Choosing and Setting Up Your AI Tools
Before you can practice a single answer, you need somewhere to practice it. This lesson walks you through the main AI tools worth using for interview preparation, how to set each one up in under five minutes, and how to organize your work so nothing gets lost between sessions. You do not need to buy anything. Every tool covered here has a genuinely useful free tier, and for the purposes of this course a free account is enough.
The Three Tools You Need to Know
ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, is the most widely used general-purpose AI assistant and a strong choice for drafting answers, generating question lists, and quick research summaries. Claude, made by Anthropic, tends to produce longer, more carefully reasoned responses and is particularly good at detailed feedback and sustained role-play conversations, which makes it a strong choice for mock interviews. Gemini, made by Google, integrates well if you already use Gmail, Docs, or a Google Workspace account, and is useful for pulling in recent information since it has strong web search integration. You do not need to master all three. Pick one as your primary tool and, if you like, use a second one later in the course for a fresh perspective when you want a second opinion on an answer.
To set up any of these, go to the provider’s official website (chatgpt.com, claude.ai, or gemini.google.com), create a free account with your email address, and confirm it. Avoid downloading third-party “AI interview prep” apps that ask for payment before you have tried the free versions of the major tools; you will likely find everything you need without spending anything for the first several weeks of this course.
Setting Up a Dedicated Workspace
Create a single folder, either on your computer or in a note-taking app, called something like “Interview Prep.” Inside it, keep four documents: your current CV, a master list of your best professional stories written in plain language, notes on each company you are applying to, and a running log of AI conversations you want to revisit. Most AI tools let you name and save individual conversations or “chats.” Get in the habit of naming each one clearly, for example “Acme Corp – Product Manager – Mock Interview 1,” so that a week later you can find it again instead of scrolling through a long, unlabeled history.
Giving the AI Context About You
The single biggest factor in getting useful output from any AI tool is how much context you give it. A vague prompt like “help me prepare for an interview” produces a generic, forgettable response. A detailed prompt produces something you can actually use. At the start of a session, paste in a short summary of yourself: your target role, your relevant experience, and the job description you are applying against. For example: “I am applying for a Marketing Coordinator role at a mid-sized retail company. I have three years of experience running social media campaigns and one year in email marketing. Here is the job description: [paste it]. I want you to act as an experienced hiring manager helping me prepare.” Tools like ChatGPT and Claude also let you save a persistent “custom instructions” or “profile” section so you do not have to repeat this background every single time; it is worth spending ten minutes setting this up once.
Privacy and Sensible Limits
Be thoughtful about what you paste into any AI tool. Avoid including highly sensitive personal information such as your national insurance number, passport details, or full home address. Your CV content, general work history, and the text of a public job posting are all fine to share. If you are unsure whether a company’s confidential material should be pasted in (for example, an internal document referenced in a case study interview), leave it out or paraphrase it rather than pasting it verbatim.
| Tool | Best for | Free tier notes |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Drafting answers, brainstorming, question lists | Generous free access; paid tier adds more capacity |
| Claude | Long mock interviews, detailed structured feedback | Free daily usage; strong at sustained conversation |
| Gemini | Research pulling in recent web information | Free with a Google account; integrates with Docs and Gmail |
A Simple First Exercise
Before moving to the next lesson, open your chosen tool and try this: paste in your CV summary and one job description you are genuinely interested in, then ask “Based on my background and this job description, what are three strengths I should lead with in an interview, and what is one gap I should be ready to address?” Read the answer critically. Does it sound generic, or does it clearly reflect the details you gave it? If it feels generic, go back and add more specific detail about your actual achievements, including numbers where you have them. The quality of everything you build in this course depends on this habit of feeding the AI rich, specific, honest information about yourself rather than vague summaries.
Once your account is set up, your workspace folder exists, and you have run this first test prompt, you are ready to move on to the next lesson, where you will use these same tools to research the company and role in depth before you write a single interview answer.
