Orchestrates end-to-end interview preparation for senior ML/AI engineers targeting Anthropic and peer companies. Use for prep timeline generation, story coherence across rounds, mock scheduling, and debrief analysis. Activate on "interview prep", "interview loop", "Anthropic interview", "prep timeline". NOT for resume writing, career narratives, or individual round-type practice.
Install with Codex or Claude Copy this prompt, paste it into Codex, Claude, or another assistant, and let it review the skill page and install it for you.
A direct command skips the review prompt. Inspect the source before running it.
Orchestrates end-to-end interview preparation for senior ML/AI engineers targeting Anthropic and peer companies. Use for prep timeline generation, story coherence across rounds, mock scheduling, and debrief analysis. Activate on "interview prep", "interview loop", "Anthropic interview", "prep timeline". NOT for resume writing, career narratives, or individual round-type practice.
allowed-tools
Read,Write,Edit
metadata
{"gated":true,"category":"Career & Interview","pairs-with":[{"skill":"senior-coding-interview","reason":"Handles coding round preparation and practice"},{"skill":"ml-system-design-interview","reason":"Handles ML system design round deep practice"},{"skill":"anthropic-technical-deep-dive","reason":"Handles Anthropic-specific technical deep dive rounds"},{"skill":"tech-presentation-interview","reason":"Handles technical presentation round preparation"},{"skill":"values-behavioral-interview","reason":"Handles behavioral and values-fit round preparation"},{"skill":"hiring-manager-deep-dive","reason":"Handles hiring manager screen preparation"},{"skill":"interview-simulator","reason":"Runs mock interviews with realistic evaluation"},{"skill":"career-biographer","reason":"Upstream -- extracts career narrative raw material"},{"skill":"cv-creator","reason":"Upstream -- resume must be finalized before loop begins"}],"tags":["interview","preparation","strategy","anthropic"]}
End-to-end orchestrator for senior-level AI/ML interview preparation. Coordinates timelines, story coherence across rounds, mock interview cadence, energy management, and post-interview debrief -- routing each round type to its specialist skill.
When to Use
Use for:
Building a complete interview prep plan for a specific company
Generating 2-week, 1-month, or 2-month preparation timelines
Ensuring story coherence -- the same project told correctly across behavioral, technical, and HM rounds
Scheduling and tracking mock interview cadence
Energy management strategy for all-day virtual or onsite loops
Post-interview debrief analysis and improvement planning
Coordinating across all 7 round-specific interview skills
NOT for:
Resume or CV creation (use cv-creator)
Career narrative extraction (use career-biographer)
Practicing a single round type in isolation (use the round-specific skill directly)
Salary negotiation or offer evaluation
General career counseling
Full Interview Pipeline
flowchart TD
A[Career Biographer] -->|Extracts narrative| B[CV Creator]
B -->|Resume finalized| C[Interview Loop Strategist]
C --> D{Company Target Selected}
D --> E[Generate Prep Timeline]
E --> F[Story Coherence Matrix]
F --> G[Round-Specific Prep]
G --> G1[Recruiter Screen<br/>Self-prep]
G --> G2[CodeSignal / Coding<br/>senior-coding-interview]
G --> G3[Hiring Manager Screen<br/>hiring-manager-deep-dive]
G --> G4[ML System Design<br/>ml-system-design-interview]
G --> G5[Technical Deep Dive<br/>anthropic-technical-deep-dive]
G --> G6[Tech Presentation<br/>tech-presentation-interview]
G --> G7[Values & Behavioral<br/>values-behavioral-interview]
G1 --> H[Mock Interviews<br/>interview-simulator]
G2 --> H
G3 --> H
G4 --> H
G5 --> H
G6 --> H
G7 --> H
H --> I[Debrief & Adjust]
I -->|Iterate| G
I --> J[Interview Day<br/>Energy Protocol]
J --> K[Post-Loop Debrief]
K --> L{Offer?}
L -->|Yes| M[Negotiation Phase]
L -->|No| N[Gap Analysis & Retry]
N -->|Update plan| E
Skill Routing Table
Each round type maps to a specialist skill. The strategist coordinates -- it does not execute round-specific practice.
Round Type
Specialist Skill
Key Focus
Recruiter Screen
Self-prep (no skill needed)
Pitch, motivation, logistics, salary range
Online Assessment / Coding
senior-coding-interview
LC hard, system design lite, time management
Hiring Manager Screen
hiring-manager-deep-dive
Leadership, team fit, technical judgment
ML System Design
ml-system-design-interview
End-to-end ML pipelines, tradeoffs, scale
Technical Deep Dive
anthropic-technical-deep-dive
Past work forensics, technical depth, AI safety
Tech Presentation
tech-presentation-interview
45-min talk, audience calibration, Q&A
Values / Behavioral
values-behavioral-interview
STAR stories, Anthropic values alignment
Mock Execution
interview-simulator
Realistic timed practice with scoring
Prep Timeline Selection
Choose based on time until first round:
flowchart LR
T{Time Available?}
T -->|< 2 weeks| P1[Intensive Plan<br/>4-6 hrs/day]
T -->|2-5 weeks| P2[Balanced Plan<br/>2-3 hrs/day]
T -->|6+ weeks| P3[Thorough Plan<br/>1-2 hrs/day]
P1 --> R[See references/<br/>preparation-timeline-templates.md]
P2 --> R
P3 --> R
For detailed daily schedules, consult references/preparation-timeline-templates.md.
