Using AI to Practice Interviews & Getting the Job: Jason’s Story

Podcast Transcript

Patricia: Welcome to Promoted, a podcast about leaving low-wage work for good. I’m Patricia Harris, today’s host and a Merit America coach. Today we’re talking about how to walk into an interview feeling ready, even when the process is long, and how AI can help you prepare. I’m excited to introduce Jason, who recently landed a new role with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Welcome to the show, Jason! You were a superstar in my cohort, so I’m really excited to revisit this conversation with you.

Jason: Thank you for that, Coach P.

Patricia: You used AI to practice interviewing. I’d love to hear how that actually worked, and everything that led up to it.

Jason: I used to map out bullet points and rehearse out loud going into an interview. But having these new AI platforms to practice interviewing gives you a feedback loop. You can hear yourself, how you’re making your points, and clean things up. It definitely sped up the process. You practice a couple of times and AI plays it back to you. It’s the final step of interview prep: scripting your story so it shows where your strengths fit the job.

Patricia: So it’s about finding that language, and not worrying about the details, and just practicing. Tell us about your career history and how it led to where you are now.

Jason: Sure. I spent three years as a program manager for a health-sharing firm. It was the first time I’d been out of the automotive category, where I had a deep background. Then the company reorganized and my role went away, so I had to figure out what’s next. I had always found data analysis rewarding, so I wanted to pivot to that.

I took a pretty unconventional route. I went to Thailand for a year and a half and used data analytics skill-building platforms to study advanced languages like SQL. I believe hard and soft skills are both important, and during a transition you should use that extra time to build those skills. I wanted more of an analyst and tech role, and when I came back to the U.S. I found it difficult. I got interviews but no offers, until eventually I landed a government role as an economic assistant.

It’s a little different from supply chain management, but Merit America’s supply chain program was important. I had an automotive background, which is very supply chain. My role as a product manager was closely tied to procurement managers, data cataloging, lead times, fulfillment, and returns. Even though I didn’t directly manage those, I was a big stakeholder.

Patricia: When you lived in Thailand, it seems like you made the best use of the time and environment. You would want to enjoy it, but you were over there grinding.

Jason: It was the best of both worlds. I’d get up, go to the beach, exercise, and take care of myself. Then I’d go out on my balcony by the pool, put the headphones on, and grind away, building skills. Thailand is a 24-hour place, the night markets are open late on weekends, so you can socialize. That was my lifestyle, all while building the data analysis skills I’d use when I came back to the States.

Patricia: What a great use of time. And apparently we’re promoting Thailand, too.

Jason: Five stars!

Patricia: What were the challenges you faced during that transition, and what would you tell someone staring down a long, uncertain hiring process?

Jason: It’s hard. Even in a beautiful place, you’re grinding. Learning to code takes real work, and I experienced a little burnout. One of the key things is that it’s a marathon, and you’ve got to prepare yourself. Especially later in your career, hiring cycles are longer. 

The whole thing is preparation. When you’re jobless, it takes a well-thought-out strategy for presenting yourself, and you just have to keep going. You also have to be flexible about your expectations. If you’re at the whims of the marketplace, don’t be afraid to look at what’s next. That’s what I’ve done, and it’s tied to the skills and insights I learned in Merit America’s supply chain program, because I’m establishing an e-commerce business outside of what I’m doing now. My government role is near full-time but gives me flexibility, and I’m using the extra time to start building and sourcing parts for an e-commerce business related to motorcycles, which is a lifelong passion.

Patricia: You talked a lot about preparation. As a coach, that’s what I share with folks: your confidence really does come from preparation. It’s about recognizing the skills you already have so you can talk about them with confidence and walk in like you belong there, because you absolutely do. Looking ahead, what’s next for you?

Jason: First, I want to touch on what you said about confidence. We all want to win, but my personal advice, especially through the tougher times, is this: If you go into an interview and step away feeling good, that’s a win in itself. There are a lot of talented people out there. I’ve been through multiple interviews, gotten a lot of great compliments, but didn’t get the job. You just have to keep pushing forward.

As for what’s next, you can only control so much. I have a decent government job. With the background checks and everything else, there was a three-month window from multiple interviews to the offer. Now I’m in the role and doing fine, but keeping my eyes on the horizon. I get a lot of recruiter contacts and follow up on roles that are right. So in terms of a career plan, I’m great for now.

