Hello friend, I wanted to tell you a quick story.
Last week I sat in front of a job post. It was
a normal one. Strong SQL, great communication,
own dashboards and solve product problems. I
stared at it for a long time. I did not know
where to start. I almost closed the tab. Then
I told myself, treat this like a data problem.
Make a small system. And then I opened a new
document and I wrote five short steps. I turned
the job post into a checklist. I made a small
list of SQL practice tasks. I set up a simple
way to practice case questions. I wrote six short
stories from my past work. I put all of this
into a one week plan. Today I'll give you that
plan. I call it... the AI interview co -pilot.
So welcome to Data and AI with Mukundan. Here
we learn by building small and useful workflows
that you can use tonight. In this episode I will
give you a simple interview system. By the end
you will know what to practice, how to practice
and how to tell if you are ready. You will also
hear the exact prompts that you can read to any
AI tool to help you prepare faster. So why interviews
feel hard? Interviews feel hard because we try
to do everything at once. We open too many tabs.
We collect a lot of notes. We do random questions.
Then we cannot tell if we are making progress.
We feel busy but not confident. The goal of this
episode is to replace that feeling with calm
steps. We will use a tiny set of prompts to create
a clear checklist. We will practice tasks that
match the role. We'll keep a short weekly rhythm.
We'll keep proof of progress so that our confidence
grows from evidence, not from hope. What are
the five parts of this interview, co -pilot?
So this plan has really five parts. The first
part is turning the job post into a checklist.
The second part, it's a small but focused SQL
practice list. The third part. is just a simple
way to practice case and product questions. The
fourth part is building a small bank of behavioral
stories that are ready in two minutes or less.
The fifth part is a weekly rhythm that you can
actually follow. When you put these parts together,
these five parts together, you have a calm and
repeatable system. Let's look at part A, which
is the job post to the checklist. really what
to study we start with the job post the problem
with most job post in the data science at least
space is that they look big and weak we can fix
that by asking an AI tool to give us a short
table and a short summary this can really be
applied to any job post not just anything related
to data But here's the exact problem that I use
for any data analysis, data science roles. You
can read this out loud when you prepare. Here
it is. Please read this job post. Create a simple
table with these columns, skill or theme, where
it appears in the job post. My likely level as
a guess, how I should study it this week in one
or two lines and questions I should expect in
the interview. After the table. write five short
bullets that explain what this team is really
hiring for and here is the job post and here
you paste the text so this is the prompt and
i will give this prompt as a show note link so
when you get the table highlight the top five
skills or themes these will drive your study
plan for the week when you get the five short
bullets That becomes your understanding of the
job. This is the thesis of the role. You now
know what to practice first. Let's look at now
part B, which is the SQL practice list, where
how to build skills fast. Now we make a focused
SQL practice list. We do not want random questions.
We just want tasks that match the role. And here's
the prompt that I use. Please generate 20 SQL
practice tasks for an e -commerce or app analytics
setting. Include for each task the task, a short
hint, and one way to check the result. Focus
on joins, window functions, conditional sums,
cohorts, and retention. Use simple tables like
orders, order ID, user ID, created at, status,
amount. And then users should have user ID created
at country. And this is just from my past experience.
So that's what I'm talking about. And events.
And so this is another. So we have really three
tables here. Orders, users, and events. And events
would have user ID, event time, event name. So
again, everything will be in the show notes.
So don't worry about that. And the last bit of
this prompt is add three harder variations for
five of the tasks. Now, this is the SQL practice
prompt. So when you get the list, do five tasks
on day one. 8 on day 2 and 8 on day 3. Read your
approach out loud before you type. After you
write the query, say how you would test it. If
you form this habit, you will improve quickly
and you will speak clearly in the interview.
Now let's look at part C which is the case and
product practice where you decide, you do and
then you measure. Now case questions can feel
scary. Because they're open -ended. We make them
simple, but we focus on a goal, a small set of
metrics, and one next action. Here is the problem
that I use to practice. Please act like an interviewer.
