How to Run a Mock Interview That Actually Helps

Most people prepare for interviews by reading lists of questions and thinking about their answers. That helps a little. Saying the answers out loud, to someone who will tell you where they lost interest, helps a lot more. That is all a mock interview is, and it is worth setting up properly.

Choose the right interviewer

The best mock interviewer is someone who:

• will be honest. A close friend or partner tends to be kind rather than useful.
• knows something about the job, ideally someone who has hired for it or done it.
• can ask follow-up questions rather than just reading a list.

Good options are a former manager or colleague, a mentor, a university or college careers service, or someone in your network who works in the field. If no one is available, an AI practice tool or recording yourself answering written questions is far better than nothing.

Set it up like the real thing

Use the real job description. Give your interviewer the job ad and your CV. The questions should come from what the job needs, not from a generic list.

Agree the format. Ask how the real interview will run, if you know: in person or on video, one interviewer or a panel, how long. Copy it.

Don't see the questions in advance. The skill you're practising is answering well on the spot.

Keep to time. A first interview is often 30 to 45 minutes. Stopping halfway to discuss an answer breaks the practice; save feedback for the end.

Record it, with permission. Video if the real interview is on video. Watching yourself is uncomfortable and very effective.

Which questions to use

A realistic mock mixes four kinds of question:

• Opening questions: "Tell me about yourself", "Why this role?", "Why this company?"
• Behavioral questions: "Tell me about a time you…" (see our list of behavioral interview questions and the STAR method for structuring answers).
• Role-specific questions: the knowledge and skills the job needs. Our interview questions by role are written for interviewers and make good material for a mock.
• Your questions for them: practise asking two or three thoughtful questions at the end.

A scoring sheet for the interviewer

Ask your interviewer to score each answer from 1 to 4 on the same few points, and to write one sentence on why:

• Answered the question asked. Did the answer address what was asked, or a nearby question?
• Specific. A real example or concrete detail, rather than generalities.
• Clear structure. Easy to follow; most time spent on what mattered.
• Evidence of the skill. Did it show the skill the question was probing?
• Length. About two minutes for a behavioral answer; shorter for factual ones.

Then one overall note: what would make the biggest difference in the real interview?

Getting feedback that helps

• Ask for the worst answer first. It's where the most improvement is.
• Ask what they'd remember. An hour later, what stuck? If it's not your strongest points, your answers are burying them.
• Don't argue with the feedback. In the real interview you won't get to explain what you meant.
• Re-do the weakest two answers straight away, while the feedback is fresh.

How many mock interviews?

One properly run mock interview, with honest notes and a second attempt at the weak answers, is worth more than several casual ones. If you have an important interview coming up, two or three spread over a week or two is plenty: enough to change your habits, not so many that you sound rehearsed.

Practising the parts that aren't questions

Many hiring processes now include a task as well as an interview: reply to a customer, analyse some data, write a short plan or handle a role-play. A mock interview won't prepare you for those. A practice task will.

Cohesyve, which publishes this guide, runs practice job simulations built from a job description: written and spoken questions plus tasks from the role, scored the way employers score them, with a report on where you lost marks.