Using AI to prepare for an interview

AI Skills for Work5 min readText and drawings only

Most people cannot afford a coach and have nobody to practise with. This is the closest free substitute, and it is genuinely useful if you use it as practice rather than as a script.

1. Ask it to interview you One question at a time. Answer out loud if you can. 2. Ask what your answer is missing Good at spotting that you never said what YOU did. 3. Ask what they are likely to ask Removes the fear of the unknown. Usually close.
Three ways to practise, in order of usefulness.

Ask it to interview you. Paste the job advert and say: "Act as the interviewer for this job. Ask me one question at a time and wait for my answer." Then actually answer, out loud if you can.

Ask it to improve your answer. Give it your real answer and ask what is missing. It is good at spotting that you described a situation but never said what you did.

Ask what they are likely to ask. Paste the advert and ask for the ten most likely questions for this role. It is usually close, and it removes the fear of the unknown.

How should you use the answers it produces?

What happens: Memorised answers sound memorised, and one follow-up question exposes it. Interviewers notice the change in how you speak immediately.

What happens: You keep your own words and your own story, and you fix the gap. That survives follow-up questions because it is real.

It suggested an answer about experience I do not have

Ignore it and tell it so. It does not know you and will fill gaps with something plausible. Say "I have never done that, give me an answer using what I actually told you". Never take an invented example into a real interview.

Can it help with questions I struggle with?

Yes, and this is one of its best uses. Ask it to explain what the interviewer is really trying to find out with a question. Knowing that "what is your weakness" is testing self-awareness rather than hunting for faults changes how you answer it entirely.

Before you move on

  • Ask it to interview you, one question at a time
  • Practise your answers out loud
  • Never memorise an answer word for word

Check what you know

3 questions. Have a look at what this lesson asks.

1. What is the best way to use an AI-suggested interview answer?

2. The AI suggests an answer using experience you do not have. What do you do?

3. What is a good way to start an AI practice interview?

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