You have an interview in three days. The job description is two paragraphs long, you have never worked in this exact function before, and you have no contacts at the company to ask. Most candidates in this situation spend their prep time reading the company website and hoping for the best.
There is a better move: reverse every requirement in the job description into a behavioral or situational question, then prepare a specific answer for each one.
What the Technique Actually Means
Hiring managers write job descriptions to describe the problems they need solved. Every required skill or responsibility maps almost directly to an interview question they plan to ask.
The reversal is mechanical. Take a line from the job posting and flip it into the question behind it.
Posting says: "Ability to manage competing deadlines in a fast-paced environment."
Reversed question: "Tell me about a time you managed multiple deadlines at once. How did you prioritize?"
Posting says: "Strong written and verbal communication with non-technical stakeholders."
Reversed question: "Describe a situation where you had to explain something complex to someone without a technical background."
Posting says: "Experience working cross-functionally with product and engineering teams."
Reversed question: "Give me an example of a project where you had to coordinate with people outside your immediate team."
You are not guessing at questions. You are reading the hiring manager's prep notes in a slightly different format.
How to Work Through It
Step 1: Pull every requirement line
Copy the job description into a plain document. Separate each bullet point or sentence that describes a skill, responsibility, or quality they want.
Step 2: Write the question behind each line
For every line, write one behavioral question ("Tell me about a time...") and one situational question ("How would you handle..."). You will not be asked all of them, but writing both versions sharpens your thinking.
Step 3: Draft a short answer for each
You do not need a polished script. Write three to five sentences: the situation, what you did, and what happened. If you do not have a direct example, find the closest transferable one and note how the skills connect.
Step 4: Rank by likelihood
Requirements listed first or mentioned more than once are almost always the interviewer's top priorities. Spend more prep time on those answers.
A Note on Situational Questions
For roles where you have less direct experience, interviewers often shift from "Tell me about a time" to "How would you approach." The reversal technique still works. A line like "Ability to onboard new clients independently" becomes "Walk me through how you would handle your first client onboarding with minimal supervision." Prepare a structured, step-by-step answer rather than a past story.
Why This Works Better Than Generic Prep
Generic interview prep produces generic answers. When you reverse the specific language of a posting, your answers reflect the vocabulary and priorities of that particular team. Interviewers notice when a candidate's examples line up precisely with what the role actually demands. It reads as preparation, not coincidence.
The whole process takes about 30 minutes for a standard job description. Do it before every interview and you will rarely walk into a question that surprises you.