How to answer: “Why do you want this internship?”

What they’re actually asking

They know you need experience; everyone applying does. The question filters for who chose THIS internship on purpose versus who mass-applied to fifty. One specific, researched reason moves you past most of the pile, because most of the pile can't produce one.

How to structure your answer

One sentence on what specifically drew you to this company — a product you actually used, something real about what they do. One on what you want to learn that this place teaches better than anywhere else. One on what you bring, sized honestly. Specific and modest beats grand and generic.

Example answer

“I've used your app since sophomore year, and when your team published the post about rebuilding the recommendation system, I read it three times — that's the kind of engineering I want to learn to do. I've built two small projects on my own, but I've never worked on code that other engineers review, and honestly that's the experience I'm here for. In return you get someone who already knows the product as a user and will take any task seriously, including the unglamorous ones.”

What sinks people

• "To gain experience" — true of every internship on earth, so it says nothing
• Faking passion for a company you clearly researched ten minutes ago
• Overpromising. Interns who claim expert skills set themselves up publicly.