Interview prep, mock interviews and feedback — the questions people ask

What is a mock interview?

A mock interview is a practice interview that copies the real thing as closely as possible: the same questions, the same format, the same time limit, with feedback afterwards. The point is not to memorise answers. It is to find out what you actually sound like under pressure, while it still costs nothing to be bad at it. Most people discover their problem is not knowledge — it is that their first answer rambles for two minutes and never says what they did.

How do I prepare for an interview?

Three things, in order.

Find out what that round actually tests. A first-round investment banking screen and a consulting case are not the same interview and do not reward the same preparation. Across the seats we have researched, communication is scored more often than anything else — more often than technical knowledge — followed by motivation and collaboration.

Rehearse out loud. Reading question lists silently is the most common mistake. It builds recognition, not the ability to produce a structured answer in sixty seconds with someone looking at you. The gap between “I know this” and “I can say this” is where interviews are lost.

Get feedback on something you actually said. Not on your plan to say it. Record yourself or practise against something that answers back, then look at the transcript. Almost everyone is surprised.

What kinds of questions do interviewers actually ask?

We have written down the questions for 194 individual seats. Sorted by kind, the banks come out roughly:

• Behavioural — about half of everything. “Tell me about a time you…”, why this firm, why this role.
• Technical — about a quarter. Accounting, valuation, coding, domain knowledge.
• Case — a market sizing, a profitability problem, a structured walk-through.
• Market and product — smaller, and concentrated in markets and product roles.

The surprise for most people is the first line. Behavioural questions dominate even in technical seats, and they are the ones candidates prepare least.

What is a one-way or HireVue interview, and how do I practise it?

A one-way interview — often called a HireVue after one of the platforms — records you answering questions on camera with nobody on the other end. You usually get a short window to prepare and a fixed time to answer, and you may get one retake or none.

It is now near-universal: all 194 of the seats we have researched include a one-way round. People fail it on format rather than content — talking to a lens with a countdown running is a skill, and the first time you do it should not be the time that counts.

How is Falas different from reading a list of interview questions?

A list tells you what might come up. It cannot tell you whether your answer lands, because you never said it.

Falas runs the interview. You speak, the interviewer follows up on what you actually said rather than reading down a script, and afterwards every answer is scored against the rubric for that seat. You see a stronger version of your own answer — built from your experience, not a template — and the habits that cost you points, named.

Practise a real interview

Where do the questions come from?

Every question carries a grade for where it came from:

• Reported — a candidate who sat the round wrote it down.
• Published — the firm’s own guidance, or a source that trains for it.
• Consistent — not reported to us, and written to match how that firm asks.

Each seat is studied on its own: the round it runs, the order it runs it in, and what it is listening for. A Goldman Sachs first round is not a McKinsey case, and practising one as the other is how people walk in unprepared. You can read the banks firm by firm.

Is it free to try?

Not the interviews. They use tokens, which come with a monthly plan or a code. Reading an interview’s brief is free, and recorded one-way practice costs a fraction of a live session.

Keep reading

• How to get an internship
• Interview questions, firm by firm