# Interview Prep > Use when someone needs a structured interview preparation plan before their interview process begins — a study schedule, gap analysis by topic area, and STAR story bank. This is planning, not practice. Triggers on: "interview prep plan". - Skill: `newkayak12/interview-prep` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add newkayak12/interview-prep` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/newkayak12/interview-prep/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: newkayak12 (https://skillmd.com/u/newkayak12) - Updated: 2026-09-21 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/newkayak12/interview-prep --- ## Standing Mandates - ALWAYS run gap analysis against the target role before generating the study plan. - ALWAYS calibrate the plan to the specific company, role, and timeline. - NEVER generate a generic study plan without knowing the candidate's interview date. - NEVER conflate interview prep planning (this skill) with interview practice (portfolio-interview skill). # Interview Prep Planner ## When to Use / When Not to Use **Use when:** - 2–12 weeks before an interview and you need a structured study plan - You want gap analysis across coding, system design, and behavioral topics - You need STAR story prompts calibrated to a specific company type **Not for:** - Live mock interview practice (use portfolio-interview) - Resume tailoring to a specific JD (use resume-tailorer) - General portfolio improvement (use portfolio-feedback or portfolio-rewrite) ## Process 1. **Gather context** — experience level, target company/role, timeline, interview format, biggest worry 2. **Calibrate to company type** — FAANG, Korean Tier-1, growth startup, or enterprise — each tests differently 3. **Identify weak areas** — coding, system design, behavioral across specific topic areas 4. **Produce week-by-week plan** — primary focus, daily practice, named resources, measurable weekly milestone 5. **Generate STAR story bank** — 6-8 behavioral story prompts matched to common question areas 6. **Final week guidance** — consolidation, mock interviews, logistics prep ## Standalone Inputs If following portfolio-feedback, portfolio-jd, or portfolio-company, you can start here by providing: - Your experience level and tech stack - Target company and role level - Interview timeline (weeks until interview) - Known format (e.g., 2 coding rounds + system design + behavioral) - Your biggest area of concern ## Output Template For each prep session, Claude delivers: 1. **Question bank** — 10-15 likely questions tailored to the role and company 2. **STAR responses** — structured answers for behavioral questions with specific examples 3. **Feedback** — scoring on clarity, specificity, and impact; suggestions for improvement 4. **Improvement plan** — 3 targeted areas to practice before the interview ## What Claude Does / What You Do | Claude | You | |--------|-----| | Calibrates study plan to company type (FAANG, Korean Tier-1, startup, enterprise) | Does the actual practice problems and mock interviews | | Identifies weak areas from your described background | Builds and refines your STAR story bank | | Produces week-by-week schedule with measurable milestones | Validates study plan with anyone who has done this interview | | Generates STAR story prompts for behavioral areas | Shows up rested and prepared on interview day | ## Related Skills - `../portfolio-interview/SKILL.md` — practice answering questions live after building this plan - `../portfolio-feedback/SKILL.md` — overall portfolio assessment before targeting specific companies - `../portfolio-jd/SKILL.md` — JD-specific gap analysis if you have a posting ## Why Generic Prep Fails "Study data structures and system design" is not a plan — it is a wish. Engineers who prepare without a structured plan study what they already know, avoid what they do not, and arrive underprepared in exactly the areas that matter for their target role. A good prep plan starts with two facts: what the company actually tests, and what the candidate's current gaps are. Everything else follows from those two inputs. --- ## Workflow Note — Sequential Thinking and Parallelization If `sequential-thinking` is available, use it to enforce this sequence: (1) gather context → (2) calibrate by company type → (3) identify gaps → (4) generate plan. Skipping gap analysis before planning is the most common failure. Once Step 2 (company calibration) is complete, gap analysis (Step 3) and domain study structure generation (from `references/study-domains.md`) can be run in parallel. --- ## Step 1 — Gather Context Before producing any plan, collect: 1. **Background:** How many years of experience? What is the current/recent role and tech stack? 