

Ask HN: How do I prepare for the interview? - Sophi13

Got an interview call from YC. Mood: Super Excited&#x2F;Freaking Out. I&#x27;m wondering if there are any YC alumni&#x2F;interview candidates around who&#x27;d have any advice before I appear for the interview?
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humanarity
Well done :) as for interview simulators, there's always this:
[http://ipaulgraham.herokuapp.com/](http://ipaulgraham.herokuapp.com/)

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raminassemi
Decide in advance what the 3 most important facts are you want them to
remember about you.

Then make sure to work this into your answers, even if the question they ask
you seemingly isn't related to it.

I learned this from one of the co-founders of a SwipeGood (YC W11), they wrote
about it in much detail here:

[http://blog.close.io/tough-interview-questions](http://blog.close.io/tough-
interview-questions)

(Now of course - do this mindfully, not robotically, but if you've been
invited to an interview, I probably don't need to say this).

And congratulations! Wishing you success :)

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sospep
> NOT an alumni or past interviewee but i'll put this out there ...

1] Paul Graham - wrote an Essay - How To prepare for the interview

>
> [http://old.ycombinator.com/howtoprepare.html](http://old.ycombinator.com/howtoprepare.html)

2] I created a summarized, annoted version of 'Grahams essays key points' aka
my TLDR

>
> [http://sospep.com/view/article?id=4457](http://sospep.com/view/article?id=4457)

I would memorize those keypoints

3] I also compiled a list of the 'interview questions' that they are known to
ask?

> [http://sospep.com/view/steps?id=129](http://sospep.com/view/steps?id=129)

you/your co founders probably want to know the answer to every 1 of those
questions, as they pertain to your company, backward, forwards and sideways :)

4] and a few other resources, that may be helpful to you... \- like ARTICLE(s)
- our interview with ycombinator by ... (* x) \- i will add the links to the
Reference section the article i posted above

Finally, congratulations, I suspect the bar to YC is pretty high and you've
cleared the first hurdle. Now get started practicing those interview ?'s and
good luck!

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NPMaxwell
In addition to whatever else (like reading the company site and researching
the people I'll be meeting with), I like arriving 20 minutes early and going
for a walk.

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ThrustVectoring
If you aren't already a good public speaker, start attending Toastmasters or
some similar organization. This kind of activity is a learn-able skill, and
Toastmasters is the kind of place to learn it.

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mhluongo
Maybe find alums to run a mock interview?

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Hydraulix989
Best way is to focus on running your startup instead.

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dopeboy
Posting here to say congratulations. Would love to know what it's like after
it's done.

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petersouth
hmmm...Maybe I'll build a YC interview simulator...

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Sophi13
Be sure to let me know when you do Peter!

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jtfairbank
What's your company?

