excel proficiency, or basic accounting knowledge rather than coding.

One student described their bank interview as "purely behavioral about interpersonal situations" with "situational questions about conflict resolution." Another mentioned a "superday format" with multiple rounds, including a stock pitch that caught them off guard.

Big Tech (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Shopify)

Tech company interviews were the most technical in the dataset, with coding challenges, system design questions, and algorithm problems dominating. Multiple students mentioned LeetCode-style questions ranging from easy to medium difficulty. Microsoft and Google frequently used back-to-back 45-minute technical rounds.

One student described their tech interview as "two medium LeetCode problems, one hashmaps one DP" followed by a resume deep dive. Another mentioned "a tree problem where you needed an optimized solution within the time limit."

Consulting & Big 4 (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC)

Consulting interviews were the most varied. Nearly half included case studies. Students described analyzing company financials, building recommendations, and presenting their findings. Behavioral questions focused heavily on leadership, teamwork, and client communication. Excel tests and take-home assignments were also common.

One student described their consulting interview as "a take-home case about analyzing a company's financials and recommending whether to invest or pass." Another mentioned "an Excel test with pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, and some more advanced stuff."

GPA: Does it actually matter? Yes, more than you think.

GPA is one of the most debated topics in co-op prep. Companies and recruiters love to say it doesn't matter. The data tells a different story:

GPA Range	Offer Rate
3.7+	41%
3.3 – 3.6	30%
2.9 – 3.2	14%
2.5 – 2.8	11%

A 3.7+ student is nearly 4x more likely to get an offer than a student in the 2.5 to 2.8 range. The drop-off below 2.9 is steep and undeniable.

That doesn't mean a 3.0 student is locked out. Plenty of students in the 2.9 to 3.2 range still convert. But the curve is real, and recruiters who claim "GPA doesn't matter" are giving you the polite answer, not the truthful one.

If your GPA is below 3.3, you need to compensate with stronger projects, prior internship experience, or a personal brand that makes recruiters want to take a closer look.

Past internships compound hard

This was one of the most striking patterns in the data. Each prior internship dramatically increases your odds of landing the next one:

Past Internships	Offer Rate
0	9%
1	19%
2	28%
3+	40%

A student with 3+ prior internships is 4.4x more likely to get an offer than a student with zero. Each internship roughly doubles your odds at the next one.

This is why the first internship is the hardest one to land. The Matthew effect, "to those who have, more will be given," is real in internship recruiting.

The implication: don't be picky on your first internship. Take whatever gives you a real project and a name on your resume. The compounding return of just having "internship experience" is enormous.

6 ways to prepare for your next internship or co-op interview

Based on what 1,000+ real interview experiences tell us:

1. Learn SQL. It's the #1 mentioned technical skill across all industries, and it shows up in interviews 2x as often as Python. If you learn one thing before your next interview, make it SQL.

2. Prepare for both behavioral and technical. They're almost exactly 50/50 in the data, and over half of interviews have multiple rounds that mix both. Don't just prep for one.

3. Use the STAR method, but keep it natural. Behavioral questions show up in half of all interviews. Have 5 to 6 stories ready that cover leadership, conflict, teamwork, and failure, but deliver them like stories, not scripts.

4. Know what your specific industry asks. Banks ask "why banking?" and test soft skills. Tech companies ask LeetCode and system design. Consulting firms give case studies and Excel tests. Prep accordingly.

5. If your GPA is below 3.3, compensate hard. Strong projects, prior internships, side projects, a polished portfolio. The data is unambiguous that lower GPAs convert at much lower rates. Don't pretend it's not a filter.

6. Take whatever first internship you can get. Going from 0 to 1 internship raises your offer rate from 9% to 19%. The first one is the hardest. Don't optimize for prestige on your first opportunity, optimize for getting it.

See what your target company actually asks

Every interview in this analysis was shared anonymously by a real student on Internia. You can filter by company, program, role, or interview type to find exactly the experiences that are relevant to your next interview.

It's free, anonymous, and built by students who've been through the process.

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