Final Recap — Your Interview Prep Checklist

# Your Interview Prep Checklist Print this. Run through it before any interview cycle. ## 1 week before - [ ] Pre-write 5 STAR stories: disagreed-with-stakeholder, made-a-mistake, learned-fast, pushed-back, delivered-with-constraints. - [ ] Memorize the 10 SQL patterns. Solve 1 question of each on StrataScratch or LeetCode. - [ ] Practice 3 case-study questions out loud, timing yourself (~10 min each). - [ ] Get market salary data for the role in your city. - [ ] Confirm your portfolio link (`/u/ ` on Topfolio) is up to date. ## Day before - [ ] Re-read the company's most recent press / blog / earnings. - [ ] Re-read your own resume — interviewers will quote from it. - [ ] Sleep 8 hours. - [ ] Lay out a clean shirt + working camera setup if remote. ## 30 minutes before - [ ] Re-read your 5 STAR stories. Don't rehearse out loud — just refresh. - [ ] Open the SQL pattern list on a side monitor (for technical rounds where you'll write queries). - [ ] Open a blank doc to take notes during the interview. ## During the interview - [ ] For technical: name the pattern BEFORE you write SQL. - [ ] For case study: use the 4-step framework (clarify → frame → walk through → recommend). - [ ] For behavioral: STAR, but don't say the letters out loud. - [ ] Take notes. Reference them at the end. - [ ] Ask 2–3 thoughtful questions at the end. Recommended: "what does success look like in this role at 6 months?", "what does the data team's stack look like?", "what's the biggest open question your data team is wrestling with?" ## After the interview - [ ] Send a 3-sentence thank-you email within 12 hours. Reference one specific thing discussed. - [ ] Note what you'd do differently next time. Specific. - [ ] Update your story bank if you used a new STAR in this interview. ## When the offer comes - [ ] Don't accept the same day. - [ ] Don't reveal current salary. - [ ] One specific ask, anchored on market data. - [ ] Be willing to wait 24h. ## You're ready. The work you've done in this track — courses, practice tests, the capstone, the public portfolio — IS the differentiator. Walk in confident. You're not selling that you can learn data analytics. You're showing that you already have. Good luck.