I also care for elderly parents, so I’m putting in time there. And the third piece is getting my e-commerce business started, which means talking to suppliers and managing lead times and ship times. The plan is to stay in my role and keep growing. At the same time, I want to jump-start my other business and manage it in parallel. As you can see from the gray hair, I’m in the final phase of my career, so it’s really about what’s ahead in life. I hope to have these e-commerce businesses running and have the freedom to be anywhere, which could lead me back to Asia for retirement. Motorcycling has always been a passion of mine, and to earn a living around it? I don’t think it gets better than that.

Patricia: What an inspiration to anyone who feels like it’s too late to pivot. Starting a new career later in life is totally possible with the right preparation, upskilling, and conversations that build your confidence. I appreciate what you said about going into rooms: even if it’s a no at the end of the day, you can say, “I got into the room. My resume worked.” That should add to your confidence, not take away from it. And you’re still networking, still connecting with folks, still leaving avenues open. That’s how to handle a career.

Jason: I’m a lifelong learner. If you’re not adding skills to your resume, you can be seen as complacent. For me it’s easy, because I’m curious. If you look at my LinkedIn profile, you’ll see a digital analytics program from the University of British Columbia. I’ve taken supply chain management, and user experience courses at Cal State Fullerton. What you can’t control is when opportunities come to you. But if you know the direction, or can get close to it, getting those skills shows you’re taking steps toward it. And you can talk about that in an interview, because it comes from a very authentic place.

Patricia: Let’s go back to the role itself. How did you come across it, and what drew you to it, especially after being in an office for most of your career?

Jason: It was a long job search. After a lot of skill-building in Thailand, I had study fatigue. I was doing personal projects to get ready for interviewing, and uploading old work to my profile to give a visual picture of what I’d done. I came across the role on Indeed, and on the federal job site. It was 32 hours a week remote with benefits, and I thought it could work. A big part of my job is one-on-one interviewing about housing and residency, which feeds into the Consumer Price Index report, the leading measure of inflation and a bellwether for where the economy is going. I’m a small part of that team, but it feels really good.

I haven’t totally given up on data analysis. I’m looking at progressing to a field economist role, which would put a lot of the data skills I already have into play. It’s a matter of time and waiting for opportunity, potentially with the federal government. It’s always a matter of plan, then replan.

Patricia: What was the preparation like going from the interview offer to the interview room?

Jason: We did a lot of resume and job description workshops in the Merit America program, and I dug into those prep skills. I analyzed the job description and lined out bullet points and talking points, making sure my skillsets aligned. That was my primary prep point. For example, the role involves talking with people in the field. In my career I’d done car clinics, where you talk one-on-one with automotive consumers, which is very much like what I do now.

Then it’s about crafting a story and anticipating questions. “Are you comfortable speaking with people?” Well, I used to present to fifty people, so yes. The dynamic is different now, because people are more time-pressed and there are a lot of rejections, since not everybody wants to participate in market research. You roll with it. 

You also want to address concerns about gaps in your skills, so speak to what you can apply comfortably and what you can learn. For example, I planned online media in the past, but pre-social media. I told interviewers I hadn’t planned on the Meta platform, but it’s still about the right ad, right place, right audience, and the tools are similar to ones I used before. You have to show you can adapt.

Patricia: A lot of your past experience, in logistics, procurement, and engineering, doesn’t look like a field economist on paper. How did you translate those skills, and how did AI play a part? For many people, AI gives you language and starts the storytelling, but you have to be careful, because AI can make you sound like somebody you’re notl.

Jason: For this role, AI was mainly limited to interview practice: getting reps in, sounding natural, and preparing for tougher questions. For example, “You’re highly experienced, so are you going to leave within a year?” Employers invest in you and want commitment, so I wanted to be ready for questions like that.

For another opportunity, say program or product management or digital advertising, AI would play a bigger part. I’d want the “bellwether temperature” of the company: where it is now, what business challenges it faces, how it’s performing. If you’re being hired into a struggling company, that’s good to know because it impacts the culture. You don’t have to go into a full 10-K analysis, but it’s good to know, for example, that a company has had four years of sustained growth averaging 25 percent year over year. Then you can say, “I want to join an organization with momentum, and from what I’ve researched, you’ve had four continuous years of growth. That’s impressive.” That’s the alignment. AI expedites that research. Usually I’d go through press releases and financial reports, and for smaller companies, even their social media, to see what they’re promoting. Then you align yourself with where the company is going and make it part of the conversation.

