Why Preparation Is the Differentiator
Most candidates walk into interviews underprepared. They've glanced at the job description, skimmed the company's homepage, and plan to "wing it" with their answers. This is remarkably common, and it's the reason preparation gives you such a massive edge.
Hiring managers routinely say they can tell within the first five minutes whether a candidate prepared. Not because of some magic signal, but because prepared candidates give specific, relevant answers instead of vague generalizations. They reference the company's actual products, challenges, and goals. They ask questions that show genuine understanding.
This guide covers every phase: what to do in the days before, the morning of, during the conversation, and after you walk out.
Pre-Interview: The Research Phase
Start preparing at least 2-3 days before your interview. Cramming the night before leads to surface-level knowledge that won't hold up under follow-up questions.
Study the Company
Go beyond the "About Us" page. You need to understand:
- What the company sells and who their customers are
- Recent news: press releases, funding rounds, product launches, earnings reports
- Competitors: who they're up against and how they differentiate
- Company culture: read their engineering blog, check Glassdoor reviews, look at their social media
Spend 30-45 minutes on this. The goal isn't to memorize facts. It's to understand the company well enough that you can connect your experience to their specific situation.
Decode the Job Description
The job description is your cheat sheet. It tells you exactly what the interviewer will ask about. Read it line by line and identify:
- Required skills they mention more than once (these are the real priorities)
- Responsibilities that suggest what your first 90 days would look like
- Phrases that hint at problems: "fast-paced" (they're understaffed), "self-starter" (limited onboarding), "wear many hats" (broad role)
For each key requirement, prepare a specific example from your experience that demonstrates that skill.
Prepare Your Stories with STAR
Behavioral interview questions ("Tell me about a time when...") are the backbone of most interviews. The STAR framework keeps your answers structured and concise:
S - Situation: Set the context (1-2 sentences)
T - Task: What was your specific responsibility?
A - Action: What did YOU do? (This is the meat - be specific)
R - Result: What happened? Use numbers when possible.
Prepare 5-7 STAR stories that cover these common themes:
| Theme | Example Question |
|---|---|
| Leadership | "Tell me about a time you led a project" |
| Conflict | "Describe a disagreement with a coworker" |
| Failure | "Tell me about a time something went wrong" |
| Achievement | "What's your proudest professional accomplishment?" |
| Problem-solving | "Describe a difficult technical challenge" |
| Collaboration | "How do you work with cross-functional teams?" |
| Initiative | "Tell me about something you did without being asked" |
The key insight: the same story can answer multiple question types depending on which angle you emphasize. A story about leading a project through a major setback covers leadership, failure, and problem-solving. Five well-prepared stories can handle twenty different questions.
Research Your Interviewers
If you know who you're meeting with (and you should ask the recruiter if they don't volunteer it), look them up on LinkedIn. Note:
- Their role and how long they've been at the company
- Their career path (you might find common ground)
- Any articles, posts, or talks they've published
You're not stalking them. You're preparing to have an informed conversation. If your interviewer wrote a blog post about migrating to Kubernetes and you have Kubernetes experience, that's a natural connection point.
Day-Of: Setting Yourself Up
What to Wear
The standard advice is "dress one level above the company's dress code." This still holds, but research has made it easier to calibrate:
- Corporate/finance/law: Suit and tie, or equivalent formal attire
- Tech/startup: Clean, well-fitted business casual (no suit needed)
- Creative industries: Express some personal style, but keep it polished
When in doubt, business casual is almost never wrong. A clean button-down or blouse with neat pants works in 90% of interview settings.
What to Bring
Pack these the night before:
- Multiple copies of your resume (at least 3, printed on decent paper)
- A notebook and pen for taking notes
- A list of questions you want to ask (written down -- pulling out your phone to check notes looks unprofessional)
- Portfolio or work samples if relevant to the role
- ID (some offices require it for building access)
Timing
Arrive at the building 10-15 minutes early. Not 30 minutes early (that's awkward for the interviewer), and definitely not 2 minutes early (that's cutting it too close if anything goes wrong).
For virtual interviews, test your setup 30 minutes before: camera, microphone, lighting, internet connection, and background. Join the meeting link 2-3 minutes early.
During the Interview: Execution
Body Language
Non-verbal communication accounts for a significant portion of how you're perceived. The basics:
- Firm handshake (still relevant post-pandemic, follow the interviewer's lead)
- Eye contact -- aim for 60-70% of the time, not an unbroken stare
- Sit up straight but not rigidly. Lean slightly forward to show engagement
- Avoid fidgeting with pens, hair, or your phone
- Smile naturally when appropriate. Interviews don't have to be grim
Answering Questions Well
The biggest mistake candidates make is rambling. Keep answers to 60-90 seconds for straightforward questions and 2-3 minutes for behavioral (STAR) questions. If you're going longer, you're losing the interviewer's attention.
When you don't know the answer: say so honestly, then explain how you'd figure it out. "I haven't worked with that specific tool, but here's how I'd approach learning it based on my experience with similar systems" is a far better answer than bluffing.
When answering technical questions: think out loud. Interviewers want to see your reasoning process, not just the final answer. Pause, organize your thoughts, and walk through your logic step by step.
Asking Your Own Questions
You will almost always be asked, "Do you have any questions for me?" Having no questions signals disinterest. Having good questions signals thoughtfulness.
Strong questions to ask:
"What does success look like in this role in the first six months?"
"What's the biggest challenge the team is facing right now?"
"How would you describe the team's working style?"
"What's something you wish you'd known before joining?"
Questions to avoid: anything you could answer with a 10-second Google search ("What does your company do?"), compensation details in a first-round interview (let the recruiter bring that up), or questions that sound like you're already planning your exit ("What's the promotion timeline?").
Prepare at least 4-5 questions because some will naturally get answered during the conversation. You want to have at least 2 left when the time comes.
After the Interview: Follow Up
The Thank-You Email
Send a personalized thank-you email within 24 hours, ideally the same evening or the next morning. This isn't a formality -- it's a final chance to reinforce your candidacy.
A strong thank-you email has three parts:
- Thank them for their time and reference something specific from the conversation
- Reinforce fit by briefly connecting a point from the interview to your experience
- Express enthusiasm without being desperate
Keep it to 3-5 sentences. If you interviewed with multiple people, send each person a slightly different email. Recruiters sometimes compare notes, and identical copy-pasted emails are obvious.
Follow-Up Timeline
If the interviewer gave you a timeline ("We'll get back to you by Friday"), wait until the day after that deadline before following up. If they didn't give a timeline, follow up after one week with a brief, polite check-in.
After two follow-ups with no response, move on. Continue applying to other positions. The worst thing you can do after an interview is stop your job search while waiting for a single response.
Your Resume Got You the Interview -- Make It Count
The interview is where preparation meets opportunity. You've already done the hardest part: getting your resume past the filters and into a human's hands. Now it's about proving in person what your resume promised on paper.
Sources
- SHRM: Interviewing Candidates for Employment — SHRM's comprehensive guide to structured interviewing, including data on how preparation and structured responses correlate with hiring outcomes
- Glassdoor: How to Prepare for an Interview — Research-backed interview preparation strategies, with insights from Glassdoor's database of interview reviews and candidate experiences
- Harvard Business Review: How to Prepare for a Job Interview — Evidence-based advice on interview preparation, including research on first impressions, follow-up effectiveness, and what hiring managers evaluate
If you want to make sure your resume is consistently getting you to the interview stage, Superpower Resume analyzes your resume against job descriptions and helps you highlight the experience and keywords that matter most for each role.
