ChatGPT Interview Prep Guide
for High School and College Students
By Lasse Palomaki | © 2025 The Strategic Student LLC
What to Expect
Skip the guesswork and unlock a complete blueprint on using ChatGPT as an Interview Preparation tool through this comprehensive guide for high school and college students. The advice covered is grounded in practical, real-world insights. (This guide is not major- or industry-specific.)
By the end of this guide, you should feel confident in your ability to:
✓ Craft prompts that generate actionable advice specific to your situation
✓ Use ChatGPT as a resource for every stage of the interview process
✓ Leverage ChatGPT to its fullest potential
No more guesswork. No more confusion. Just actionable tactics you can apply today.
Here’s what we’ll cover — feel free to start wherever makes the most sense for you:
What is ChatGPT
From homework completion to career exploration and even vacation planning, AI platforms like ChatGPT can support students in countless ways in their academic, professional, and personal lives. Regardless of the use case, the importance of purposeful prompts cannot be overstated; the effectiveness of your prompts directly impacts the quality of the responses you receive.
You can think of ChatGPT as your 24/7 personal interview coach, ready to assist you whenever you need it. This guide focuses on practical ChatGPT prompts that make preparing for interviews easier and more effective. Use these prompts as a foundation, adjusting them to your unique experiences and objectives.
While this document provides a glimpse into the valuable support ChatGPT can offer for interviews, it only scratches the surface of its capabilities as a whole. Beyond interview prep, ChatGPT can help with everything from resume building to networking strategies, making it a powerful ally in your career journey.
Prompting Best Practices
When using ChatGPT to prepare for interviews, the quality of your prompts directly influences the usefulness of the responses you receive. Below are some general guidelines to keep in mind as you craft prompts for your interview preparation.
Be Specific: Clearly define the context and focus of your prompt. Instead of asking for general advice, specify the job title, industry, or type of interview you're preparing for. Attach relevant information like job descriptions and resumes.
Assign a Persona: Improve the depth of the responses by asking ChatGPT to adopt a specific persona. This could be an interview coach, an industry expert, or a recruiter, which can help tailor the advice more closely to your needs.
Create a Logical Step Flow: Break your prompt into clear, ordered steps so ChatGPT understands exactly how to approach the task. A structured flow (e.g., Step 1: Review the job description, Step 2: Analyze my resume) reduces ambiguity and produces stronger, more actionable output.
Focus on Your Goals: Clearly state what you hope to achieve with the prompt. Whether it's practicing a response, generating questions to ask, or seeking industry insights, outlining your goal helps shape the conversation.
Ask for Examples: When seeking guidance or advice, request examples to demonstrate the points. This can help you understand how to apply the advice effectively.
Iterate and Refine: If the initial response isn’t what you were hoping for, don’t hesitate to refine your prompt or ask follow-up questions. This can lead to more useful and relevant information.
Customize ChatGPT: Should you want, you can set custom instructions to ChatGPT to tailor the output to your needs. Simply go to ‘Settings’ → ‘Personalization’ → ‘Custom instructions’ and provide your preferences.
Important: Do not include any personal identifying information in your prompts to protect your privacy.
3 ChatGPT Prompts for Interview Prep
The prompts below are examples that you can use for interview prep. This is not intended to be an exhaustive listing, but a sample that provides you with actionable ideas you can implement when preparing for interviews. Adjust the prompts as needed to best suit your situation and objectives.
Important: You should rarely, if ever, expect to use the output as it comes. Always take it with a grain of salt and understand that ChatGPT is simply a tool and a resource, not a magic wand.
1. Analyzing the Job Description
Prompt: "You are an interview preparation coach. Please help me anticipate likely interview questions based on a job description. Follow these steps in order:
First – Review the job description:
[Paste job description here]
Second – Identify focus areas:
List the top 5–7 competencies, skills, or themes emphasized in the job description (e.g., leadership, data analysis, cross-team collaboration)
Third – Generate questions:
Provide 8–10 likely interview questions a hiring manager might ask based on these themes
Include a mix of behavioral, situational, and technical/skills-based questions
Highlight which 3–4 questions are most likely to be asked, based on the wording and emphasis of the job description
Fourth – Identify high-level themes:
Suggest 3–4 broad themes (e.g., leadership, solving problems under pressure, learning new systems quickly, data analysis)
Explain how preparing one strong CARL (Context, Action, Result, Lesson) story for each theme can help me answer multiple different questions
Fifth – Prep guidance:
Suggest what I should highlight in my responses to show alignment with the role
Identify transferable skills and experiences from my background that I should emphasize"
Important: There is no guarantee that these questions will come up in your interview, and it’s likely they won’t be identical in their phrasing even if they do came up. Don’t let this throw you off – chances are you have still prepared relevant stories that can be adapted in the moment.
