Interview Skills for High School Students

Whether you’re applying to a professional opportunity or an academic program, it’s important for high school students to develop strong interview skills. Presenting yourself well during an interview can greatly increase your odds of success when applying to different types of internships, during selective college and university admissions processes, and even when applying for college scholarships and awards. Learning and strengthening your interview skills early on in your academic career can boost your confidence and lead to lasting benefits and exceptional opportunities. This article will outline the key techniques that high schoolers should familiarize themselves with to prepare for and succeed in various types of interviews.

The Benefits of Interview Skills for Future Opportunities

Effective interview skills go beyond academic applications or internships. They’re an investment in your future success. By practicing early and consistently, students learn how to market themselves professionally, build confidence, and communicate more effectively—skills that will serve them well throughout their careers.

Mastering Interview Skills: Practical Tips for High School Students

Why Strong Interview Skills Matter for High Schoolers

Interviews are a crucial skill that can unlock a range of opportunities for high school students. Whether you’re applying for internships, selective college programs, or leadership roles, the ability to interview effectively can significantly boost your chances of success. By learning how to present yourself confidently and clearly, students not only enhance their chances for academic or career-related opportunities but also lay the foundation for future professional growth.

Building these skills early allows students to face challenges with poise, build communication skills, and engage with others in a way that builds confidence. It also helps students learn how to self-promote in a way that resonates with interviewers, giving them a competitive edge.

In addition to the scenarios mentioned above, high schoolers may be required to go through interview processes during:

• Science fairs

• Business competitions

• Applications for selective summer programs

• Applications for student leadership roles

• Applications for research programs

• Applications for youth awards and honors

Strengthening interview skills doesn’t just benefit success rates in formal interviews. It also increases students’ overall confidence and ability to communicate their strengths and experience in less formal situations, like during conversations with teachers, mentors, and potential future professors. Finally, building strong interview skills early allows high school students to lay a solid foundation for long-term career development that they will continue to build on throughout their professional lives.

Common Interview Mistakes Students Make

Plenty of high school students struggle with interviews. That’s understandable: it can be intimidating to sit across from an adult (or several adults) whose goal is to judge you. Most high school students have very limited experience with interviews, and they either don’t know what to expect or don’t know how to control their nerves. The most common interview mistakes that high school students make are:

• Lack of preparation. For example, many students applying for internships fail to research the company they are applying to work for and the position they are applying to fill. They may be unprepared for common questions and may even be fuzzy on the details of the résumé and cover letter they sent.

• Unclear communication or vague responses. Wandering answers to simple questions, long hesitations, and contradictory statements can all cause confusion and indicate poor communication skills.

• Uncomfortable body language. If you seem uncomfortable (e.g. by constantly shifting in your chair or avoiding eye contact), your interviewer may start to feel uncomfortable, too.

• Over use of filler words. Repeating words and phrases such as “you know,” “like,” “obviously,” “um,” etc. can dilute the meaning you are trying to express.

• Forgetting to ask questions. At the end of almost every interview, you’ll have the opportunity to ask any questions you might have. Failing to ask any questions could be seen as being uncritical or uninquisitive.

• Forgetting to follow up with the interviewer(s). It’s considered polite to send a short follow-up note after the interview to thank the interviewer(s) for their time. More importantly, students who forget to send this note are missing an opportunity to remind the interviewer about the merits of their application.

Essential Interview Skills to Practice

Research and Preparation

Researching the company, program, or school in the days leading up to the interview is always the first step to a successful interview outcome. Here’s how to prepare:

• First, learn as much as you can from their website and, if available, their Wikipedia article. These two resources are the best starting points for interview prep, and are probably already somewhat familiar to you from the application process (there must have been something that convinced you to apply!). This time, you’ll want to explore them much more thoroughly.

• Next, re-read the job or program description to understand exactly what you are applying for.

• Third, do some research on the person or people who will be interviewing you (if known). You won’t be expected to have researched their background, but it can be useful when considering how to frame yourself and your experiences. Search for their and their position on LinkedIn or another search engine. Put yourself in their shoes: what do you think they are looking for in an applicant?

• Fourth, plan how you’ll connect your skills to the profile that the company or program is looking for. What does their website say they value? How do you fit those values? Plan to highlight a couple of points that clearly demonstrate why you are a great fit.

• Fifth, prepare answers for common interview questions. For example, there’s a good chance that the first question will be “Tell me a little bit about yourself.” Don’t write a script, but prepare an outline for where to start and what you definitely want to mention when and if this question arises.

• Finally, practice. Mock interviews are helpful to rehearse your prepared answers, but more importantly, they can be helpful to get the nerves out of the way and to get into a focused mindset. 