Run a short case with me. The case is, weekly
active users are down. Ask me one question at
a time. Make me clarify the goal. after each
answer give me a quick score from one to five
for clarity structure metrics and trade -offs
at the end give me two gaps to fix and one practice
task for next time during practice so this was
the part c prompt but during practice try to
say one sentence for the goal it could be in
this case weekly active users are down could
be something different for the job that you're
applying right um for example in my case it was
like our goal is to raise weekly active users
by five percent in the next four weeks what you
need to do next from your side is build a small
metric tree in your head that is acquisition
activation engagement or retention and ask a
question to find which part is broken end with
the next step that you could ship next week keep
it simple and real let's look at part d which
is the behavioral story bank we have two minutes
for numbers first Behavioral answers are easier
when you have small stories ready. We will write
six stories. Each story will use the star format.
Situation, task, action and result. Keep each
story under two minutes and put numbers in the
result. Here's the prompt that I use. Please
help me write six star stories from my experience.
Map them to these conflicts. Map them to these
themes. Conflict, ambiguity, failure, leadership
without title. stakeholder influence and measurable
impact. Keep each story under two minutes. Put
the numbers at the start of the result. Add one
sentence at the end that explains what I would
improve next time. This was part D prompt. So
now practice reading one story each day. Aim
for clear and steady speech. Do not rush. Stop
when you reach two minutes. In the interview,
answer the question with the story and then ask
if they want more detail. Let's look at the final
part. The weekly rhythm. Part E. We take small
and steady steps. Now, we place the work into
one week. This plan assumes that you have about
90 minutes per day on weekdays. If you have more
time, that is great. If you have less time, do
fewer tasks. But keep the rhythm. On Monday,
turn the job post into a checklist for one hour
then do five sequel tasks for 30 minutes on tuesday
do eight sequel tasks for 45 minutes then do
one short case for 30 minutes then improve one
story for 15 minutes on wednesday do eight sequel
tasks for 45 minutes and then do one short case
for 30 minutes then write one short stakeholder
email for 15 Where you explain a metric change
in clear language. On Thursday, run a light mock
day. Do a 20 -minute mini case. Do 15 minutes
of SQL out loud without typing first. Do 10 minutes
of behavioral stories. On Friday, do a light
review. Do 3 -5 SQL tasks for 20 minutes. Write
down one lesson you learned this week. On Saturday,
look at your notes and update next week's plan.
On Sunday, just rest. See, this rhythm works
because it is small and steady. It lets your
brain learn and rest. It builds skill and confidence
at the same time. If you want to look at some
proof of progress, here it is, right? Some confidence
from evidence. I want you to keep a short proof
document each week. Now, it can live in a simple
note. Write down your SQL accuracy. The most
common mistake that you made and one fix that
you will try next week. Write down your case
scores and one thing that you will practice next
time. Keep your six stories and update the ones
that feel weak. This document becomes your proof.
It kills the feeling of guessing. When you read
it, you will see your progress and you will feel
calm. I will now walk you through a short live
demo. I will speak in full sentences so that
you can copy the style later. I will say, I am
pasting a job post now. Please create a simple
table with the columns we discussed earlier.
Then write five bullets that explain what this
team is really hiring for. After I get the table,
I will read it out loud. I will say, I can see
that the themes are attention, dashboards, SQL
depth, and stakeholder communication. My study
plan will focus on these. I will practice cohort
analysis and conditional aggregation. I will
rehearse one story on fixing a data quality issue.
I will write one example of a stakeholder email.
Then I'll look at the five bullets. I'll say
the team wants someone who can untangle messy
reporting and explain data clearly and make good
decisions with broad partners. See, now I know
the role's thesis. This gives me focus. This
was for the part one, which is job post to checklist.
