# Interview Commander
**Master any interview with structured preparation, mock sessions, and tactical frameworks.**
Winging it is a strategy — a bad one. This skill makes you the most prepared candidate they've ever met.

## Philosophy
Interviews are not about being the smartest person in the room. They're about being the most **prepared** person in the room.

The preparation stack:
1. **Company Intel** — Know their business better than some employees
2. **Role Mapping** — Understand exactly what success looks like
3. **Story Arsenal** — 8-10 prepared stories covering all question types
4. **Question Bank** — Anticipate 80%+ of questions they'll ask
5. **Reverse Interview** — Ask questions that show strategic thinking
6. **Mock Practice** — Rehearse until responses feel natural, not scripted

## Input Required
- Job posting (full text or URL)
- Company name
- Interviewer names/roles (if known)
- Interview format (technical, behavioral, case, panel, etc.)
- Your resume/career notes

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Company Deep Dive
```
Research agenda:
- [ ] Product/service catalog and revenue model
- [ ] Recent quarterly earnings or funding rounds
- [ ] Competitors and market position
- [ ] Engineering blog (technical priorities, stack decisions)
- [ ] Recent press releases and news
- [ ] Glassdoor interview reviews for THIS role
- [ ] LinkedIn posts from leadership team
- [ ] Open GitHub repos and recent activity
```

### Phase 2: Role Deconstruction
```
From the job post, extract:
- Top 3 required skills (these WILL be tested)
- Top 3 responsibilities (these drive behavioral questions)
- Team size and reporting structure
- Growth path for this role
- Why this role exists (growth, replacement, new initiative)
```

### Phase 3: Story Arsenal (STAR-L Method)
Prepare 8-10 stories covering these categories:

**Situation → Task → Action → Result → Learning**

```
Story categories to prepare:

1. Technical Challenge
   "Tell me about a time you solved a difficult technical problem."

2. Leadership / Initiative
   "Tell me about a time you took ownership beyond your role."

3. Conflict Resolution
   "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague."

4. Failure / Learning
   "Tell me about a time you failed."

5. Collaboration
   "Tell me about a time you worked with a cross-functional team."

6. Under Pressure
   "Tell me about a time you had a tight deadline."

7. Ambiguity
   "Tell me about a time you had to figure something out with little guidance."

8. Mentorship / Teaching
   "Tell me about a time you helped someone grow."

9. Data-Driven Decision
   "Tell me about a time you used data to make a decision."

10. Innovation
    "Tell me about a time you improved a process or system."
```

**For each story, prepare:**
```
STORY: [Title]
Situation: [2 sentences of context]
Task: [1 sentence of what you needed to do]
Action: [3-4 sentences of what YOU specifically did]
Result: [1-2 sentences with metrics]
Learning: [1 sentence of takeaway]

Keywords it hits: [leadership, ownership, technical-depth, etc.]
Questions it answers: [list of question types this story fits]
```

### Phase 4: Question Bank Generation
```
Based on role type, generate anticipated questions:

## Behavioral (all roles)
- "Walk me through your experience with [tech from job post]"
- "Why are you leaving your current role?"
- "Why do you want to work here?"
- "Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?"
- "What's your biggest weakness?" (reframe as growth area)

## Technical (engineering roles)
- System design: "Design [system relevant to company]"
- Coding: Practice LeetCode patterns common for this level
- Architecture: "How would you scale [their product]?"
- Debugging: "How would you investigate [production issue]?"

## Leadership (senior/staff+)
- "How do you make technical decisions?"
- "Tell me about a time you influenced without authority"
- "How do you handle tech debt vs feature velocity?"
- "How do you mentor junior engineers?"

## Product/Business (PM, startup roles)
- "How would you prioritize [conflicting priorities]?"
- "What's your framework for making product decisions?"
- "Tell me about a product you shipped and its impact"

## Case Study (consulting, strategy)
- Market sizing questions
- Profitability frameworks
- Market entry analysis
```

