Interview Prep
An interview is an opportunity for an employer to assess your skills and evaluate if you are a good fit for the specific position and the overall company. As an interviewee, your role is to showcase how your experience and skills can help a potential employer achieve their organizational goals. It supplements your resume, cover letter, transcript, and other written applications.
Preparing for your interview
Successful interviews start with preparation. Take time to research the company—its mission, values, and recent work—and think about how your skills and experiences align with their needs. It’s also important to understand the organization’s culture. Employers are looking for candidates who not only have the qualifications, but who will also contribute positively to the team dynamic. When you know the role and the workplace well, you’ll feel more confident and ready to engage meaningfully in the conversation.
Prepare with Interview Playbooks
Interview Playbooks from Big Interview help you prepare for a successful interview. This video curriculum is approximately one hour long. View Interview Playbooks
New user to Big Interview?
Register as a new user on Big Interview. To get full access, you must use your UCSC email address.
STAR method
The STAR method is a helpful way to structure responses to behavioral interview questions—questions that ask about how you’ve handled situations in the past to predict your future success in a role. It helps you tell a clear, compelling story that highlights your skills and decision-making.
S – Situation
Set the stage. Briefly describe the context—who was involved, what was happening, and where it took place.
T – Task
Explain the challenge or responsibility you were facing. What goal needed to be accomplished?
A – Action
Describe the specific steps you took. Focus on your individual contributions, even if you worked on a team.
R – Result
Share the outcome. What happened? What did you accomplish or learn? If things didn’t go perfectly, highlight how you grew from the experience.
Example of STAR Method
Question/Prompt: Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership.
Response
SITUATION: My communications capstone course required a large group project, and my teammates selected me to be the leader of our group.
TASK: For this project, we had to develop a full marketing plan for a local business in Santa Cruz.
ACTION: As the team leader, I coordinated group meetings using Slack & When2Meet, communicated with local businesses, and met weekly with the professor to provide updates on behalf of our team. Additionally, I monitored the progress of each member on tasks such as ad development for our website. Once all work was completed, I edited the final contributions from the team into our final portfolio.
RESULT: The business was so pleased with our plan that they used two of our print and web designs for their company, and our group received an A in the class.
Practice with Question Sets from Big Interview
Dressing professionally is part of a successful interview
UCSC’s Career Clothing Closet provides free, lightly-used professional clothing for students to help you look your best at your next interview, career fair, or internship. Stop by the Career Success office and select up to 3 items per quarter. Wearing appropriate clothing for an interview or career fair will help you feel comfortable and confident, which enables you to make a great first impression.
A professional photo helps you look your best
The Career Success office has a Professional Photo Booth for UCSC students to use. It’s usually available as a drop-in service during our office hours; however during our career fairs, the photo booth is on-site at the events. We recommend you dress in a way that makes you feel good and look professional. Make your profile photo match your aspirations.