Story Coherence Matrix
A senior candidate has 5-8 strong projects. Each project will surface in multiple rounds but must be tailored to the audience and evaluation criteria of that round.
How to Build the Matrix
List top 5 projects from career-biographer output (or direct input)
For each project, write 3 versions:
Version
Round Type
Emphasis
Length
Technical
ML Design, Deep Dive
Architecture decisions, tradeoffs, metrics, what you would change
8-12 min
Impact
Behavioral, HM
Leadership, influence, collaboration, business outcome
3-5 min (STAR)
Narrative
Presentation, Recruiter
Story arc, why it matters to the world, lessons learned
Variable
Cross-check for contradictions -- dates, team sizes, your role, metrics must be identical across versions
Map projects to Anthropic values -- which project demonstrates which value (safety, honesty, broad benefit)?
Do NOT cram the morning of -- review only your story coherence matrix and 1-page cheat sheet
Light exercise the morning of (walk, stretch -- not a hard workout)
During the Loop
Break Length
Activity
Avoid
5 min
Stand, stretch, water, deep breaths
Phone, social media, reviewing notes
15 min
Walk, snack (protein > sugar), bathroom
Replaying the previous round
30+ min (lunch)
Eat a real meal, step outside, reset
Studying for next round
Cognitive Sequencing
If you can influence round order (sometimes companies ask preference):
Start with your strongest round -- builds confidence momentum
Put coding early -- requires peak cognitive freshness
Behavioral/values in the middle -- these are conversational and let you recover
Presentation whenever you rehearsed it -- muscle memory carries you
Avoid technical deep dive as last round -- fatigue makes it easy to ramble
Debrief Framework
Run after every mock AND every real interview round.
Immediate (within 30 minutes)
Dump raw notes -- what questions were asked, what you said, what you wish you said
Emotional check -- how did you feel? Confident, uncertain, surprised?
Time check -- did you run over? Under? Where did you lose time?
Structured Analysis (within 24 hours)
Dimension
Score (1-5)
Evidence
Action Item
Technical accuracy
Communication clarity
Time management
Story coherence
Energy / confidence
Question handling
Pattern Detection (weekly)
What round types consistently score lowest?
Which stories land well? Which fall flat?
Are you improving on last week's action items?
Adjust prep timeline allocation based on weakness trends
For scoring rubrics per round type, consult references/mock-interview-rubrics.md.
Anti-Patterns
Anti-Pattern: Uniform Preparation
Novice: Spends equal time on every round type -- 2 hours coding, 2 hours design, 2 hours behavioral, repeat.
Expert: Analyzes personal weaknesses and round weighting. A candidate who aces design but freezes in coding allocates 60% of prep to coding. A candidate whose stories are inconsistent spends dedicated time on the coherence matrix.
Detection: Prep log shows identical hours across all categories despite known weaknesses.
Anti-Pattern: Isolation Prep
Novice: Prepares each round independently. Tells a behavioral story about leading a team of 6 in one round, then says "I was the sole contributor" for the same project in a technical round.
Expert: Uses the story coherence matrix to thread a consistent narrative across all rounds. Reviews the matrix before every mock. Has a peer check for contradictions.
Detection: Same project described with conflicting details (team size, timeline, your role, metrics) across different round types.
Anti-Pattern: Mock Avoidance
Novice: Reads interview guides, watches YouTube videos, reviews flashcards -- but never actually practices speaking answers aloud under time pressure.
Expert: Runs at minimum 2 full mock interviews per week in the final month. Records mocks. Reviews recordings. Uses interview-simulator for structured scoring. Treats mocks as the primary prep activity, not supplementary.
Detection: Zero mock session recordings in history. Unable to answer questions within time limits despite "knowing the material."
Anthropic-Specific Notes
Anthropic's interview process (as of early 2026) emphasizes:
AI Safety understanding -- not just technical competence, but genuine engagement with alignment, interpretability, and responsible deployment
Technical depth over breadth -- they want to see how deep you can go on your own work, not surface-level familiarity with everything
Collaborative problem-solving -- interviews are designed to feel like working sessions, not interrogations
Intellectual honesty -- saying "I don't know" or "I was wrong about that" is valued over bluffing
Mission alignment -- why Anthropic specifically, not just "any AI company"
For detailed company-specific loop structures (Anthropic, Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Meta FAIR), consult references/company-specific-loops.md.
Process: First Session with a Candidate
Assess current state: Which company? When is the interview? What's your background?
Review upstream artifacts: career-biographer output, cv-creator resume, any existing prep
Select timeline template: 2-week / 1-month / 2-month based on available time
Build story coherence matrix: Top 5 projects x 3 versions each
Identify weakness areas: Self-assessment + any prior interview feedback
Generate personalized prep plan: Daily schedule with skill routing
Schedule first mock: Within 48 hours of starting prep
Set debrief cadence: After every mock, weekly pattern review
Reference Files
File
Consult When
references/preparation-timeline-templates.md
Generating a daily prep schedule for 2-week, 1-month, or 2-month timeline
references/mock-interview-rubrics.md
Scoring mock interviews, self-evaluation, or identifying failure modes per round type
references/company-specific-loops.md
Tailoring prep to a specific company's interview structure (Anthropic, DeepMind, OpenAI, Meta FAIR)
Output Contract
This skill produces:
Interview loop design with rounds, focus areas, and interviewer assignments
Question bank organized by competency with scoring rubrics
Candidate evaluation template with structured feedback format
Debrief protocol with consensus-building and decision framework