2026 Guide
Best Interview Prep Tools in 2026
The gap between prepared and unprepared candidates is immediately obvious in interviews. Modern prep tools do more than offer generic advice—they help you build your STAR story library, practice with AI feedback, research companies deeply, and walk in confident. We tested 30+ interview preparation tools to find which ones actually improve your performance.
Quick Picks
Koru
Big Interview
Glassdoor
Koru
Our PickTurns your career history into interview-ready STAR stories
Koru's approach to interview prep is different: instead of practicing generic questions, it generates STAR stories from your actual career journal. Apply to a specific role, and it creates a personalized prep pack—company brief, likely questions mapped to your best stories, and talking points for your unique background. Preparation that's specific to you and the job.
- STAR stories generated from your real experience
- Company-specific prep packs
- AI-generated talking points
- Prep connects to your actual history
- Updates as you add journal entries
- −Requires building your career journal first
- −No video practice feature
- −No peer mock interview community
- −Paid tier for full prep features
Big Interview
AI-powered video practice with structured feedback
Big Interview lets you record video responses to interview questions and get AI feedback on content, delivery, and body language. The curriculum-style approach walks you through common question types with lessons and practice rounds. Strong for building general interview confidence; less tailored to your specific background.
- Video recording with AI analysis
- Structured learning curriculum
- Feedback on body language
- Large question database
- Industry-specific question sets
- −Generic questions, not personalized
- −No connection to your career history
- −Can feel repetitive
- −Subscription required for full access
Glassdoor
Real interview questions from actual candidates
Glassdoor's interview section contains questions reported by real candidates at specific companies. You can see what Amazon actually asked last month, not generic 'tell me about yourself' advice. Invaluable for company research, though quality varies by company size and industry.
- Real questions from real interviews
- Company-specific insights
- Salary data for negotiation
- Free access to most content
- Large database across industries
- −No practice or feedback features
- −Question quality varies
- −No personalization
- −Some content behind paywall
Pramp
Free peer mock interviews with structured feedback
Pramp pairs you with another candidate for mutual mock interviews. You interview them, they interview you—both get practice. Originally technical-focused but now includes behavioral. The quality depends on your partner, but the real human interaction is valuable practice.
- Free peer matching
- Real human practice
- Both interview and interviewer experience
- Technical and behavioral options
- Builds interview stamina
- −Quality varies with partner
- −Scheduling required
- −Less structured feedback
- −Can be nerve-wracking
InterviewBuddy
Live mock interviews with professional interviewers
InterviewBuddy provides video mock interviews with experienced professionals—not AI or peers. You schedule a session, interview live, and receive detailed feedback. More expensive than DIY options, but the quality and realism are higher than any automated solution.
- Real professional interviewers
- Live, realistic pressure
- Detailed personalized feedback
- Industry-specific experts available
- Recording for review
- −Pay per session
- −Scheduling required
- −More expensive than self-service
- −Quality varies by interviewer
LinkedIn Interview Prep
Free practice questions with expert video answers
LinkedIn's free interview prep feature offers common questions with example answers from hiring managers. You can record practice responses and watch expert examples. Basic but accessible—already built into a platform you probably use.
- Completely free
- Expert example answers
- Integrated with LinkedIn
- Easy to access
- Professional context
- −Very basic features
- −No AI feedback
- −Generic questions only
- −No personalization
- −Limited question library
ChatGPT/Claude
General AI as interview practice partner
General-purpose AI assistants can roleplay as interviewers, critique your answers, and suggest improvements. Powerful and flexible, but requires you to drive the conversation. No structure, no tracking, no personalized story library—just raw AI capability.
- Flexible roleplay capability
- Can adapt to any scenario
- Available 24/7
- Low cost (free tiers exist)
- Good for answer refinement
- −No structure or curriculum
- −Doesn't know your background
- −No video or audio feedback
- −Quality depends on your prompts
- −No tracking or progress
How We Evaluated
We evaluated 30+ interview preparation tools through actual interview preparation cycles. Each tool was used to prepare for real or simulated interviews across behavioral, competency-based, and conversational interview formats.
Career Focus
30%Does the tool help you prepare stories from your actual experience? Is preparation personalized to your background and target roles?
AI & Automation
25%Can AI provide meaningful feedback? Does automation help generate personalized prep materials?
Output Quality
20%Are the STAR stories, talking points, and practice materials interview-ready? Does using the tool improve actual interview performance?
Ease of Use
15%Can you start practicing quickly? Is the tool's workflow natural for interview prep?
Value
10%Is the investment justified by preparation quality? How does cost compare to alternatives like coaching?
Frequently Asked Questions
Most candidates need 5-10 hours of focused preparation per interview, spread over a week. This includes researching the company (2-3 hours), preparing STAR stories (2-3 hours), practicing answers (2-3 hours), and preparing questions to ask (1 hour). Last-minute cramming is far less effective than distributed practice.
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. It's a structure for answering behavioral questions ('Tell me about a time when...'). Describe the Situation you faced, the Task required, the specific Actions you took, and the measurable Results achieved. This structure helps you give concrete, memorable answers instead of vague generalities.
Prepare 6-8 core STAR stories covering different competencies: leadership, conflict resolution, failure/learning, teamwork, innovation, and impact. Each story should be flexible enough to answer multiple question types. Having too few leaves you scrambling; too many means you won't remember them well.
Both serve different purposes. AI practice is convenient for refining answers, testing story structure, and getting volume of practice. Human practice—whether mock interviews or friends—adds realistic pressure, tests your communication under stress, and catches things AI misses. Use AI for quantity, humans for quality.
Start with the company website (about page, recent news, values). Review their LinkedIn for team posts and recent hires. Check Glassdoor for interview experiences and employee reviews. Read recent press coverage and earnings calls (if public). Look for themes you can reference—recent launches, stated priorities, challenges discussed.
STAR stories can come from any context: school projects, volunteer work, personal projects, part-time jobs. Focus on the skills demonstrated rather than the prestige of the context. 'Led a university club's fundraising campaign' demonstrates the same leadership skills as a corporate project.
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