4 Steps for Fail-proof Job Interview Prep

Over the course of my career, I have often been told that I “Interview well”. I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, until I became a manager. Now I’m on the hiring end of interviews on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I interview many candidates that, despite an impressive resume, just don’t “interview well”. I usually don’t hire them. Here’s why:

If you have relevant experience but your interview is a flop, you’re either not a good culture fit, or you simply weren’t prepared for the interview. Proper preparation is the key difference between someone who “interviews well” and someone who didn’t get the job.

If you haven’t prepared for the interview, you shouldn’t do the interview, period. Being ill-prepared tells the hiring manager that you aren’t eager for the job and that alone could lead to a failed candidacy. If you’re truly eager, but don’t have time to prepare because life gets in the way, ask to reschedule your interview. Tell the recruiter that you’re very excited for the opportunity but want to ensure you have time to prepare. At worst, they will say no and you’ll have to find time. At best, they will respect your dedication to coming in prepared so that you’re not wasting anyone’s time.

I’m about to show you a very basic four-step system for interview prep that I stick to every time. The system is fail-proof, provided the role is indeed a good fit. You’ll come up with almost all your answers to the interview questions in advance, so on the day of the interview you can relax and carry yourself with confidence.

Prep Step 1: Draft your story using pivotal moments.

“Walk me through your resume” is a classic interview opener. Make sure you’ve rehearsed your answer. You can use the same answer for “Tell me about your career thus far.” and “Tell me how you got where you are today.”

This question is an opportunity to communicate your values, your ambition, and your personal brand. You could start at the beginning and simply say “I did this, then I did that, next I did that…” and the interviewer would get an overview of your history but they wouldn’t be getting any additional information about who you are as a person. Focus on pivotal moments in your education and career, explain the driving force behind each one, and connect them with your values, goals, or key learnings. Here’s an excerpt from my own resume walk-through to illustrate a “pivotal moment”:

During my time working at an ad agency, I fell in love with the strategic side of marketing. Sitting across the table from clients who were Head of Marketing, I realized that was what I wanted. I didn’t have any business education so I decided to do an MBA in order to make that transition. I hadn’t taken a math course since 11th grade, so for three months straight I spent every evening after work practicing math questions in preparation for the GMAT. It was exhausting but in the end, preparation and dedication paid off — I got accepted by my chosen MBA program and even got a scholarship.

See what I did there? I could have just said “After a few years in advertising, I did my MBA and moved client-side.”, but that version doesn’t say anything about who I am as a person. The fact that I am not scared to learn new things or work hard to achieve goals is an important part of my personal brand.

During the resume walk-through, be sure to explain why you left past roles. If you decided the role or the company wasn’t the right fit for you at the time, explain that while also highlighting the positive aspects of that experience. Here’s an example:

I worked for (company name) for about a year. I learned a lot about how customer experience can shape a brand, and I’ve carried that with me to other companies. Ultimately I decided that the culture was not for me — I was looking for a very data-driven marketing team.

In this example, I shed positive light on a role change by proving that I care deeply about data-driven decision making.

It can be tricky to use the “pivotal moments” approach to the resume walk-through without rambling. That’s why rehearsal is important. Practice telling the story in less than five minutes while still hitting on all the important pivotal moments. You don’t have to go through every little detail. Prioritize the moments that say the most about who you are as a person.

Prep Step 2: Build a rolodex of stories.

It’s impossible to know exactly what you’ll be asked during an interview, but if you prepare by creating a rolodex of stories, you’ll have a response for just about any question that comes your way.

Start by writing down a brief summary of all your proudest accomplishments. Most of your examples should be workplace examples. You can sprinkle in volunteer work or side-projects if you think they help display relevant skills. Use the STAR method to outline each story — Situation, Task, Action, Result.

Next to each story, write down keywords that will trigger you to use each story. These keywords should be skills and experiences that the story exemplifies. The keywords are important because you’ll be listening for them in the interview and they’ll help you flip through your mental rolodex of stories to identify the one that will work best as a response.

The interviewer might make it easy for you by saying “Tell me about a time when you _____” or “Tell be about your approach to ____” which will prompt you to respond with one of your stories. They also might ask you a yes/no question that is well suited for a story response. For example, respond to a question like “Are you detail oriented?” with a “yes” followed by a story about how your attention to detail once helped you overcome a challenging obstacle or deliver exceptional results.

Your rolodex of stories is something that you can prepare before you’ve landed an interview, but remember to go back to it after you’ve received an interview invitation and update the keywords list to include words you’ve pulled directly from the job posting. The interviewer will be looking for examples of how you fit with keywords found in the job posting, so it’s crucial that you have a great story for each of the major keyword themes you see there.

Prep Step 3: Prepare for common questions.

Practice for an interview by Googling “Common (insert function or role) interview questions.” and thinking about how you would respond to each one. Below are some of the more common ones that I’ve seen go terribly wrong due to lack of preparation.