2. Brainstorm CARL Stories from Your Resume
[Note: This works well as a follow-up to the Mapping Interview Questions prompt.]
Prompt: "You are an interview preparation coach. Please help me craft strong CARL (Context, Action, Result, Lesson) interview responses. Follow these steps:
First – Review the job description:
Identify the top 3–5 competencies emphasized (e.g., leadership, problem-solving, data analysis)
Job description: [Paste job description here]
Second – Review my experience:
Suggest 3–4 experiences from my background that best align with the job description competencies
My resume: [Paste resume here – do not include personal details/contact information]
Third – Structure the story: For each selected experience, break it into CARL format:
Context: Set the context (who, what, when) and what I was responsible for
Action: The specific steps I took
Result: The measurable outcome (numbers, percentages, or impact if possible)
Lesson: What I learned or how I grew from this experience
Important: If any details are missing or unclear in my resume, make reasonable assumptions to complete the story — but clearly highlight those assumptions in the output (e.g., mark them with [ASSUMED]) so I can review and confirm or adjust them later.
Fourth – Connect to the target role:
Show how this story demonstrates skills or experiences that align directly with the role’s requirements
Suggest phrasing I can use to make that connection explicit in an interview"
Important: When attaching your resume, remove any personal identifying information (e.g., name, phone, email, location).
3. Researching Companies and Industries
[Note: For research-heavy prompts like this, Perplexity AI typically returns more recent data and clearer citations than ChatGPT.]
Prompt: "Act as a company research analyst. Please help me prepare for an upcoming interview through in-depth company research. Follow these steps in order and provide your answers in a structured format.
Company: [Paste company name here]
Job description: [Paste job description here]
First – Company overview:
Summarize the company’s main products and services, including any recent innovations.
Explain how these offerings fit into the broader industry.
Second – Recent activity:
Identify 3–5 key announcements, partnerships, or news stories from the past 18 months.
For each, explain why it matters to the company and what it signals about future direction.
Third – Leadership and culture:
Provide short profiles of the CEO and key executives (background, tenure, focus areas).
Summarize the company’s stated mission, values, and culture — and give 1–2 examples of how these show up in practice.
Fourth – Performance and strategy:
Summarize the company’s financial performance over the past 3–5 years (growth, revenue trends, notable challenges).
Explain what this suggests about the company’s current priorities.
Fifth – Industry context:
Outline the key industry trends, technologies, or regulatory challenges that could impact the company.
Identify 2–3 main competitors and compare how [company name] is positioned against them.
Include any emerging opportunities or risks (e.g., AI adoption, sustainability, regulation shifts).
Sixth – Application to the interview:
Suggest 3–4 ways I could use this information in my preparation (e.g., tailoring an interview answer, asking insightful questions, showing awareness of industry trends).
Provide 2–3 sample questions I could ask the interviewer that show I’ve done my homework."
Important: Do not rely only on the research conducted through Perplexity AI; it is always a good idea to review the organization’s website and other sources (e.g., social media pages) for additional information.
Get Your FREE Career Exploration Prompts
Important: Want even more ChatGPT help? Check out our ChatGPT Career Exploration Prompts for college students.
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Conclusion
Leveraging tools like ChatGPT can enhance your preparation and boost your confidence in interviews. However, while ChatGPT is a valuable resource, it should complement your non-AI preparation efforts – not replace them.
You can request interview coaching from career services, use tools like LinkedIn’s Interview Prep tool, or consult with professionals (e.g., alumni) in your target roles to get interview tips directly from an industry insider.
With the right preparation, you’ll be well-equipped to make a strong impression in your interviews.
PS. To receive further personalized 1:1 ChatGPT coaching that can address questions specific to your unique situation, you can check out our coaching services here.
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This guide is intended for educational and informational purposes only. While the strategies and advice provided aim to assist students in their internship and job search, The Strategic Student LLC does not guarantee employment or any specific job outcomes as a result of using this guide. Success depends on individual effort, qualifications, and other factors beyond the scope of this guide.
