Job Interview Preparation Checklist (2 Weeks, 14 Steps)
Fourteen steps to prepare a job interview in two weeks, from company research to the morning commute, with what to decide at each one.
Most interviews are lost on things that had nothing to do with competence: an answer nobody rehearsed, a salary number improvised on the spot, a train missed. Two weeks is enough time to remove all of them. This checklist puts the work in the order the calendar imposes, ending with the parts you can only do the day before.
- D-12
1.Research company
Go past the homepage: last twelve months of news, the latest results or funding round, who the competitors are, and what the recent Glassdoor-style reviews complain about. Two hours here is what lets you answer "why us" with a fact instead of a compliment.
- D-10
2.Analyze job posting
Line up each requirement against something you have actually done, and mark the two or three where you have no evidence. Those are the questions you will be asked, so decide now how you address the gap rather than improvising it.
- D-8
3.Elevator pitch
Ninety seconds, out loud, timed: who you are, what you have delivered, why this role now. Record it once — you will hear the filler words you cannot hear while speaking.
- D-8
4.Key achievements
Prepare five stories in situation-task-action-result form, each with one number in it: a percentage, a headcount, a delay cut. Vague achievements are the fastest way to sound interchangeable with the other candidates.
- D-6
5.Questions for interviewer
Write six, expect to ask three — the rest get answered during the conversation. Aim at how the team works, how success is measured at six months, and why the role is open; avoid anything a careful reading of the posting already answers.
- D-5
6.Common questions
Draft answers for the unavoidable ones: greatest weakness, why you are leaving, salary expectations, a conflict you handled. Fix your salary range now, with a floor you will not go under, because that number is much worse when invented under pressure.
- D-4
7.Professional outfit
Match the company's actual dress code, one notch up. Try it on a week ahead: this is when you discover the shirt needs ironing, the jacket needs a cleaner, or the shoes are done for.
- D-3
8.Print CV
Bring three printed copies — panels grow at the last minute. Check that the printed version matches the one you sent, dates included, since discrepancies are read as carelessness.
- D-3
9.Portfolio / references
Pick two or three work samples you can talk through in five minutes, and clear anything confidential from a former employer. Warn your referees now that they may be called, and confirm which phone number they want used.
- D-2
10.Check route
Do the journey at the actual interview time if you can, or at minimum check the route, the strikes and the roadworks. For a video interview, this is the day you test camera, mic and link on the real platform, not a similar one.
- D-1
11.Materials (pen, notepad)
Pen, notepad, a printed copy of the posting and your list of questions in one folder. Taking notes during the answers is read as interest, and you will need them for the follow-up email.
- D-1
12.Review notes
One pass, thirty minutes, no new material. Adding a fresh fact the night before mostly buys you the anxiety of not having rehearsed it.
- D-1
13.Early to bed
Set two alarms and stop preparing. Sleep affects recall and reaction speed more than one extra hour of revision ever will.
- D-0
14.Leave early
Plan to arrive thirty minutes early, then wait nearby and present yourself five to ten minutes before the time. Arriving flustered costs you the first three minutes, which are the ones people remember.
How to adapt this checklist
The 14 steps hold for most interviews, but three variables move them.
Interview format. A remote interview turns step 10 into a technical rehearsal — platform, camera angle, headset, backup phone number — and it should happen two days out, not on the morning. A technical or case interview adds real work between steps 2 and 4: budget four to six hours for exercises, and start earlier than fourteen days.
Which round it is. A first screening with a recruiter is mostly steps 1, 3 and 6. A final round with the hiring manager or a panel is where steps 4, 5 and 9 decide the outcome, and where salary comes up for real.
How much you want it. For a role you are lukewarm about, steps 1 and 2 still matter — they are how you find out whether to keep going. For the role you want, double the time on step 4 and rehearse it with someone else listening.
The steps people underestimate
Step 6, common questions. Everyone assumes they will improvise the salary answer. Almost nobody improvises it well; a number given too low is never renegotiated upward in the same process.
Step 5, questions for the interviewer. Having none reads as indifference, and it is the last thing said in the room — so it is what gets remembered.
Step 10, checking the route. The cheapest step on the list and the one that ruins the most interviews. Check it the day before, not the morning of.
This is the same 14-step plan DraftLine generates, with real dates counted back from your interview.
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