What’s your biggest weakness? This is a tough question because you never want to highlight something that could lead to your disqualification, but you also don’t want to risk coming across as arrogant by implying that you have no weakness. A good approach is to respond with a weakness that you’ve overcome. Use a story from your rolodex. Show how one of your experiences taught you something and helped you grow as a person. To answer this question, I could use the same “pivotal moment” I used for my example in the resume walk-through section — how business school forced me to re-learn math. Here’s how I rephrase the moment to make it fit:

Before I went to business school I would have called math a weakness of mine. It was the only subject that I dreaded in high school. Taking the GMAT forced me to prioritize it and business school taught me how important it is for business strategy. I have a completely different relationship with math today, and while I still would not call myself a math genius, I now have a very good command of business math and consider myself a very numbers-focused marketer.

There is one caveat to this approach. I would not use the above example in an interview for a role that is extremely math-focused in nature. You can use a weakness that you are actively working to improve instead of one you’ve already overcome, but you will still want to make sure that your weakness is not critical for the job.

Why do you want to work for this company? Why do you want this job? Be prepared to answer both of these questions. The company-focused question is probably aimed at assessing culture fit. Make sure you’ve researched the corporate values and can point to the ones that align with your own. The job-focused question is an opportunity to talk about your ambitions and your passion for the type of work. If you’re asked why you want the job and you haven’t yet been asked why you want to work for the company, talk about your ambitions and passions for the type of work, and then finish by explaining that you’re also eager to work for the company because of the culture and/or shared values.

Where do you see yourself in five years? What’s your last job before retirement? You might get this question with a different time frame but the preparation doesn’t change. The aim of this type of question is to assess your ambition. Prepare by thinking about your short and long term goals and make sure that they show you are not afraid to stretch yourself and take on new challenges. A great approach to answering the short-term version of this question would be to say that you’re hoping to learn a lot from the hiring manager so that someday when they move on you can step up to fill their shoes. For the long term question, make sure that you’re thinking big — they want to see that you’re eager to leave your mark on the world.

Why should we hire you? What are your biggest strengths? At this point in the job hunt, you should know your elevator pitch (the few most convincing reasons why you’re a great fit for the job) because hopefully you’ve highlighted it near the top of your resume and in your cover letter. Don’t worry about being repetitive — say it again! Make sure you sound confident but humble.

Why are you leaving your job / why did you leave? You should keep your interview conversation as positive as possible. Say you’re ready for a new challenge or explain why the role in question seems like a great new opportunity. Steer clear of anything that sounds like complaining or bashing your previous employer. It’s okay to say that you’re looking for a different culture, but focus on highlighting what you’re looking for in a corporate culture instead of the aspects that you didn’t like about your previous company.

What is your management style? How do you like to be managed? There is no trick to answering these questions beyond just being honest and being prepared with a thoughtful response that highlights your leadership skills and work habits. There are many different stylistic approaches to management or working with others. If your style doesn’t mesh well with the hiring manager’s style then you might not get the job and that’s probably a good thing. You most likely would have been unhappy in that situation anyway.

What do you do in your spare time? This question is likely aimed at assessing whether you’ll fit in with the team, but you don’t have to have the same hobbies as your future teammates in order to show that you’ll be a good addition. This is a great time to talk about interests that are unique and therefore memorable, or any interests that align with the company mission or product. Keep in mind that you likely won’t know the beliefs and values of the person interviewing you. In order to limit bias, steer clear of discussing any hobbies that are polarizing, controversial, or often misunderstood — eg. hunting, religious or political volunteering, etc — unless of course the company is clearly and openly aligned with that particular activity. If there is something that you’re passionate about that falls into this category, you certainly don’t need to hide it — just hold off on mentioning it until you’ve already been awarded the job and made a great first impression based on the quality of your work.

Prep Step 4: Know your audience.

A little sleuthing can go a long way in helping you start an interview off on the right foot. If the recruiter provided the name or email address of the interviewer, you can easily look them up online. If they didn’t give a name, ask for one!

Towards the end of your interview, you will inevitably be asked if you have any questions. You should always have several prepared. You’ll impress the interviewer if you’ve done your research and you ask them questions that show you understand what they do at the company and how they got there. The goal is to show genuine interest in the business and its people. If you don’t fully understand the business model or the structure of the team, now is a good time to ask about it. There is a right time and place for questions about compensation and benefits. If these things are important to you (usually they are) then ask the recruiter about them during the screening call, but don’t focus on them with the hiring manager until you’ve got an offer in hand and you’re ready to negotiate.

Part of knowing your audience is understanding how to dress. The common adage “better overdressed than underdressed” does not hold true in all circumstances. You will certainly look unprepared if you show up in jeans to an office where formal business attire in the norm, and likewise, you’ll stand out like a sore thumb if you show up to a casual environment wearing a suit. Dress code often reflects company culture, and you want to show that you understand and can relate to the culture. Ask the recruiter about the dress code in advance and do your best to follow it on the day of your interview.

Didn’t get the job? Rinse and repeat.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I said it was fail-proof. Look, there is never any guarantee of success going into a job interview, unless perhaps you have some serious connections at the top. However, if you follow my four-step process I can promise that you will not fail to be prepared.

With the right experience, the right attitude, and a bit of luck, you’ll land the job. If you don’t, brush yourself off, go back to your rolodex of stories, and refine. Every time you go through the preparation and interview process you are gaining valuable practice and experience. You’ll appear even more competent and confident the next time around. Times are tough, and competition is steep, so set yourself up for success by showing up prepared.