Kate Ngo on Internship Interviewing

As representatives for Cornell this year, Andy Brown, Monica Panchmia, and I headed down to South Beach for the Sixth Annual MBA Jungle Open, sponsored by L'Oréal and Jungle Media Group. Under these perfect conditions, you wouldn't believe that in the middle of winter, three friends can fly from Ithaca to Miami, only to sit in their hotel rooms, researching makeup. But in the absence of an internship offer, they sometimes surprise even themselves.

While a trip like this makes seductive suggestions towards golf rounds and umbrella drinks, the real objective is to get a job. From this event, only six out of 20 first-year MBA students (preselected from all over the country) receive an offer for L'Oréal's Summer Marketing Internship Program.

Wedged between the beach activities and the happy hour is a 45-minute interview, conducted by senior level managers, who are equipped with a combination of behavioral and case-based questions. So, by comparison, the interview for acceptance to business school is a piece of cake.

TOUGH ODDS.  For one thing, candidates for internships have already been accepted into top MBA programs, so the candidate pool is significantly more competitive. In addition, because all candidates are coming from top MBA programs, all interviewees are exposed to the same level of academic knowledge, industry resources, and interview preparation.

In other words, if you are not competing with the whiz kid from some hot-shot school, you are competing with someone who sat next to you in class, and is most likely one of your best friends.

On top of that, the number of available internship positions from top companies is usually more limited than full-time openings, so no matter how qualified the candidates, rejections are plentiful. Due to the competitive nature and seemingly random outcomes of the internship search, I finally understand the value of hedging and diversification.

Renowned for its brand management training, L'Oréal is at the top of my list for internships. However, right after perusing L'Oréal's Web site, I am sending cover letters to Nike (NKE ) , Bose, and Bayer Healthcare (BAY ), outlining the ways I am perfect for each. Nevertheless, L'Oréal is my first real interview since undergrad, and I am kinda freaking out.

SHORT MEMORIES.  To calm my fears, I seek out second-year MBAs for some advice, but I am realizing that second years, although sweet and well-intentioned, no longer understand. Fundamentally, my moment of panic coincides with their last semester of business school.

Many have full-time job offers and have but vague memories of their own internship search almost a full year ago. As they struggle to remember details of their interview experience, I know, deep down, they just want to play flip cup.

As an alternative, I phone my older brother, Peter, whom I respect deeply. Because Pete has been unemployed for months now, I imagine he has a great deal of experience with job interviews. He warns me that the hardest part is to suppress rolling my eyes when asked to state the obvious. Another thing, he adds, there are pesky frameworks and formulas to memorize, along with truncating important elements of your story to fit the PAR (Problem-Action-Result) format.

GOOD COMPANY.  Most important, be prepared to discuss a time you rescued someone at the risk of your own life and include any other dramatic events at the office. I thank him, and before we hang up, he invites me to a lavish birthday party, thrown by him, for him.

Despite my initial distress, I'm learning that interviewing isn't so bad, and if you're with a great company, it's kinda fun. An absolute blessing to my preparation so far is the Marketing Assn., which provides me with mock interview sessions, an interview/career guide (colloquially, "the brand book"), and even coaching events with companies like Mars Foods and S.C. Johnson.

No matter what your concentration, there is an organization in any given industry that pools students' past recruiting experiences, publishes formal guides, and allows students to commiserate and even better, celebrate job offers together.

SELLING YOURSELF.  As the spring semester kicks off, interview season for first years is peaking, marking the glory days of CJ Online, the electronic on-campus recruiting system. It is with CJ Online that students can view job descriptions, drop résumés, and schedule interviews. Right now, in January, it's not unusual to have as many as four interviews in one day, either in separate rounds with one company, or with four different companies.

And as much as I resisted the notion of interview practice, the more I drill myself, the more confident I am. Practice also happens automatically in each live interview. At the point where it becomes almost routine, the interview is no longer a barrier, but a chance to advertise oneself, which quite frankly, delights MBAs.

I won't receive word from L'Oréal for weeks, and in the meantime, I send a few more résumés, rephrase a few more cover letters, and hope to make it onto a few more closed lists for first round interviews. Some MBAs take on more risk and focus on finding the perfect job in a specific industry; others, like me, balance their efforts among several great leads.

And as time quickly flies and opportunities dwindle, the okay-just-give-me-a-job job also warrants attention from many, including myself. Luckily, I am open to many experiences and can adapt to different recruiting styles. Not every interview takes place on the beach, you know.