### Phase 5: Reverse Interview Questions
```
Questions to ask THEM (pick 5-7):

Culture & Team:
- "What does a typical week look like for someone in this role?"
- "How does the team make technical decisions?"
- "What's the ratio of feature work to maintenance?"

Growth & Impact:
- "What does success look like in the first 6 months?"
- "What's the biggest challenge the team is facing right now?"
- "How has this role evolved over the past year?"

Technical (for engineering):
- "How do you handle tech debt?"
- "What's your deployment process like?"
- "How do you balance speed vs quality?"

Red Flag Detectors:
- "Why is this position open?"
- "What's the team's attrition rate like?"
- "How would you describe the work-life balance?"

Strategic (shows you think big):
- "What's the company's biggest technical challenge in the next year?"
- "How does this role contribute to [company goal]?"
- "What would you change about the product if resources were unlimited?"
```

### Phase 6: Mock Interview Mode
```
Run a practice session:

1. Claude acts as interviewer for the target role
2. Ask 5-7 questions from the generated question bank
3. User responds (voice or text)
4. Claude evaluates each response:
   - Did you use the STAR format?
   - Was there a measurable result?
   - Did you mirror their language?
   - Was the answer under 2 minutes?
   - What was the weakest part?
5. Repeat until scores are consistently 8/10+
```

## Interview Format Playbooks

### Technical Screen (45-60 min)
```
Minute 0-5:   Intro + "Tell me about yourself" (90 seconds max)
Minute 5-40:  Coding/system design problem
Minute 40-55: Your questions for them
Minute 55-60: Close + next steps

Strategy:
- Think aloud constantly
- Ask clarifying questions before coding
- Start with brute force, then optimize
- Mention time/space complexity
- Test with edge cases
```

### Behavioral Round (45-60 min)
```
Minute 0-5:   Small talk + "Walk me through your resume"
Minute 5-45:  4-6 behavioral questions
Minute 45-60: Your questions

Strategy:
- Each answer: 90-120 seconds max
- Always end with a result/impact
- Bridge to your prepared stories
- Show self-awareness + growth
```

### Panel Interview (60-90 min)
```
Multiple interviewers, often mixing behavioral + technical.

Strategy:
- Address answers to the question-asker but make eye contact with all
- Note each interviewer's role — tailor examples to their concerns
- The "silent" panelist is often the most senior — watch their reactions
```

### Case Study (45-60 min)
```
Framework:
1. Clarify the problem (ask 3-5 questions upfront)
2. Structure your approach (share your framework)
3. Analyze (do the math, show your work)
4. Synthesize (give a recommendation with tradeoffs)
5. Risks and next steps

Never:
- Jump to a solution without structuring
- Ignore numbers/data provided
- Give a recommendation without acknowledging tradeoffs
```

## Post-Interview

### Thank You Email (send within 4 hours)
```
Hi [Interviewer Name],

Thank you for the conversation today. I really enjoyed discussing [specific topic from interview].

[One sentence referencing something specific they said or a problem you discussed].

[Optional: brief follow-up on a question you could have answered better].

I'm even more excited about the [Role] after our conversation. Looking forward to next steps.

Best,
[Name]
```

### Self-Assessment Template
```
Interview Score Card:

Overall confidence: [1-10]

Per-question evaluation:
Q1: [Question asked]
    My answer: [Brief recall]
    Score: [1-10]
    What I should have said: [Better answer]

Q2: ...

Missed signals:
- [Things they mentioned that I should follow up on]

Follow-up actions:
- [ ] Send thank you email
- [ ] Reference [topic] in follow-up
- [ ] Prepare for likely next round format
```

## Integration with Other Skills
- **jobhunter-master**: Receives company research and interviewer info
- **resume-architect**: Shares career data for story preparation
- **salary-negotiator**: If salary comes up during interview
- **gog**: Send thank-you emails
- **browser**: Research interviewers on LinkedIn

## Files
- `memory/interview-prep/[company]-[role].md` — Full prep document
- `memory/story-arsenal.md` — Master list of reusable STAR stories
- `memory/mock-results/[company]-[date].md` — Practice session scores