2. **Target:** Which company or type of company? Which role level? (IC3 vs. Staff, for example) 3. **Timeline:** How many weeks until the interview (or target application date)? 4. **Interview format known?** (e.g., two coding rounds + system design + behavioral, or unknown) 5. **Biggest worry:** What area feels most uncertain right now? If the user has already provided this, proceed directly to the plan. Do not ask for information already given. --- ## Step 2 — Company/Role Calibration Different companies test materially differently. Calibrate the plan accordingly. ### FAANG / Top-Tier (Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix-style) - Coding: LeetCode medium/hard, emphasis on optimal time/space complexity - System design: large-scale distributed systems, explicit tradeoff discussion expected - Behavioral: leadership principles, specific STAR stories required (Amazon especially) - Bar: correct solution is not enough — interviewers probe time complexity, edge cases, and alternative approaches ### Korean Tier-1 (Kakao, Naver, Line, Coupang) - Coding: algorithm-heavy, often includes implementation-level problems (graph, DP, BFS/DFS) - System design: architecture of real services, Korean-scale traffic considerations - Cultural fit: collaborative style, team contribution, communication quality ### Growth-Stage Startups - Coding: practical problems, less focus on extreme optimization - System design: pragmatic choices, speed of delivery vs. scale tradeoff - Behavioral: ownership, autonomy, self-direction — what did you initiate? ### Enterprise / B2B / Fintech - Coding: often take-home or lower difficulty - System design: reliability, observability, security - Cultural: process maturity, documentation, stability-oriented decisions Adjust topic weights based on the target. A perfect LeetCode hard solver who cannot discuss distributed systems tradeoffs will not pass a Google system design round. --- ## Step 3 — Weak Area Identification For each major area, assess based on the user's description: ### Coding - Can they solve medium LeetCode problems consistently in 30 minutes? - Are they comfortable with: arrays/strings, hash maps, trees, graphs, dynamic programming, sliding window, two pointers, binary search? - Do they communicate reasoning while coding (not just the final solution)? ### System Design - Can they scope a system from vague requirements to a concrete design in 45 minutes? - Do they address: API design, data modeling, scalability bottlenecks, caching, failure modes, monitoring? - Do they drive the conversation or wait to be led? ### Behavioral - Do they have 5–7 distinct STAR stories ready covering: ownership, conflict, failure, impact, leadership? - Are stories specific (numbers, outcomes, personal role) or generic ("we improved the system")? Flag specific gaps. The prep plan allocates study time in proportion to gap severity. --- ## Step 4 — Produce the Prep Plan Structure the plan by week. Each week has: - Primary focus area - Specific resource or practice target - Measurable milestone to verify the week worked ### Plan Template ``` ## Interview Prep Plan Target: [Company] [Role] — [N] weeks ### Week-by-Week Schedule **Week 1: [Focus Area]** - Goal: [Measurable outcome] - Daily practice: [Specific activity] - Resources: [Named, specific resources] - Milestone: [How to verify the week was effective] [Repeat for each week] ### Topic Priority List (by urgency) 1. [Highest gap / highest weight topic] 2. ... ### STAR Story Bank [6–8 prompts for stories to prepare, matched to common behavioral questions] ### Final Week Checklist [Mock interview, review weak areas, logistics prep] ``` --- ## Domain Study Structures For domain-specific study structures (coding topic sequencing and practice volume, system design core concepts and practice format, behavioral STAR story bank), read `references/study-domains.md` after completing Steps 1–4. --- ## Final Week Do not study new material in the final week. Focus on: - Two full mock interviews (coding + system design) - Review your STAR stories aloud — hear how they sound, not just how they read - Re-attempt your three hardest practice problems to rebuild confidence - Logistics: time zone, Zoom setup, whiteboard tool if virtual, rest The final week is consolidation, not cramming.