Text guides

Interview preparation

Practice with your own experience and the interview instructions. Make room for questions, follow-ups and facts you still need.

12 practical tasks. Each guide includes a sample request and a way to check the answer.

Build an interview story bank from real workChoose six episodes from real work and write each as a card with the situation, your task, your actions, the result and its limits. Pick episodes you can discuss for several minutes without notes. Tag each card with the skill it supports so you can find a relevant example while preparing.
Rehearse a short walk-through of your resumeAim for about ninety seconds. Move through your most relevant roles in order, link each to the next with one sentence, and end on why this role makes sense now. Keep extra detail on a separate page and add it only if asked.
Answer why this company with evidencePick one or two facts about the company that you can point to in its own material, such as a product page, a published report or a job posting. Link each to something in your own work or interests, then end with a question the research left open.
Prepare useful questions for a hiring managerRead the posting and anything the interviewer has said, then write questions about the gaps: what the first months look like, how success is judged and how the team works. Skip anything already answered. Phrase guesses as questions, not statements. Leave room to change your questions when the conversation supplies new information.
Plan questions for a panel interviewList each panelist with whatever the invitation or their own profile says they do, then write one question for each that fits that stated work. Leave space to record answers and a follow-up, and keep one general question for the full group.
Prepare to discuss one project in depthPick a project you know well and build a timeline of its key decisions. For each one, record the options you considered, the constraints that shaped the choice, who decided and what happened. Include what you would change, since follow-up questions often go there. Keep the supporting records available while preparing so you can check dates and results.
Turn long interview answers into cue cardsWrite 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.
Draft an interview follow-up with a useful detailA good follow-up is short and refers to something said in the interview. Thank the person, name one topic you discussed, and mention any item you agreed to send. Leave out guesses about how the conversation went and any offer you did not make in the room.
Make a useful debrief after an interviewWrite 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.
Explain confidential work without sharing private detailsBuild the story in layers: what is already public, what you personally did, a result described in general terms, and a list of details you will leave out. Check your employer's confidentiality terms before the interview, and decide in advance where you will stop if a question pushes further.
Plan an interview assignment within its instructionsStart with the employer's written instructions, then list every deliverable and rule before planning any work. Divide the time you are allowed across those deliverables, write down the assumptions you had to make, and check the finished work against the instructions before you submit.
Confirm interview logistics before the daySend the coordinator a short message that restates the details you have and asks about the ones you do not. Include the time with its time zone, the location or video link, the format, who you will meet, and a contact for the day. Mark anything unconfirmed instead of guessing.

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