I’ve sat on the other side of the table for hundreds of interviews over the past eight years, most of them online, as I’ve spent much of my career leading global teams scattered across countries and time zones.

I’ve hired people I’ve never met in person.

I’ve also passed on people who looked great on paper.

Most interview advice focuses on saying the right thing, making a great first impression and rehearsing the perfect answers. But in 2026, when AI can help candidates prepare for almost every aspect of an interview, showing up authentically matters more than ever.

In This Article, We Cover

• The truth about the Perfect First Impression
• Three Things That Can Kill your Interview
• Five Things That Get You on the Short List
• How to Answer Interview Questions Without Rambling
• The 24 Hours Before Your Interview

The truth about the Perfect First Impression

You’ve probably heard that hiring managers decide whether they like you within seconds and spend the rest of the interview confirming that decision.

First impressions certainly matter. But this advice creates unnecessary anxiety and dramatically oversimplifies how interviews actually work.

I’ve changed my mind about candidates during an interview.

Someone can start nervously and become impressive once we get into their area of expertise. Another candidate can make an excellent first impression and then struggle when we get to the technical part.

So if you stumble over your introduction, lose your train of thought for a second, or don’t deliver the perfect answer to “Tell me about yourself,” the interview isn’t over.

Instead of trying to manufacture a flawless first impression, focus on the things that hold up under scrutiny:

• Can you explain what you’ve done?
• Can you think through a problem?
• Can you communicate clearly?
• Can I trust what you’re telling me?

Three Things That Can Kill your Interview

Most candidates are not eliminated because they gave a wrong answer.

The biggest problems are usually more… fundamental.

1. Trying to Cheat

People have been trying to cheat during online interviews for years, but AI has made this considerably easier, and much more obvious.

Hiring managers are increasingly aware of it.

Reading answers from another screen, delivering strangely polished responses that don’t match the rest of the conversation, or suddenly using language completely different from the way you’ve communicated until that point can all raise questions.

Once the interviewer starts wondering whether they’re talking to you or to a tool, you’ve created a trust problem that’s very difficult to undo.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using AI to prepare for an interview.

Use it to research the company. Ask it to challenge your answers. Run mock interviews. Give it the job description and ask what questions you’re likely to receive. Use it to identify gaps in your examples.

But during the interview, the interviewer should be talking to you.

I’d much rather hear an imperfect answer that shows me how you think than a perfect answer you didn’t produce.

2. You Can’t Communicate Clearly in the Working Language

I lead international teams, and English is a second language for many of the people I work with.

It has to be clear that you can understand a question, explain a complicated problem, participate in a fast-moving call, write a clear update and make yourself understood if you need to present your case in front of the client/the business.

If you’re interviewing in a language you don’t use regularly, try these exercises while preparing:

• Have a conversation with someone in the language you’ll be interviewing in
• Record yourself
• Have a mock interview
• Practice explaining a complicated project out loud

The real interview shouldn’t be the first time you’ve tried to describe your experience.

3. Saying Yes to Everything

This one surprises people.

Candidates may think the safest answer is always yes.

Can you manage this?

Yes.

Would you be comfortable doing that?

Absolutely.

Could you handle this additional responsibility?

Of course.

But agreeing enthusiastically with every requirement tells me that you haven’t thought carefully about what you’re committing to.

Strong professionals understand their capabilities and their constraints.

Sometimes a good answer is:

“I haven’t done that exact thing before, but I’ve worked on something similar. Let me explain.”

Or: “I’d want to understand the expectations and available resources before committing to that timeline.”

Five Things That Get You on the Short List

1. You Are Honest About What You Know

If you don’t know something, don’t bluff. A confident guess will unravel very quickly.

Instead, try:

“I haven’t worked with that directly. My experience is with X, which sounds similar in these ways. If I needed to get up to speed on Y, I’d start by…”

That answer demonstrates self-awareness, good judgment and the ability to learn.

2. You Ask Good Questions

At some point, the Hiring Manager is going to ask:

“Do you have any questions for me?”

Please have some. This is one of the best opportunities you have to show me how you think.

Things like:

“What would make someone successful in this role during their first six months?”

“What’s the biggest challenge the team is dealing with right now?”

“Why is this position open?”

“How are decisions typically made across the team?”

“What tends to differentiate people who do well here from those who struggle?”

Those questions tell me you’re already thinking beyond getting the job and toward doing the job.

