---
description: Interview Prep — generates a structured pre-round brief: predicted questions by round type, STAR story mapping, three sharp questions to ask, follow-up email skeleton. Tier 4 main session for the brief itself, Tier 2 sub-agents for company/role research.
---

# personal-interview-prep

Produces a prep brief for an upcoming interview round. Eliminates the "ugh I forgot to prep" tax.

## Trigger phrases

- "Prep me for the [round] at [company]"
- "Interview at [company] tomorrow / Tuesday / next week"
- `/prep [slug]`
- Auto-suggested when a calendar event is detected with title matching `interview` and Josh asks "what's on the calendar"

## Inputs

- `~/.career/applications/{slug}/01-jd-analysis.md`
- `~/.career/applications/{slug}/02-resume.md`
- `~/.career/applications/{slug}/03-cover-letter.md` (if exists)
- `~/.career/companies/{company-slug}/brief.md`
- `~/.career/star-bank.json`
- Round type (Josh provides — phone screen, behavioral, technical deep-dive, system design, take-home review, exec / final round)
- Interviewer names (Josh provides if known — surface their LinkedIn, prior roles, recent posts)

## Process

### Stage 1 — Round-type-specific question prediction (Tier 2 sub-agent)

Delegate `research`. Returns the 8-12 most likely questions for THIS round type at THIS company. Sources:

- Glassdoor reviews of the company (prior interview reports)
- The company's eng/product blog (for technical deep-dive)
- Public talks by the team (YouTube, conference recordings)
- The interviewer's prior posts/talks (if names provided)

Round-type playbooks:

| Round type | Question types to predict |
|---|---|
| Phone screen | Tell me about yourself / why this role / why this company / availability / comp expectations |
| Behavioral (CSM/Eng leader) | "Tell me about a time when..." x6 covering: leadership, ambiguity, conflict, customer empathy, technical depth, failure |
| Technical deep-dive (CSM-tech / SA / SE) | Explain a system you built, debug walkthrough, troubleshoot scenario, customer technical question |
| System design (Eng / SA) | Open-ended design problem with scale numbers, follow-up "what if X breaks" probes |
| Take-home review | Walk through your solution, defend choices, "what would you change with more time" |
| Exec / final | Vision for the role, 30-60-90 plan, references to prior leaders, hard cultural questions |

### Stage 2 — STAR story mapping (Tier 4 main)

For each predicted question, identify the 1-2 best STAR stories from the bank. Output:

```
Q: [predicted question]
Best fit: STAR-XXX [title] — covers [angle]
Backup: STAR-YYY [title] — if Q drifts toward [aspect]
Discipline: [what NOT to mention — sensitive details, controversial framings]
```

### Stage 3 — Three sharp questions to ask

The questions Josh asks signal as much as his answers. Three categories, one of each:

1. **Role-specific question** that shows depth — about the team's current pain or upcoming bet
2. **Company-specific question** that shows engagement — about a recent product/decision/leadership move
3. **Honest question** about the working environment — autonomy, decision-making style, what failure looks like in this role

Discipline: NO "what's the team culture like" generic. NO "what's the day-to-day" lazy. The questions should make the interviewer think "huh, good question, let me think."

### Stage 4 — Follow-up email skeleton

Drafts a follow-up email skeleton for AFTER the interview, ready to fill in 1-2 specific moments. Voice-checked.

```
Subject: Following up — [role] at [company]

Hi [interviewer first name],

[Specific reference to something they said — leave a [GAP] for Josh to fill in]

[Reinforcement of 1 specific competency they probed — leave a [GAP] for Josh to add a one-line]

[Forward-looking close — natural, not pushy]

[Sign-off]
```

### Stage 5 — Output the prep brief

Save to `~/.career/applications/{slug}/04-prep-{round-type}-{date}.md`.

Format as a printable HTML doc (per the HTML print-button rule) so Josh can review on phone or paper:
`~/.career/applications/{slug}/04-prep-{round-type}-{date}.html`

The HTML version has the print button + print CSS for clean PDF export.

## Output to Josh (in chat)

```markdown
**Interview prep ready** — [Company] [Round] on [Date YYYY-MM-DD, Day]

**Time check:** Interview at [time] [their TZ] / [time] [your TZ] — [N hours from now]

**Path:** `~/.career/applications/{slug}/04-prep-{round}-{date}.md` + `.html`

**Predicted questions:** [N]
**STAR stories pre-matched:** [N]
**Sharp questions to ask:** 3 (see brief)
**Follow-up email:** skeleton ready, fill in [N] gaps post-interview

**Top 3 things to do today:**
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...

**Tonight before interview:**
- Re-read the brief
- Re-read your resume (for consistency in answers)
- Test [tech setup if remote]
- Lay out clothes / set timer / commute plan

**Open questions:**
- [Anything Josh should clarify pre-interview — comp expectations, interviewer's exact role, etc.]
```

## Discipline

- Date-Day verification mandatory. If the interview is "Tuesday", run `cal` and confirm.
- Time-of-day verification mandatory. Show timezone math. Critical for remote interviews.
- Em-dash ban applies to the follow-up email skeleton (it's future-employer-content).
- The prep brief itself (internal artefact) is em-dash exempt. Use them or not based on readability.