Applying, step by step · 6 min read
How do I prepare for an interview using the job description?
Turn each must-have into a likely question, prepare one true story for each, and practise out loud. Then prepare two questions of your own.
The short answer
List the post's must-haves and turn each one into the question an interviewer would likely ask about it, usually 'tell me about a time you…'. For each, prepare one true story from your CV: the situation, what you did and what happened, ideally with a number. Practise saying each answer out loud in about two minutes. Prepare for the one or two must-haves you're weakest on first. End by writing two questions of your own about the role's first months.
On this page 4 sections
Turn must-haves into questions
| The post says | Likely question |
|---|---|
| Manage multiple projects | Tell me about a time you had competing deadlines. |
| Strong stakeholder skills | Describe a time you had to win round someone who disagreed. |
| Data-driven | Tell me about a decision you made using data. |
| Comfortable with ambiguity | Tell me about a project where the brief kept changing. |
Build your story bank
- Pick five or six things you've done that you're proud of and know well.
- Write each as situation, action, result in under 150 words.
- Note which must-haves each story proves.
- Check every must-have has at least one story.
Practise out loud
Reading your notes and saying the answer are different skills. Record yourself on your phone, listen back once, and cut what you'd skip if you were listening. Do the weakest topics twice.
OffLadder CV, our free Chrome extension, shows which of a post's must-haves your CV doesn't show yet. Hand one to Laddie and you get a short lesson, a 15-minute task from the job itself, and a five-question mock interview for that role.
Questions people ask
- What is the STAR method?
- A way to structure answers: Situation, Task, Action, Result. It keeps stories short and makes sure you end with what happened.
- How many stories do I need?
- Five or six strong ones usually cover most questions, because one story can answer several. Map each to the must-haves it proves.
- How long should an answer be?
- Around one and a half to two minutes. Long enough for the result, short enough that they can ask a follow-up.
- What if I'm asked about a skill I don't have?
- Say so, then say what you've done to start learning it and how you'd get up to speed. Never claim experience you don't have.
- What questions should I ask at the end?
- Ask about the work: what success looks like in six months, what the team's biggest current problem is, how the role has changed recently.
Exercises are practice, not evidence of career fit or a qualification. How to read our guides and report a correction.
How this page is written
Sources support the factual background, not a guarantee that an exercise predicts career fit. Fictional practice material is labelled. Dates record content updates; no independent expert review is implied. More about OffLadder.