Tool: ChatGPT
Time: 5 minutes
Result: A custom prep sheet with likely questions, your weak spots, and the stories to have ready.
The interview is Thursday, and your prep so far is "skimmed the company website and hoped."
AI Win #10
Paste the job description and a summary of your background into ChatGPT and get a one-page prep sheet with the questions you're most likely to face, the gaps between your resume and their requirements, and which of your experiences to prepare as stories. Instead of rehearsing generic answers, you prep for the interview this specific posting predicts.
How To Do It
Copy the full job posting text: every section, including the "nice to have" list and the company blurb. Those parts predict questions too.
Write 5–8 bullets summarizing your relevant experience, or copy the text of your resume. Pasting text works on ChatGPT's free tier; if you're on a paid plan you can instead attach your resume with the + button in the message box.
Go to chatgpt.com, paste the prompt below with both blocks filled in, and send.
Read the gap analysis first as those are the questions that can sink you. Then flesh out each suggested story with the specifics only you know: names, numbers, what actually happened.
Why This Is Useful
Interviewers write the job description before they write their questions. The requirements, repeated phrases, and even the company blurb tell you what they'll probe. Most candidates prep generic answers anyway. This prompt forces the preparation onto the two things that decide interviews: the questions this posting predicts, and honest answers for the spots where your background is thin.
Copy / Paste Prompt
You are an experienced hiring manager who has interviewed hundreds of candidates for roles like this one. Prepare me for this interview.
Job description:
[PASTE FULL JOB POSTING]
My background:
[PASTE RESUME TEXT OR 5–8 BULLETS ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE]
Build my prep sheet with these sections:
LIKELY QUESTIONS — the 10 questions I'm most likely to get: mix role-specific, behavioral, and questions targeting mismatches between my background and this posting. For each, add one line on what the interviewer is really testing.
GAP ANALYSIS — the 3 weakest matches between my background and their requirements. For each, give one honest, non-defensive way to address it if asked.
STORY BANK — from my background, pick the 5 experiences most worth preparing as stories. For each: which likely question it answers, and the result or number I should lead with.
DECODE THE POSTING — what the phrasing reveals. Repeated words, "nice to haves" listed first, phrases like "wear many hats" or "fast-paced": what do they suggest about the team's real situation?
QUESTIONS TO ASK THEM — 5 questions that show I read this posting closely. Nothing generic that could apply to any company.
Rules:
Base everything on the actual posting — quote its exact phrases when explaining a question or gap.
Never invent experience I don't have. If my background is thin somewhere, say so plainly.
Keep it skimmable: short lines, no filler.Have a posting saved in a tab somewhere? Run it through this before you apply. The gap analysis works for cover letters too.
