The Ultimate Interview Prep Checklist
Everything to do in the 7 days before your interview, broken down by day and priority.
Most candidates either over-prep (and sound rehearsed) or under-prep (and sound vague). This checklist gives you a 7-day plan that lands you in the middle.
Day 1–2 — Research
Read the company's last 3 product launches, last earnings call (if public), and the team's recent LinkedIn posts. Take notes you can reference back to.
Day 3–4 — Stories
Prepare 6–8 STAR stories that cover leadership, conflict, failure, ambiguity, and impact. Each one should be tellable in under 2 minutes.
Day 5–6 — Practice
Mock interview with a friend or record yourself. Listen for filler words and overly long answers.
Day 7 — Logistics
Test your tech, prepare your questions, lay out your outfit, and get a real night's sleep.
Why this matters
The advice in this guide is drawn from real recruiter conversations and analysis of what actually moves candidates forward. Apply it as a checklist on your next application.
Put it into practice
Don't try to apply everything at once. Pick the one or two changes that feel most relevant to your situation, ship the update, and measure the response over your next 10 applications.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Treating advice as universal — context always matters
- Over-editing until your voice disappears
- Skipping the proofread because you've read it 30 times
- Forgetting that recruiters are people, not algorithms
