The Job Interview Playbook

A job interview isn't a test of how well you answer questions.

I've spent more than 20 years in recruitment. I've interviewed thousands of people, worked with hundreds of hiring managers and sat in the conversations candidates never get to hear.

I've seen brilliant candidates give terrible interviews, and fairly average candidates walk away with offers because they understood how to communicate their value.

A lot of interview advice focuses far too much on the questions. An interview is a hiring decision: the person across the table is trying to work out whether they can trust you to do the job.

This playbook shows you how to prepare for that decision, step by step, and takes you into the conversation that happens after you've left the room.

This book is for you if

• You've got an interview coming up and want to prepare properly, not cram
• Your mind goes blank when someone asks for an example
• You're quiet or introverted and don't want to pretend to be someone else
• You keep reaching interviews but not getting offers, and want to understand why

What's inside

Ten chapters that build your preparation in stages, then six tools to do it with:

The psychology of a hiring manager

Why hiring is a decision about risk, and why evidence beats claims.

Predict your interview

Use the job description, your CV and some basic research to work out much of what you're likely to be asked.

Build your interview story bank

A set of examples from your career that you can adapt to dozens of different questions.

The questions you can't afford to wing

Prepare properly for the smaller number of questions that really matter.

Behavioural and competency questions

What "Tell me about a time when…" is really asking, and how to answer it.

In the interview

Structure your answers, stop yourself rambling, and recover when an answer goes wrong.

The questions you should ask them

Questions that tell you something useful, not just ones that sound impressive.

What happens after you leave the interview

Inside the conversation where candidates are compared and decisions get made.

Final interviews and later stages

How to approach the last stages without treating them as a formality.

After the interview

Follow-ups, feedback, and what to do while you wait.

Six practical tools

Interview Question Map, Story Bank, Questions You Can't Afford to Wing, Question Practice Bank, Questions to Ask Them, and Debrief & Next Stage Prep.

About Lee

Lee Harding has worked in recruitment for more than 20 years, building talent teams and making hiring decisions. He's interviewed thousands of people and sat in hundreds of the conversations that decide who gets the job. He writes for hundreds of thousands of followers as The Introverted Recruiter.