Live demo to the sequel practice list now. I
will ask for 20 sequel tasks with hints and checks
I'll say please create tasks for orders users
and events include joins window functions and
retention Please add hints and one way to check
the result Then I will pick one task and think
it out loud. I will say the task for five countries
top five countries by seven day rolling revenue
excluding the one excluding refunds my plan is
to filter out refunded orders group by country
and date and then use a window function to compute
a seven day rolling sum i will then take the
top five by the latest date to test my result
i will run a small sample for one country and
one date range and i will check if the rolling
sum equals the sum of the last seven days i will
do this for two to three tasks i'll keep my speed
slow and clear I'll build the habit of stating
the plan before I enter code. This habit pays
off in the interview. Now live demo 3 for part
3 which is case practice. Now I will run a small
case. I will say please act like an interviewer.
The case is that weekly active users are down.
Please ask me one question at a time. Now when
the interviewer asks the first question, I will
start with the goal. I will say our goal is to
increase weekly active users by 5 % in the next
month. Then I'll choose one part to explore,
such as activation. I'll ask for data to compare
activation rates by cohort. If activation is
weak, I will propose one next step. I will say
I propose a guided first run checklist that helps
new users reach value in the first session. We
will measure success by an increase in week one
retention for the new user cohort. At the end,
I will listen to my scores. and my gaps i'll
write down one thing to practice next time i'll
keep my proof document up to date so part 4 live
demo regarding behavioral stories now i'll practice
one story i'll say i'll share a short story about
improving reporting accuracy and then i'll speak
in a star format i'll say the situation was that
our weekly revenue report did not match the source
the task was to find the cause and fix it quickly
My actions were to trace the data pipeline, find
null campaign fields, align definitions across
tools, and publish a short QA checklist. The
result was a 2 % improvement in accuracy and
about $2 million per month correctly attributed.
If I did it again, I would involve the marketing
team earlier so that we could fix the campaign
field sooner. I will stop after 2 minutes, and
then I will ask, would you like more details
on the checklist or the pipeline? This shows
that I respect time and that I can go deeper
when asked. How to know you're ready? You will
know you are ready when your SQL accuracy improves
and your common mistakes shrink. You'll know
when you are ready when you can say your approach
before you type. You will know you're ready when
in case when you choose a goal. When you choose
a goal pick a metric and propose one next step
with a clear reason. You'll know you're ready
when each story takes 2 minutes and starts with
numbers. You'll also feel calmer because you
will have a short proof document that shows your
progress. Here are some common mistakes to avoid.
Please avoid memorizing answers because instead
just learn the way to think. Avoid random practice.
Tie your practice to the role. And definitely
do not skip tests for your sequel. Please do
not tell long stories without numbers. definitely
do not try to cover everything in one week keep
your plan small and steady he has a simple Q
&A that you can ask the interviewer as well and
they ask if you have any questions you can ask
simple and strong questions you can ask what
weekly dashboard does your team look at most
you can ask where does your data accuracy get
challenged the most what decision you would like
to make faster with better analytics and then
You can ask, if I over -delivered in 90 days,
what changed for the team? These questions show
care, clarity, and ownership. So, here's a simple
call to action. If this helped you try the five
parts this week. Turn one job post into a checklist,
do five SQL tasks today, run one shortcase tomorrow,
read one story the next day. Keep a small proof
document. If you want me to break down your actual
job post on a future episode, send it to me.
I'll pick one and walk through it step by step.
Before you go, I want to take this time to thank
my affiliate partners, Riverside FM, which I
use for recording my podcast with its amazing
AI editing features where I can edit my podcast
and remove any kind of cider .ai for any research
I wanted to do with the topics I want to talk
about. And of course, my podcast hosting platform,
RSS. where i host my podcast and distribute it
to multiple channels and using their dynamic
ads feature anybody can get paid if you just
have 10 downloads a month so just 10 downloads
a month is all you need to start making money
thank you but if this helped you try the five
parts this week turn one job post into a checklist
do five sql tasks today run one shortcase tomorrow
read one story the next day keep a small proof
document If you want me to break down your actual
job post on a future episode, send it to me.
And I'll pick one and walk through it step by
step. Thank you for spending this time with me.
I hope this simple plan helps you feel calm and
prepared. You do not need a huge system. You
just need a small steady rhythm. You can do this.
This is the AI interview co -pilot. I'll see
you in the next episode.