Interview prep sheet
A prep sheet is only worth printing if it answers the question you will actually be asked. This one was built from a job posting and a resume: an evidence map tying the candidate to each requirement, STAR stories, and likely questions for every interview stage. It is the app's real output, shown in full below.
Windows, macOS (Apple silicon) and Linux
Sample export — fictional candidate
Everything on this page is output from the Crush Job desktop app for a fictional candidate, Grant Killian, applying to a sample posting at a fictional company, Meridian Software. It is not a real person or a real opening. The model's reply in this sample was a stored test reply rather than a live call; the card was assembled, checked and laid out by the app itself.
Take the whole sheet — no account needed.
This is the same file the app saves for a battle card (an interview prep sheet for one role). It prints to six pages.
The file has a Self-Test switch that hides the model answers, so you can quiz yourself the night before. Use your browser's print command to save it as a PDF.
Snapshot
The sheet opens with a one-paragraph read of the fit. Read it first.
Grant Killian is a strong match for the Director of Platform Engineering role at Meridian Software: 12+ years scaling cloud platforms and SRE organizations, deep Kubernetes/Terraform/PostgreSQL experience, and a completed SOC 2 Type II / ISO 27001 program that lines up directly with the JD's compliance ask.
Evidence map
Each job requirement, the evidence that answers it, and how hard you can push on it. A moderate row is a gap to prepare for, not to hide.
| Requirement | Your evidence | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Scale a 30-engineer organization across platform, SRE, and DevEx | Led a 45-engineer platform organization spanning compute, networking, and developer experience across four product lines at Northwind Cloud. | Strong |
| Deep experience with AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform, and PostgreSQL | Cut infrastructure spend 38% ($2.1M annually) by consolidating three regional Kubernetes fleets onto a single multi-tenant platform; standardized CI/CD on GitHub Actions and Argo CD. | Strong |
| Partner with security on SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance | Drove SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certification programs to completion in under nine months with zero major findings. | Strong |
| Fluency in Python or Go for platform tooling | Built streaming ETL pipelines in Python and Kafka ingesting 2TB of telemetry daily with sub-minute latency earlier in career; recent roles are management-track rather than hands-on coding. | Moderate |
STAR stories to rehearse
The STAR method (situation, task, action, result) keeps a behavioral answer short and checkable. The sheet carries the stories; every likely question below points to one of them. Rehearse each out loud until it lands in 90 seconds.
Consolidating three Kubernetes fleets
- Situation
- Northwind Cloud ran three regional Kubernetes fleets with duplicated tooling and no shared capacity pool.
- Task
- Cut infrastructure spend without degrading reliability across four product lines.
- Action
- Designed and led the migration to a single multi-tenant platform, standardizing CI/CD on GitHub Actions and Argo CD along the way.
- Result
- Reduced infrastructure spend 38% ($2.1M annually) and cut deployment lead time from 3 days to 40 minutes.
SOC 2 / ISO 27001 in under nine months
- Situation
- Fabrikam Systems' payments platform needed SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certification to unlock enterprise deals.
- Task
- Deliver both certifications with zero major findings on an aggressive timeline.
- Action
- Drove the compliance program end to end, partnering with security and coordinating three SRE squads through the control implementation.
- Result
- Both certifications completed in under nine months with zero major findings.
AI-assisted incident response
- Situation
- Mean time to resolution on a payments platform serving 40M transactions monthly was too slow for the org's growth.
- Task
- Cut incident response time without growing headcount.
- Action
- Championed and rolled out an AI-assisted incident-response workflow across the SRE organization.
- Result
- Reduced mean time to resolution from 94 to 31 minutes.
Likely questions, and what to ask back
Each stage gets its own questions with a short answer outline, the story to reach for, questions to ask them, and talking points.
Recruiter Screen
Tell me about your platform engineering background.
12+ years scaling cloud platforms and SRE orgs from 5 to 60 engineers across three continents; most recently Director, Platform Engineering at Northwind Cloud.
Story: Consolidating three Kubernetes fleets
Why Meridian Software?
The role's mix of reliability ownership, org scaling, and compliance partnership maps directly onto the last two roles.
Questions to ask them
- What does success look like in the first 90 days for this role?
- How is the platform org currently structured relative to SRE and DevEx?
Talking points
- 12+ years scaling cloud platforms and SRE orgs
- Completed SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 programs
Hiring Manager
Walk me through how you cut infrastructure spend by 38%.
Consolidated three regional Kubernetes fleets onto one multi-tenant platform and standardized CI/CD.
Story: Consolidating three Kubernetes fleets
How do you approach a compliance program like SOC 2 without slowing the org down?
Partnered with security early and built controls into existing workflows rather than bolting them on.
Story: SOC 2 / ISO 27001 in under nine months
How did you improve incident response?
Rolled out an AI-assisted incident-response workflow that cut MTTR from 94 to 31 minutes.
Story: AI-assisted incident response
Questions to ask them
- What's the biggest reliability risk the platform org is carrying right now?
Talking points
- Track record improving deployment frequency and MTTR at scale
- Comfortable owning SLOs and error budgets for a 9M-user SaaS platform
Interview Killer is one of the four modules in the Crush Job desktop app. The Free plan includes 1 battle card a month; Interview Ready includes 20 battle cards a month.
Build one for your own interview
Your posting. Your stories. Your sheet.
Download the app, paste in a real posting, and Interview Killer builds the sheet from your own resume.