Patricia: “Expedited” is the right word. Part of interview prep is anticipating the questions they’ll ask about the problem they’re trying to solve. They’re hiring because they have a gap. What platforms do you use?

Jason: Definitely Big Interview. I became a fan really quick. For AI platforms, Gemini is improving rapidly, and it’s a natural extension of my Google devices, including Android Auto. I use ChatGPT too, and I’ve used Claude a little. When researching a company, I mostly use ChatGPT, and then I run similar prompts through Gemini to see if it digs up something ChatGPT didn’t.

Patricia: I call my AI “Hey Girl Hey.” AI can be very complimentary and doesn’t argue unless you tell it to, so sometimes I say, “But this is what it said, and this is my background,” and correct it. The human touch can’t be absent. It will help, expedite, and craft, but you’re the leader.

Jason: I fully agree. Use it with a grain of salt. Company research is semi cut-and-dry. But when you say, “Here’s the job description, align my strengths,” you have to edit. You’ll get what I’d call an “experience pack”: “you did this, this, and this at this company and expanded it by this.” I sometimes got percentages that seemed magnified. AI is a tool. It saves time and gives you different perspectives, which is its value. For crafting your personal story, it’s a great place to start, but you have to be the ultimate editor, or captain, of how you present your experience. 

Patricia: Exactly. The other place I find it helpful is building a bank of stories. In an interview, when they say, “Tell me about a time when…”, I know I’ve done all this, but everything flies out of my brain. AI can help you shape a response, and the power is in the prompt. You tell it, “I’m prepping for this interview, here are some possible questions,” and it can even help you research likely questions. Then you have those stories in your back pocket instead of digging through your mental Rolodex and going blank.

Jason: That was my biggest aha! moment when I started using an interview prep platform: putting that kind of prompt in, going through the questions, and recording. Having those stories ready really helps. And the two-way verbalization is nice, because you hear the question in different tones and can measure your own tone in response. You want to sound confident and natural. 

Patricia: It does come with practice, because interviews can be nerve-racking. I also tell folks that you’re interviewing them too. AI can help with questions to ask that show your curiosity and intention to dive into the work.

Jason: You are interviewing them as well. I try to learn about the culture. If I discover a growth trend, I’ll ask, “What are the dynamics behind that? Why do you think you’re succeeding compared to competitors X and Y?” And let them speak. That gives you anchor points to add something genuine about your own values and work style. They want to know how you’ll be as part of the team, what skills you’ll add, and what gaps you might have.

And don’t feel bad if it doesn’t work out. I’ve walked away from interviews feeling like I knocked it out of the park, and then didn’t get the job. My advice is to quickly let it go. If you feel you presented yourself in the best light, take that as a victory and move on. JOb searching takes patience, and it’s tough in the current environment.

Patricia: I read something that said, if you knew you were 100 no’s away from your next yes, it would change how you deal with rejection. Every no gets you closer to your yes. Now, I want to finish where we started. Everyone has their own version of the American Dream. What’s yours right now, and do you feel you’ve reached it, or a piece of it?

Jason: I’d say I’m still striving. My American Dream is establishing my own business that gives me a level of freedom. I’ve been in the corporate world, but my next 20-plus years look very different. I want the freedom to enjoy life, working and earning on my terms, hopefully earning well, in a place I find beautiful. I’m a scuba diver, and the water quality, dive spots, and fish life in Asia are just what I want my life to be. There’s a strong expat community, and I love the Thai people. Thailand has 77 provinces, and I heard of a guy who took three years to visit every one on a scooter. Building out the next twenty years like that could be the best years of my life.

Patricia: So not only are you an economic assistant, you’re a scuba diver and a motorcyclist. What don’t you do, Jason?

Jason: I’m curious, so I have a lot of interests. I watch sports on TV, but I mostly like spending time doing things. I also believe in taking care of yourself and getting downtime. Even in the Merit America program, you can get crispy trying to improve yourself. I overworked myself a bit, but now I’m fine. I go to spas and try to make myself happy all the way around. And I’m not a slave to fashion, how about that?

Patricia: The one thing he doesn’t do, people, we found it! Thank you so much for being here today. Your story will help anyone trying to figure out their own background, who feels like it’s too late, or who’s been all over the place and wonders how to tell their story. Thank you so much, Jason.

Jason: Thank you all.

Patricia: Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Promoted. If Jason’s story resonated with you and you’re interested in exploring how Merit America can guide you toward a rewarding career, visit our website at www.meritamerica.org.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.