Most interview prep fails for the same reason most exam revision fails: it's the activity of looking prepared rather than the work of being prepared. Re-reading your CV, watching another "top 10 interview questions" video, refreshing the company's About page — it feels productive, but it doesn't change what comes out of your mouth on the day.
Real readiness is quieter. It's a short routine you can run in 90 minutes, and once you've done it twice, your nerves drop dramatically. Here's the version we've watched work for hundreds of candidates.
The STAR method, done right
STAR — Situation, Task, Action, Result — is the standard framework for behavioural questions. Most candidates know the acronym and still answer badly, because they over-invest in Situation and skimp on Action and Result.
A good STAR answer is roughly:
- Situation: 1–2 sentences. Just enough context.
- Task: 1 sentence. What were you specifically responsible for?
- Action: 3–5 sentences. The bulk of the answer. What you did, why you did it, and what you considered.
- Result: 1–2 sentences with at least one number.
Prepare 6–8 stories from your career that you can flex to fit different questions: a leadership story, a conflict story, a failure story, a project you're proud of, a time you persuaded someone, a time you missed a target. Almost every behavioural question is a variant of one of these.
Researching a company in 30 minutes
You don't need to memorise their entire history. You need to walk in with a clear, current picture. Here's the routine:
- Read their About page and most recent press release or blog post (5 min).
- Skim the last two earnings calls or fundraising announcements — get the strategic narrative in their own words (10 min).
- Read three reviews on Glassdoor, ignoring the angriest and the most glowing (5 min).
- Read the LinkedIn profiles of your interviewers — note where they came from, what they've shipped, and any shared connections (5 min).
- Identify one thing the company is clearly betting on right now and one thing that looks hard about the role (5 min).
That last point is the unlock. If you walk in with a clear view of what they're trying to do and where it's hard, the conversation lifts immediately. You stop being a candidate being assessed and start being a colleague thinking through their problem.
The questions you should always ask
When the interviewer asks if you have questions, "no" is the only wrong answer. Have three or four ready. The strongest fall into three categories:
- About the role: "What does someone in this role need to get right in the first 90 days for this hire to be considered a clear win?"
- About the team: "What's the hardest thing about being on this team right now?"
- About the company: "You mentioned [specific bet from your research] — what's the biggest unknown you're navigating there?"
These questions do two things: they show you've done real homework, and they pull useful information out of the interviewer that helps you decide whether to take the job.
Curveball questions: a calmer approach
Some interviewers throw deliberate curveballs — brain teasers, oddly framed scenarios, deeply technical hypotheticals — partly to test the answer and mostly to test how you behave when you don't know the answer.
The technique is simple, and the technique is the answer:
- Take a beat. "That's a good question — let me think for a second." A confident pause is far better than a panicked filler.
- Reframe the question out loud. "So you're asking how I'd approach X if Y were true — is that right?" This buys you a moment and confirms you understood.
- Walk through your reasoning, not just the answer. "My first instinct is A, because… but I'd want to check B before committing — here's why."
- Land somewhere. Even if you're not sure, give a clear point of view and acknowledge what you don't know.
Interviewers are almost never grading the conclusion. They're grading whether you can think clearly out loud under mild pressure. Showing your work always beats faking certainty.
The morning-of routine
- Re-read the job description once.
- Re-read your tailored CV once — out loud.
- Skim your six STAR stories. Don't memorise; just refresh.
- Look at your interviewers' photos so you can put faces to names.
- Eat something. Drink water. Walk around the block if you can.
That's it. No new prep on the day. Anything you don't already know, you won't learn in the last hour, and trying to cram raises your nerves more than it raises your readiness.
What "ready" actually feels like
Ready isn't unshaken confidence. It's a quieter kind of calm: you've done the work, you've got your stories, you've thought about their business, you've got smart questions, and you know the technique for the moments you don't know an answer.
From there, the interview is just a conversation between two adults trying to figure out if this is a fit. Which, when you think about it, is what it always was.
Let Bernese handle your job search while you prep for interviews.
Discovery, applications, and offer coaching — done quietly, in the background.
