Interviewing interns and very junior candidates with a scaled-down senior loop is a category error. They do not have a track record — that is the definition of the stage they are at. The question is not {{what have you done}}; it is {{how fast do you turn exposure into ability, and what do you do when you don't know something}}. This guide structures a loop around that question for {{Role title}} intern candidates.

What to score — and what to ignore

The loop — keep it short

Two rounds plus a screen. Interns are deciding between offers on speed; a four-round intern loop mostly tests whether the candidate can afford to wait.

1. Screen (20 min): motivation, logistics, dates, and one fundamentals question. Confirm the internship's real shape: paid {{Stipend or salary}}, {{Duration}}, mentor assigned.
2. Working exercise (60 min): a small, self-contained problem at fundamentals level — no company context, no trick. Give hints freely and score how they use them; hint absorption is the closest interview proxy for coachability.
3. Conversation round (45 min): learning-history questions (below) plus their questions. Their questions carry unusual weight at this level — specific, curious questions are among the strongest signals available.

Calibrated questions for learning velocity

• Tell me about something you understand well now that confused you six months ago. How did you get from there to here? (Strong: a concrete method — projects, notes, asking, iteration. Weak: {{I just picked it up}}.)
• What is the most interesting mistake you have made on a project? What did it change about how you work? (Strong: owns the mistake and names a changed behavior. Weak: a humblebrag or a mistake that was really someone else's.)
• Walk me through the piece of work you are proudest of — and what you would do differently now. (The second half matters more: seeing flaws in your own past work IS learning velocity.)
• When you are stuck and the internet has not helped, what do you do next? (Strong: a real escalation strategy including asking humans. Weak: grinding alone forever — a habit that does not survive real teams.)

Traps that filter for privilege, not potential

• Requiring prior internships — the credential this internship exists to provide. The circularity mostly excludes people without connections.
• Weighting side-project volume without asking about work hours, caregiving, or commute realities that consume the same hours.
• Unpaid or underpaid positions, which pre-filter your pool to candidates whose families can subsidize them.
• Trivia about your stack, which measures exposure — the thing you are supposed to be providing.
• Reading nervousness as weakness. This may be the candidate's first professional interview; the fifth-minute version of them is not the one who shows up in month two.

Decision and the promise you are making

• Score 1–4 on: fundamentals, learning velocity, coachability (hint use), and curiosity. Weight learning velocity highest — it is the whole bet.
• Only hire an intern you can properly host: a named mentor with allocated time ({{Mentor name}}), a real project with scoped deliverables, and a mid-point feedback conversation on the calendar before they start.
• Decide fast and communicate faster: {{Decision SLA, e.g. 5 business days}}. Every rejected finalist gets one paragraph of genuine feedback — at this career stage, your feedback may be the most useful artifact they take from the process.