How to Prepare for Any Job Interview

There's a version of interview preparation that involves memorising answers to a list of common questions. And there's a version that involves truly understanding what you want to communicate, and practicing until you can say it naturally. The second version is the one that works.

This guide is about that second version. It applies to any interview, any industry, any level.

Start with understanding, not answers

Before you write a single answer, spend time genuinely understanding two things: what this role actually requires, and why you want it. Not the performative version of why — the honest version. What is it about this role, this organisation, or this moment in your career that makes this the right next step?

This matters because the best interview answers come from real conviction. Interviewers can tell the difference between someone who has rehearsed "I'm passionate about your mission" and someone who genuinely is. The preparation that leads to real conviction is research — reading, listening, exploring what this company actually does and how it talks about itself.

Identify your three strongest stories

Almost every interview question, regardless of how it's phrased, is asking you to demonstrate a quality through experience. Identify three to five experiences from your past that showcase different strengths. For each, be able to describe the context clearly, explain what you specifically did, share what the result was, and reflect on what you learned.

These stories become the foundation of your answers. Most questions will draw on one of them. Having them clearly in mind means you're not constructing answers from scratch — you're selecting from a prepared set of experiences and shaping them to the question.

Practise out loud, not on paper

Writing answers is useful preparation. Reading them back silently is not the same as saying them. The gap between what reads well and what sounds natural when spoken is larger than most people expect.

Practise answering questions out loud — ideally with another person, but to yourself or into a phone recording if not. Notice where you hesitate, where you over-explain, where your voice loses confidence. These are the moments to work on.

Prepare questions that show you've thought

The questions you ask at the end of an interview say a lot about how seriously you've prepared. Good questions come from genuine curiosity — about the role, the team dynamic, what success looks like, what challenges the organisation is facing. They signal engagement and critical thinking.

Avoid questions whose answers are on the company website. Avoid questions about salary or benefits in early rounds unless asked. Focus on questions that could only be answered by someone inside the organisation — that's where the interesting conversations happen.

The day before: settle, don't cram

By the day before, your preparation is largely done. Adding new content at this stage rarely helps and can increase anxiety. A light review of your stories and key points, then an early night and a calm morning, will serve you better than a last-minute session.

The goal is to arrive in a state where you can be present in the conversation, not reciting from memory. Trust the preparation you've done.