How to use AI to prepare for a job interview

Job interviews are one of those things that everyone knows how to prepare for in theory and almost nobody prepares for properly in practice.

You mean to research the company. You mean to think through your answers. You mean to practise saying them out loud so they don’t come out as a slightly panicked stream of consciousness.

And then the day before, you skim their website for twenty minutes and hope for the best.

AI changes this. Not because it makes interviews easy — they’re still interviews. But because it gives you a thinking partner who will help you prepare properly in about an hour.

Here’s how.

Step 1 — Research the company in depth

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity:

“I have an interview at [company name] for [job title]. Please give me:

1. A summary of what the company does and who their main customers are

2. Their recent news — anything significant in the last 6 months

3. The key challenges facing their industry right now

4. Two or three intelligent questions I could ask at the end of my interview that would show I’ve done my homework”

Use Perplexity for this one specifically — it searches in real time so the news will be current.

Step 2 — Prepare your answers

The questions you’ll almost certainly be asked: Tell me about yourself. Why do you want this role. Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult situation. Where do you see yourself in five years.

They’re predictable. Prepare for them properly.

“I’m interviewing for [job title] at [company]. My background is [brief summary]. Please help me prepare strong answers to these four questions:

1. Tell me about yourself

2. Why do you want this role

3. Tell me about a time you dealt with conflict or a difficult situation at work

4. What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses

Make each answer concise — 90 seconds when spoken out loud. Professional but not robotic.”

Step 3 — Practise under pressure

This is the one most people skip and the one that makes the biggest difference.

“Act as a tough but fair interviewer for a [job title] role at a [industry] company. Ask me the ten questions you’d most likely ask a candidate with my background. After each answer I give you, tell me what was strong, what was weak, and what I should say differently. Start with the first question now.”

Then actually answer. Out loud if you can.

The interview is not the time to figure out what you think. That’s what the hour before is for.

— Anna