I'm going to step out of the realm of sports for this one...well, sort of.
Last year I went through a series of interviews to land a summer internship. Yet, weeks turned into months and I didn't get a single call back. Not until the first week of summer did I find an internship and not until I'd all but taken the job did I find out it was unpaid. However, I got a ton of great experience and a cheap trip to Boston out of it, so I have no complaints.
But looking forward to this summer, I can't afford another unpaid internship.
So, my quest for a summer job begins next Tuesday with my first interview of the semester. The interview is with MLB.com, which I interviewed with last year. As you might have guessed, it didn't go so hot.
Things seemed to start out fine. He - I'll call him Mr. Smith - noticed me reading a book in the hallway, so we talked about that for a while and he acted impressed. I was apparently dressed too professionally, so he had me take off my tie to be more casual, but I didn't figure that hurt me any.
However, when it came time for the "Do you have any questions for me about the internship?" portion of the interview (which came all too soon, as I recall), the interview came to a screeching halt. I thought I was asking intelligent questions (What kind of stories would I write, when I would start working, etc...), but after every one, Mr. Smith looked at me like I had three heads.
As it turned out, Mr. Smith put the most stock in how his interviews went. So, regardless of what my resume, clips and essay looked like, I didn't stand a chance of getting the internship after my interview.
So, this is where you all come in.
The J-School has a great career center, but I figure the best people to get help from are the very people finding journalism jobs right now. A couple of you are graduate students, so I imagine you've all been through this before. The rest of you seem like you've had sweet internships in the past, so you must know what you're doing, too.
So, what kind of advice am I looking for?
Well, assuming I have a respectable resume and clips and write a solid essay, I guess all I need to do is woo my interviewer. What are some good questions to ask when it's my turn to kind of take over the interview?
I must just be too easy going, because I don't care much about salary as long as I'm doing something I enjoy doing, I don't care what city they'd want me to work in because I'm open to moving anywhere, and I don't care how demanding the workload would be because I'll do whatever they ask of me.
So, any advice you all have for me to keep my interviewer from looking at me like I have three heads again will be much appreciated.