And remember, you’re interviewing the company too.

Pay attention to the answers.

3. You Communicate Clearly, Not Performatively

A strong interview doesn’t need to sound like a TED Talk. Comfortable pauses beat rambling.

And saying:

“That’s a good question. Give me a moment to think about it.”

is completely fine.

4. You Don’t Memorize Answers.

One of the biggest mistakes candidates make is preparing dozens of answers to dozens of possible interview questions.

Then the hiring manager asks the question differently and the script falls apart.

Prepare a few strong stories from your career.

Think about situations where you:

• solved a difficult problem
• handled conflict or disagreement
• made a mistake or experienced failure
• influenced people without direct authority
• delivered an important result
• led through change or uncertainty

Know the situation. Know what you were responsible for. Know the result. And know what you learned.

5. You Don’t Make Me Work to Discover How Good You Are

This is particularly important for experienced professionals.

I’ll sometimes ask a candidate about an impressive project and hear:

“We implemented…”

“The team delivered…”

“We managed to…”

Teamwork matters.

But I’m not interviewing your team.

I’m interviewing you.

Tell me what you did.

Instead of:

“We successfully delivered the transformation.”

Try:

“I led the implementation across four markets, coordinated the technical and business teams, and introduced a weekly risk review when we started seeing delays. The program ultimately launched on schedule.”

This matters particularly for women. Research from Harvard and Wharton found that women rated their own performance lower than equally performing men, despite performing just as well. If you’re already inclined to understate your achievements, constantly defaulting to “we” can make it even harder for an interviewer to understand what your actual contribution.

I’ve written more about how the language we use can undermine our authority at work.

How to Answer Interview Questions Without Rambling

Your interviewer should be able to follow your thinking. For experience-based questions, a structure that works is:

Context → Your role → What you did → Result → What you learned

Give enough context for the story to make sense, then move quickly to your contribution.

And whenever possible, make the outcome concrete.

Did you reduce costs?

Fix a failing project?

Improve customer satisfaction?

Deliver earlier than planned?

Lead 20 people?

Increase adoption?

Avoid a major risk?

Specifics make your experience credible and memorable.

The 24 Hours Before Your Interview

1. Read the job description once more. Identify the three or four capabilities the company seems to care about most.
2. Choose two or three career stories that demonstrate those capabilities.
3. Prepare two or three specific questions about the role, team and expectations.
4. Practice your introduction out loud, don’t memorize it word for word.
5. If you’re interviewing in a second language, speak it that day, warm up before the meeting.
6. Know your desired salary. If salary conversations make you uncomfortable, prepare for them before the interview. I put together a practical guide to negotiating your salary.
7. Check your technology. Camera, microphone, internet connection, meeting link and background.
8. Know your boundaries. Think beforehand about start dates, travel expectations or anything else you don’t want to agree to under pressure.
9. Then stop preparing. You are ready. Get some rest.

You want to arrive informed and alert, not exhausted from rehearsing until midnight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to use AI to prepare for a job interview?

Absolutely. AI can be extremely useful for analyzing job descriptions, generating practice questions, conducting mock interviews and challenging your answers. The problem isn’t AI-assisted preparation. It’s using AI deceptively during the actual interview instead of demonstrating your own knowledge and thinking.

What if I don’t know the answer to an interview question?

Say so, but don’t stop there. Explain what you do know, relate the question to relevant experience if possible, and describe how you would find the answer. A thoughtful “I don’t know yet” is stronger than an incorrect answer delivered confidently.

How long should my interview answers be?

Long enough to answer the question clearly, but not so long that the interviewer has to search for the point. For behavioral questions, focus on the context, your specific contribution and the result. If the interviewer wants more detail, they’ll ask.

What if I’m naturally reserved?

You don’t need to become extroverted to interview well. Confidence can look like speaking clearly, taking time to think, explaining your achievements accurately and asking thoughtful questions. You don’t need to dominate the conversation to demonstrate competence.

What are the best questions to ask at the end of an interview?

Ask questions that help you understand what it would actually be like to succeed in the role: what success looks like in this team, the team’s biggest challenge, how decisions are made, and what differentiates people who thrive in the organization.

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The Bottom Line

Before your next interview, don’t spend all your energy trying to predict every question.

Know your experience.

Know your stories.

Know what you bring to the table.

Prepare well enough that when the interview starts, you can have a genuinely good conversation.

References:

• The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion