How to Prepare for a Job Interview

How to Mentally Prepare for an Interview

Before every interview, get in the mindset of what you’ve achieved in your past jobs and how that experience can help the new company you’re applying to. Consider the following questions to help you mentally prepare for an interview and make it easier for you to call past experiences.

Remember to use the STAR Method when answering questions.. Look at each bullet point on your resume and be able to summarize that achievement using STAR.

Consider how your past experiences make you qualified for the role

For each job you’ve had:

  1. What were your responsibilities?

  2. Why did you decide to join that company/job?

  3. Why did you leave that job?

  4. What did you like most about the job? 

  5. What did you like least about the job?

  6. What impact did you make on the company? How did you improve it?

  7. What was the biggest challenge at that job? How did you handle it?

  8. What was your biggest achievement at each company you worked at?

  9. What was your biggest learning moment from that job?

  10. Think of a time you had a disagreement with another colleague or manager? What happened and how did you resolve the situation?

  11. What is a problem that you solved at the company? How did you go about solving it? What was the impact or result of your solution?

Consider what you can do for the company

  1. Why are you interested in the company?

  2. How can you improve the company or its current processes?

  3. How can you help the company grow?

Questions to Ask During Interviews

The interview process is much about the interviews interviewing you as you interviewing them. Also, having questions ready shows you have genuine interest in the company and role, which can set you apart from other candidates. 

Before interviewing, look at the company reviews on Glassdoor, particularly the pros, cons and advice to management. Find central themes and ask questions about it.

You’ll need to gauge which of these question are better for the recruiters, hiring managers or any other team members you interview with

Questions about the Company

The following questions can help you gauge the stability and potential success of the company. Note: You may be able to find some of these answers on the company website.

  1. How long has the company been around?

  2. Is the company growing?

  3. How many employees are there in the company?

  4. Is the company public or private?

  5. What are some of the company’s short-term and long-term goals?

  6. What are some challenges the company is currently facing (e.g. with sales, management, hiring, performance, etc)?

Questions about the Company Vision and Leadership

Gauge if you agree with the Company Vision and Leadership

  1. What are the company’s mission and values? 

  2. How would you describe the company’s culture?

  3. What is the organizational structure? How are the functions/teams structured?

  4. What is the leadership team structure? Who reports to who? 

  5. What is it like to work for the leaders? What are their goals?

  6. How are decisions made? E.g. top down, bottom up, 

Questions for the Hiring Manager

I can’t stress the importance of asking questions about the hiring manager. The manager makes or breaks your experience at work. The company can have the best culture ever, but if your manager is a twat, then you’re going to be miserable there. Here are some questions to help you determine if you’ll enjoy working for your manager. 

Think of managers you’ve had in the past, both good and bad, and ask questions to avoid bad and find good managers

  1. How would you describe leadership style? What is it like to work with you?

  2. How will you be able to help me develop in my career? 

  3. What are your areas of expertise?

  4. How do you make decisions?

  5. What do you like to focus on?

  6. What are your pet peeves?

Questions about the Team and Processes

  1. How would you describe the team’s culture?

  2. How often does the team meet? What is discussed during team meetings?

  3. What systems does the team use to communicate and stay organized? e.g. Slack, Asana


Questions about the Role 

  1. Why is the position open?

  2. What are some challenges the last person had?

  3. What skills or characteristics are you looking for in this role? What qualities are needed to succeed in this role?

  4. Who would I report to?

  5. Who would I work closely with?

  6. Who are my stakeholders? Who am I expected to deliver for?

  7. What would be the first few projects or challenges this position would need to take on during the first 90 days?

  8. How will my performance be evaluated?

  9. How many people would I be managing?

  10. What type of budget am I working with? What does the budgeting and/or headcount planning process look like? 

  11. What are the growth opportunities for this role?

  12. How much autonomy will this role have?


Question about Pay, Benefits and Perks

  1. What is the salary for the role?

  2. What benefits do you offer? i.e. medical, dental, vision, 401k (matching), PTO, etc?  

  3. Do you offer a location package?

  4. Is there remote work? 

  5. How’s work/life balance?

  6. How flexible is time off?

  7. Are there bonuses or a sign on bonus?