Communicating with Confidence

Although you’ll have prepared some talking points for common questions, you’ll have to pay careful attention and formulate responses quickly during the majority of the interview. Search online for common interview questions and practice delivering (out loud) clear and structured answers to them. During the actual interview, don’t overthink or try to guess what the “correct” answer to a question is. Just relax and be honest. If you don’t know what a question is getting at, ask the interviewer to clarify or rephrase it. If you need to think about your response for a couple of seconds, that’s fine. Take a moment to collect your thoughts. You want to be clear, thoughtful, and sincere.

When listening and speaking, make frequent eye contact to show that you are paying attention and communicating directly with the person across from you. Don’t be afraid to smile from time to time. Wear clothes that fit you well and that you feel comfortable in. Body language matters, and the easiest way to come across as focused, confident, and relaxed is to be as focused, confident, and relaxed as possible.

Asking Smart Questions

As mentioned above, asking one or two good, incisive questions towards the end of an interview shows interest and inquisitiveness. It also shows that you are interviewing the program or school in a critical way as part of your own decision-making process (i.e., that you are expecting or at least hoping to have multiple options to choose from). Here are a few topics that you could ask about:

• Culture. For example: How do the company’s or school’s values inform its culture? What is the work or study environment like? Is it common for people to get competitive about performance? Are group projects common? 

• Responsibilities (e.g. for an internship): What are some examples of responsibilities that you could be given? Who would you report to? Who would you ask if you don’t know how to do something during your first week on the job?

• Next steps: What will the rest of the application process look like? Will there potentially be additional interviews?

Be sure to prepare a few different questions in case one or more of them are answered during the course of the interview.

Following Up Professionally

After a good interview, sending a great follow-up email is the icing on the cake. It also serves to bring your application back to the front of your interviewer’s mind at some point the following day. About 12-24 hours after your interview (or on the Monday following a Friday interview), send a short note thanking the interviewer for speaking with you. Take the opportunity to mention how you enjoyed speaking with them about a particular topic that came up during your conversation, and (if applicable) that you sense it would be a good fit.

Finally, in private, reflect on how the interview went, from your perspective. What went well? Was there room for improvement on your end? Of course, it’s also important to genuinely reflect on whether you think the company, program, or school would be a good fit for your goals and expectations.

Practice Makes Perfect: Ways to Prepare

Mock Interviews: The Key to Overcoming Nerves

One of the best ways to prepare for an interview is to practice through mock interviews. This exercise not only helps you refine your answers but also makes you more comfortable with the process. A mock interview can help you improve your responses, adjust your body language, and manage anxiety.

Mentorship and Support Systems: Confidence through Structured Guidance

A strong support system can play a crucial role in helping students manage interview anxiety and perform their best. Working with a mentor who provides feedback and guidance gives students the tools they need to overcome challenges and refine their skills. Mentors can offer tailored advice, mock interview opportunities, and emotional reassurance.

Additionally, take advantage of career readiness workshops and other resources offered by your school. Guidance counselors might also have interview preparation tools that you could use to your advantage.

Ace Your Interview with Preparation and Confidence

Interviewing well is a valuable skill that is entirely learnable. Performing well during interviews requires effective preparation, regular practice, and asking for constructive feedback. In some cases, of course, no amount of preparation or practice can force an interview to go your way. If it simply isn’t a good fit between you and the company, program, or school, that’s likely to become apparent pretty quickly. One of the goals of an interview is for both parties to find out whether it’s a good match. In the end, if it doesn’t work out, that’s okay. Even if you present yourself well and professionally, not all interviews lead to positive outcomes. However, if you are a qualified applicant and you are excited about the opportunity that the interviewer has to offer, then possessing strong interview skills can greatly increase your odds of receiving a positive response.

A great mentor can offer support, guidance, and valuable feedback as you prepare for important interviews throughout your high school career or during the college admissions process. Someone who knows you well and who is familiar with similar interview processes is the ideal person to conduct a mock interview with you. 

At Polygence, our mentors are PhD-level experts who want to guide motivated high school students towards succeeding in their academic goals. Through our research mentorship program, you get the opportunity to work individually with your very own academic mentor. Over ten 1-on-1 project-based learning sessions, you’ll complete a research project that you are passionate about. Your project will also result in a tangible outcome that you can mention during interviews to demonstrate your independence, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence.

Polygence Pods is another program we offer that connects high school students with very small groups of like-minded peers, all of whom have a shared passion for a topic like gene editing or government's role in society. These are beginner-friendly courses that provide foundational knowledge on cutting-edge subjects.

Are you ready to ace your next interview? Find out how Polygence can help you stand out!