interview-prep-generator

What this skill does

# Interview Prep Generator

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to:
- Prepare for a job interview
- Practice answering interview questions
- Create STAR stories from their experience
- Anticipate questions for a specific role
- Mentions: "interview prep", "prepare for interview", "STAR stories", "interview questions", "behavioral questions"

## Core Capabilities

- Generate role-specific interview questions
- Create STAR stories from resume bullets
- Predict questions based on job description
- Prepare answers for common questions
- Create talking points for each experience
- Identify potential concerns and prepare responses

## Interview Preparation Framework

### Phase 1: Role Analysis
- Extract likely questions from job description
- Identify skills that will be tested
- Research company interview style

### Phase 2: Story Banking
- Convert resume bullets into STAR stories
- Create stories for common competencies
- Practice concise delivery

### Phase 3: Mock Preparation
- Practice common questions
- Prepare questions to ask
- Research company-specific topics

## The STAR Method Detailed

### Structure
- **S**ituation: Set the context (1-2 sentences)
- **T**ask: Describe your responsibility (1 sentence)
- **A**ction: Explain what YOU did (2-3 sentences)
- **R**esult: Share the outcome with metrics (1-2 sentences)

### STAR Story Template

```
SITUATION: "At [Company], we faced [specific challenge/context]..."

TASK: "I was responsible for [specific ownership]..."

ACTION: "I [specific action 1], [specific action 2], and [specific action 3]..."

RESULT: "As a result, [quantified outcome]. This led to [business impact]."
```

### Example STAR Story

**Question:** "Tell me about a time you led a team through a difficult project."

**Answer:**
```
SITUATION: "At TechCorp, our main product was losing customers to a competitor who had launched a better mobile experience. We were seeing 5% monthly churn, up from our normal 2%."

TASK: "As the product manager, I was responsible for turning around our mobile product to stop the bleeding and win back customers."

ACTION: "I started by interviewing 30 churned customers to understand exactly why they left. Based on that research, I prioritized 5 critical features that would achieve parity with competitors. I then worked with engineering to restructure our roadmap, negotiated with leadership to add 2 contract developers, and implemented weekly sprint reviews to keep the project on track. I also started a beta program with 50 of our best customers to get feedback before full launch."

RESULT: "We launched the improved mobile app in 3 months, reducing churn from 5% back to 2% within 60 days. We recovered 35% of churned customers and the NPS for our mobile app increased from 32 to 58. This project was recognized in our company all-hands as a turnaround success."
```

**Time:** 90 seconds to 2 minutes

## Story Banking Process

### Step 1: Identify Core Competencies

**Leadership Stories Needed:**
- Led a team through challenge
- Managed conflict
- Made a difficult decision
- Delegated effectively
- Developed/mentored someone

**Problem-Solving Stories Needed:**
- Solved complex technical problem
- Fixed a process that was broken
- Handled unexpected obstacle
- Made decision with incomplete information
- Improved something proactively

**Collaboration Stories Needed:**
- Worked with difficult colleague
- Aligned cross-functional stakeholders
- Built consensus
- Partnered with other teams
- Influenced without authority

**Achievement Stories Needed:**
- Exceeded goals/expectations
- Delivered under pressure
- Went above and beyond
- Took initiative
- Accomplished something proud of

**Failure/Growth Stories Needed:**
- Made a mistake and learned
- Received critical feedback
- Failed and recovered
- Changed approach based on learning

### Step 2: Map Resume to Stories

For each resume bullet, create a full STAR story:

```
RESUME BULLET: "Led cross-functional team of 12 to deliver $2M product launch"

STAR EXPANSION:

SITUATION: Our company was losing market share to a competitor, and leadership decided we needed to launch a new product line within 6 months.

TASK: As Product Manager, I was tasked with leading the product from concept to launch, coordinating across engineering, design, marketing, and sales teams (12 people total).

ACTION: 
- I established weekly cross-functional syncs and a shared Notion workspace
- Created a detailed project plan with milestones and dependencies
- Implemented a rapid prototyping process with 2-week design sprints
- Personally resolved 3 major conflicts between engineering and marketing
- Presented monthly updates to leadership to maintain alignment

RESULT: 
- Launched on time and under budget
- Generated $2M revenue in first year
- Acquired 50 new enterprise customers
- Team received company innovation award
```

### Step 3: Create Multiple Versions

Each story should have:
- **Full version:** 2 minutes (for "tell me about a time...")
- **Short version:** 60 seconds (for follow-ups)
- **One-liner:** 15 seconds (for "give me an example")

## Common Interview Questions by Category

### Behavioral Questions

**Leadership:**
- "Tell me about a time you led a team."
- "Describe a situation where you had to make an unpopular decision."
- "How have you developed team members?"
- "Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult team member."

**Problem-Solving:**
- "Describe a complex problem you solved."
- "Tell me about a time something didn't go as planned."
- "How do you approach problems with incomplete information?"
- "Give an example of an innovative solution you developed."

**Collaboration:**
- "Tell me about working with someone difficult."
- "Describe a time you had to influence someone without authority."
- "How do you handle disagreements with colleagues?"
- "Tell me about a successful cross-functional project."

**Achievement:**
- "What's your proudest professional accomplishment?"
- "Tell me about a time you exceeded expectations."
- "Describe a goal you achieved against the odds."
- "What's the biggest impact you've had in your career?"

**Failure/Growth:**
- "Tell me about a time you failed."
- "What's the biggest mistake you've made at work?"
- "How do you handle criticism?"
- "What would you do differently in your career?"

### Role-Specific Questions

**Product Management:**
- "How do you prioritize features?"
- "Walk me through how you'd approach [product problem]."
- "How do you measure product success?"
- "Tell me about a product you shipped from 0 to 1."

**Engineering:**
- "Describe your experience with [specific technology]."
- "How do you approach code reviews?"
- "Tell me about a technical challenge you solved."
- "How do you balance technical debt vs. features?"

**Marketing:**
- "How do you measure campaign success?"
- "Tell me about a campaign that didn't work."
- "How do you allocate budget across channels?"
- "Describe your approach to brand building."

**Sales:**
- "Walk me through your sales process."
- "Tell me about a deal you lost and why."
- "How do you handle objections?"
- "Describe your largest closed deal."

### Standard Questions

**About You:**
- "Tell me about yourself." (2 min pitch)
- "Walk me through your resume."
- "Why are you looking for a new role?"
- "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

**About the Role:**
- "Why this role?"
- "What interests you about this position?"
- "What do you think this role entails?"
- "What would you do in your first 90 days?"

**About the Company:**
- "Why this company?"
- "What do you know about us?"
- "Why do you want to work here?"
- "What excites you about our mission?"

## Questions to Ask Interviewers

### For Hiring Manager
- "What does success look like in this role at 30/60/90 days?"
- "What are the biggest challenges facing the team?"
- "How is performance measured?"
- "What's the team structure?"

### For Team Members
- "What's a typical day/week like?"
- "What do