job interviews

If You Struggle in Interviews, It’s Not Confidence - It’s That You Don’t Have Your Answers Ready

Let’s be honest most people don’t actually prepare properly for job interviews. They just think they do.

They walk out the room saying, “I’m just not confident enough” or “I always get nervous and waffle.”

But the truth is, it’s not about confidence.

It’s about preparation.

Most people think confidence is something you need to build before an interview. But confidence doesn’t come first, preparation does.

If you’re not clear on what you’re going to say, of course you’ll feel shaky when you’re put on the spot.

You’re Not Unconfident, You’re Unprepared

If you’re someone who blanks when asked a simple question like “Tell me about yourself”, it’s not because you don’t know the answer. It’s because you’ve not practised how to say it. That’s it.

Confidence comes from knowing your story. Knowing how to tell it. Knowing the points you want to make.

You wouldn’t walk into a client pitch without preparation and a structure. So why do it in an interview?

Structured Answers = Stronger Interviews

If your answers feel messy or go off track, it’s probably because you haven’t got a structure to fall back on. And this is the key.

Here’s what strong candidates do differently:

They have their key achievements and examples ready to go.
They know how to structure an answer using simple frameworks like STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
They link their experience back to the job description - they don’t just list tasks, they align with what the interviewer is looking for.

Let me give you a really quick example.

Q: Tell me about a time you worked under pressure.

Bad answer:
“Yeah, I’ve worked under pressure a lot. I just crack on and get the job done. I’m quite used to it really…”

Better answer (using STAR):
“When I was at [company], we had a project that was two weeks behind schedule. I was responsible for getting the testing phase back on track. I reviewed the workload, reprioritised the backlog with the team, and coordinated with stakeholders to manage expectations. In the end, we delivered the project just one day late instead of two weeks and the client renewed the contract based on how we handled it.”

Which one’s more impressive? Exactly.

It’s not about making something up. It’s about preparing what you’ve already done in a way that’s clear, relevant, and easy to remember.

If You’re Preparing For Interviews, Start With This

Here’s what I tell every candidate to do when prepping for interviews:

Know your story
Be able to talk through your career journey in 2–3 minutes. This is your “walk me through your CV” answer. Keep it relevant, and tailor it to the role.
Have 2–3 big achievements ready
Think of your most impressive work - where you added value, improved something, saved time or money. Structure them so they’re easy to tell.
Match your answers to the job description
Look at the key responsibilities in the ad, and make sure you’ve got examples that tick those boxes.
Use STAR for behavioural questions
If you get asked about a time you handled conflict, solved a problem, led a project - the STAR method helps you stay clear and concise.
Rehearse out loud
Seriously. Saying it in your head doesn’t count. Rehearse your answers out loud like you’re already in the room.

And If You Don’t Know Where to Start…

I’ve actually built a tool that helps people generate structured interview answers based on their own CV.

You upload your CV and the job description. It gives you the questions you’re most likely to be asked in your interview so you can prepare answers properly.

Check it out here

So remember:

If you’re struggling in interviews, it’s not your confidence.
It’s your prep.
And that’s fixable.

And as for researching before your interview, this video will help: