Interview preparation
Turn long interview answers into cue cards
Write each answer as four cues of about five words: how you open, the evidence you cite, the result, and where you stop. Each cue should point to one specific detail you can recall. Use details from an answer you have already checked for accuracy.
A text to start with
Here is my written answer to the interview question [question]: [full answer]. The example behind it is [project, date range and my role]. Reduce it to four cues of about five words each: opening, evidence, result and stopping point. Each cue should point to a detail already in my answer, such as a name, a step or an outcome. List any detail you were unsure about instead of filling it in. Do not add details I did not write.
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Interview answer cue card
Question this card answers: [ ] Example it draws on (project, dates, my role): [ ] Opening cue (about five words): [ ] Detail it should recover: [ ] Evidence cue (about five words): [ ] Detail it should recover: [ ] Result cue (about five words): [ ] Detail it should recover: [ ] Stopping cue (about five words): [ ] What I say last: [ ] Could I tell the example from the cues alone? [yes / no] Cue to rewrite: [ ] Practice run time: [ ]
Cues that name a topic instead of a memory
A cue like "teamwork story" fits a dozen examples and gives you nothing mid-answer. Cover the full answer and try to say the example aloud from each cue alone. Look for a cue that carries a detail the written answer never contained, since you could end up claiming something you did not do. Check the stopping cue as well. If it only says "wrap up," you may keep talking past your result. Choose examples relevant to the responsibilities in the job advertisement.
Ask another agent to check the result
Cover my full answer and read only the four cues. For each one, say whether it points to a single specific example or could fit several. Quote any cue containing a detail my written answer never stated. Suggest a replacement only for cues that fail, using details from my answer.
Practice from the cards alone
Say each answer aloud using only its four cues, then compare what you said with the written version. Rewrite any cue that left out the specific example. Time one run and shorten the evidence cue if the answer is long. Retire cards for questions you decide not to prepare.