Interview preparation
Make a useful debrief after an interview
Write the debrief soon after the interview, while the conversation is fresh. Record the questions you were asked, the examples you used, anything that stayed unclear, and one preparation task for next time. Keep what was said apart from your guesses about how people reacted.
A text to start with
I just finished an interview for [role] at [organization]. Here are my rough notes, in the order things happened: [notes]. Sort them into four lists: questions I was asked, examples I used, points that were unclear to me, and one preparation task for the next interview. Put my guesses about how the interviewers felt in a separate list. Do not add anything I did not write.
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Interview debrief
Role, organization and date: [ ] Interview format and who attended: [ ] Questions asked, close to their wording: [ ] Examples I used for each: [ ] Points that were unclear to me: [ ] Things I could not remember clearly: [ ] My impressions of reactions (kept separate from the above): [ ] Next preparation task: [ ] When I will do it: [ ]
Facts mixed with impressions
A note like "the interviewer seemed unimpressed" is interpretation, not something anyone said. Mixed into the question list, it makes the whole record harder to trust. Check that each listed question was actually asked, in words close to the original, and that each example is one you really used. Look for unclear points you filled in with assumptions. If you cannot remember an answer, mark it uncertain instead of reconstructing it.
Ask another agent to check the result
Go through my notes and split them into what was said and what I inferred. Move any statement about how interviewers felt into the impressions list. Flag questions or examples I may have reconstructed from memory rather than recorded. Do not infer outcomes.
Turn the notes into one task
Choose the one preparation task that would help most in a similar interview, such as rewriting a weak answer or researching an unclear topic, and write when you will do it. File the debrief with the invitation and any follow-up note you sent. Review the unclear points before any later round with this organization.