Most people prepare for interviews by reading lists of "top 50 questions" the night before. That is the weakest kind of practice. You read an answer, nod, and feel ready. Then the real question comes, slightly different, and your mind goes blank.
What actually helps is saying your answers out loud, to someone who asks follow-up questions and tells you honestly what was weak. That used to need a friend or a mentor with time to spare. Now ChatGPT or Gemini can play that role, for free, at 11 pm, as many times as you want.
Here is the method I recommend, step by step. It works best after you have tailored your resume to the job, because the same two documents power both.
Step 1: Give the AI the right material
Open a new chat (or a Project, if you already set one up for your resume) and paste:
- The full job description
- Your tailored resume for this role
- A few lines about the company from its website or recent news
Before you paste your resume, remove your phone number, email and address. My guide to keeping your data private in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini shows the settings worth checking.
Step 2: Predict the questions
Ask:
Based on this job description and my resume, list the 10 questions I am most likely to be asked. Include at least 3 questions about gaps or weak spots in my resume for this role, and 2 behavioural questions. For each one, tell me what the interviewer is really trying to find out.
The last part matters most. "Tell me about yourself" is not a request for your life story. It is a test of whether you can explain, in under a minute, why you fit this role. When you know what each question is really checking, your answers get sharper.
Pay special attention to the gap questions. These are the ones people avoid practising, and the ones that cost them the offer.
Step 3: Write your stories, not your scripts
For behavioural questions ("Tell me about a time you handled a difficult stakeholder"), the STAR method is the simplest structure: Situation, Task, Action, Result.
Give the AI the raw facts of a real story and ask:
Here is something that really happened at my work: [your notes]. Help me structure it using STAR in under 90 seconds of speaking. Do not add any details I have not given you. Tell me what is missing, especially in the Result.
Notice the rule. AI can organise your story, but it must not invent one. If you cannot explain a story in your own words when the interviewer asks a follow-up, it will hurt you more than having no story at all.
Prepare four or five real stories. Most behavioural questions can be answered with one of them.
Step 4: Do a mock interview out loud
This is where AI becomes truly useful. Use voice, not typing:
- ChatGPT Voice is available on the free plan, with daily limits.
- Gemini Live in the free Gemini app lets you have a spoken back-and-forth conversation, and it works in Hindi, Tamil and several other Indian languages if you want to warm up in your own language first.
Start with this instruction:
Act as the hiring manager for this role. Interview me for 15 minutes. Ask one question at a time and wait for my full answer. Ask at least one follow-up question on each answer, the way a real interviewer would. Do not give feedback until I say "end interview".
Then answer like it is real. Sit up, speak at your normal pace, and do not pause to read notes.
Step 5: Ask for honest feedback
When you say "end interview", ask:
Now give me honest feedback. For each answer: a score out of 10, one thing I did well, one thing to fix, and where I was vague or too long. Do not be polite for the sake of it. Then tell me the one answer I should practise again first.
AI tends to be encouraging by default, so you have to ask for the honesty. Then redo your weakest two answers and compare.
A good rhythm is two or three short mock interviews spread over a few days, rather than one long session the night before.
Step 6: Prepare your own questions for them
Interviews are two-way. Ask the AI:
Suggest 5 thoughtful questions I could ask the interviewer, based on this job description and what you know about the company. Avoid anything I could easily find on their website.
Pick two that you genuinely want answered. Questions like "What does success look like in the first 90 days?" tell the interviewer you are already thinking about doing the job well.
What not to let AI do
- Do not use it during the live interview. Reading AI answers off a second screen is dishonest, it shows in your pauses and your flat delivery, and if it works you end up in a job you were not ready for. Practise with AI, then walk in with your own words.
- Do not memorise its answers word for word. Memorised answers sound memorised. Know your stories and your key points, and let the sentences come naturally.
- Do not trust its facts about the company blindly. If it tells you about a product launch or a leader's name, check it on the company's own website or a news source before you mention it.
- Do not let it decide whether you should take the offer. That is your call. I wrote about why in stop letting AI make your decisions.
Want help with your next career move?
Practising answers is one step. Knowing which roles to aim for, which AI skills to build and how to talk about them with confidence is the bigger plan. If you want a personalised plan and someone in your corner, explore the 1:1 programs at The Arthi AI Collective. Or start with my 90-day AI roadmap for non-IT professionals.