7-day plan – 280 minutes in total
InterviewReady: your first seven days
The week takes about 4 hours 40 minutes in total: 35, 40, 45, 45, 40, 45 and 30 minutes. If you miss a day, do it the next day and push the rest along by one day; never double up two days, because Days 3 and 4 need a fresh head.
Diagnose, then pick one target
- Open the Action Workbook to page 2 and score all 10 rows of the Interview Readiness Diagnostic from 1 to 5, then total them out of 50 (10 minutes). 40-50 means refine delivery; 28-39 means focused preparation; below 28 means rebuild evidence first.
- Read Core Guide Module 2 (page 5) and fill the Target Role Decision on Workbook page 3, ending with the one-sentence target: I help (type of employer) achieve (outcome) by using (capabilities) (15 minutes).
- Open the Job Search Tracker and enter every application you have open right now with its stage and next follow-up date (10 minutes).
Files used today: InterviewReady_Action_Workbook_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Core_Guide_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Job_Search_Tracker_2026.xlsx
Without the kit: Take the self-assessment on this site (the same 10 rows), then write the one-sentence target on paper and list your open applications with a next-step date on the same sheet.
End-of-day check: A total out of 50 and one target sentence are written down and dated.
Decode one real posting
- Read Core Guide Module 3 (page 7), then paste one real job posting beside Workbook page 4, the Job Description Decoder, and fill its five boxes: top five outcomes, repeated phrases, must-haves, hidden risks, ten predicted questions (25 minutes).
- Fill the Role Scorecard on Workbook page 6: rate each capability's importance 1 to 5 and write the proof you have today, or the gap (10 minutes).
- Beside each of the ten predicted questions write either the story you would use or the preparation task that would create one (5 minutes).
Files used today: InterviewReady_Core_Guide_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Action_Workbook_2026.pdf
Without the kit: Use any posting for a role you want and a sheet with the five headings above; the method is the headings, not the worksheet.
End-of-day check: Ten predicted questions exist and every one has a story or a preparation task next to it.
Mine 25 moments, keep 12
- Read Core Guide Module 4 (page 9) and answer its seven evidence-mining questions on Workbook page 9, Evidence Mining: 25 Moments, until you have 25 lines (20 minutes).
- Choose the strongest 12 and move them to the Evidence Bank on Workbook page 11, adding scale, frequency, time or result to each so every row carries a number (20 minutes).
- For any team result, write the contribution sentence from Module 4: the team achieved (result), my responsibility was (scope), the action I personally owned was (contribution). Then delete every claim you could not defend to a sceptical interviewer (5 minutes).
Files used today: InterviewReady_Core_Guide_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Action_Workbook_2026.pdf
Without the kit: Run technique 1 on the Start Here page, Build Your Evidence Bank; it is the same 25-to-12 method with the quantification table.
End-of-day check: Twelve Evidence Bank rows exist and each has at least one number in it.
Build four STAR+ answers
- Read Core Guide Module 5 (page 11) and copy the 90-second map onto a card: 0-15 seconds context and goal, 15-65 seconds two to four actions, 65-80 seconds result with evidence, 80-90 seconds the lesson (5 minutes).
- Fill STAR+ Story Planners 1 to 4 on Workbook pages 12, 14, 16 and 18: a measurable result, an ambiguous problem, competing priorities, and conflict (25 minutes).
- Record each of the four answers once on your phone without notes, cut anything over two minutes, and give every story a five-word label (15 minutes).
Files used today: InterviewReady_Core_Guide_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Action_Workbook_2026.pdf
Without the kit: Run technique 2 on the Start Here page, the STAR+ 90-Second Answer Map, for four stories from your evidence list.
End-of-day check: Four recordings exist, each under two minutes, and four five-word labels are written on one card.
The eight questions that decide interviews
- Read Core Guide Module 6 (page 13) and write 60-second answers for the eight core questions: tell me about yourself (Present-Past-Future), why this role, greatest weakness, a failure, a conflict, leadership without title, why you are leaving, why we should hire you (25 minutes).
- List every reasonable concern about your background on Workbook page 46, the Difficult Background Planner, and write one acknowledge-bridge-prove answer for the biggest one, per Module 8 (page 17) (10 minutes).
- If you use an AI assistant, run Prompt 40, Audit ten core answers, from the AI Prompt Vault (page 10), pasting sanitised answers with names and employers removed (5 minutes).
Files used today: InterviewReady_Core_Guide_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Action_Workbook_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_AI_Prompt_Vault_2026.pdf
Without the kit: Run technique 3 on the Start Here page, Acknowledge, Bridge, Prove, for the one background question you dread most, and time your tell-me-about-yourself answer to 60 seconds.
End-of-day check: Eight answers each time under 60 seconds and one acknowledge-bridge-prove answer is written.
Mock, video, and questions for them
- Set up video per Core Guide Module 7 (page 15): camera at eye level, light in front, notifications off, five-word story labels beside the screen (5 minutes).
- Record three timed answers to questions from the 360 Question Bank and score each on Workbook page 48, Mock Interview Scorecard 1, using the Module 10 rubric (page 21): relevance, evidence, structure, concision, ownership, reflection, 1 to 5 each; improve only two behaviours on the next take (25 minutes).
- Prepare six questions for the employer on Workbook page 51, rank them by stage, include one that evaluates the manager, and write your 20-second close from Module 11 (page 23) (15 minutes).
Files used today: InterviewReady_Core_Guide_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Action_Workbook_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_360_Question_Bank_2026.pdf
Without the kit: Record three answers on your phone and score each 1 to 5 on relevance, evidence, structure, concision, ownership and reflection; then write six questions you genuinely need answered before accepting an offer.
End-of-day check: Three scored recordings, six ranked questions and a written 20-second close exist.
Follow-up, tracker, re-score
- Draft your same-day thank-you from the Follow-Up and Negotiation Scripts (page 2) for your next interview, with one detail that could not be sent unchanged to another employer, and plan it on Workbook page 55 (10 minutes).
- Update every row of the Job Search Tracker: stage, date of last contact, next follow-up date (10 minutes).
- Re-take the diagnostic on Workbook page 2, write the new total out of 50 next to Day 1's, and circle the two lowest rows as next week's focus (10 minutes).
Files used today: InterviewReady_Follow_Up_and_Negotiation_Scripts_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Action_Workbook_2026.pdf, InterviewReady_Job_Search_Tracker_2026.xlsx
Without the kit: Re-take the self-assessment on this site and compare with Day 1; write the two lowest rows at the top of next week's list.
End-of-day check: Two totals out of 50 are written side by side and two rows are circled for next week.
After day seven
Repeat Days 3 and 4 every week until the Evidence Bank holds 12 rows you can say from memory and eight STAR+ stories are recorded under two minutes. Before every real interview, repeat Day 6 for that posting and Day 7 the same evening. Re-score the diagnostic every 7 days; the two lowest rows set the next week.