The Interview Warm-Up And The Looking-Back Question
The interview starts when you leave the house — and it ends with a question that hands you the playbook.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 93%
Houpert's interview method has three parts and none of them is technical preparation. First, the interview does not start when you sit down opposite the person holding your CV — it starts when you leave your house. Talk to the Uber driver. One more sentence with the security guard, the receptionist, the other candidates. By the time you sit down you are warm, dynamic and not starting from zero on the initial small-talk questions. He is blunt that technical revision should be dropped 15 to 30 minutes in advance — it is either in there or it is not. Second, you cannot know which questions are coming, so prepare three to five core stories from your career in an up-down-up shape: establish the situation, agitate the problem, describe what you did, land the result. Any fit question can be filled with one of them, and the values you want to demonstrate are already built in. Third, use the do-you-have-any-questions moment, which most people either waste or decline. His co-founder's question: say this interview went really well, and a year from now I have the job and you're looking back — what would I have had to have done for you to feel it was a good decision? Houpert says it produced the strongest positive responses he ever got.
Origin
Houpert trained people on interviews after his own consulting career, in which he received off-cycle raises and preferential treatment despite there being better analysts around him — because he had established relationships with people who liked him and wanted him to do well. He credits the closing question specifically to his co-founder and says he did not anticipate how well it would work.
Core principles
- 01The interview starts when you leave the house.
- 02Drop technical revision 15-30 minutes before — it is in there or it is not.
- 03Prepare stories, not answers.
- 04Every story has an up-down-up shape with the values built in.
- 05End by getting them to describe success, and you receive the playbook.
How to run it
- 1
Warm up on the way in
Talk to the Uber driver. Get the vocal cords moving and become dynamic. Then one more sentence with the security guard — you see a lot of fresh faces in here, hopefully this isn't the last time you see me — then the receptionist, then the other candidates.
Pro tip By the time you face the interviewer you have a couple of tabs open: asked how you got in, you can say you met Rick at the door and he's great.
Watch out Reviewing technical material on the way in is the wrong use of the window and leaves you cold.
- 2
Build three to five core stories
Work backwards from the three big moments in your career — taking over a project, quitting one job for another, some third thing — and shape each as establish, agitate, resolve, plus what happened afterwards.
Pro tip Houpert's promise: you will not be surprised in the moment, because there is almost always a story that slots into whatever fit question arrives.
Watch out Preparing answers to anticipated questions fails because you cannot anticipate the questions.
- 3
Build the values into the stories
Tenacity, hard work, industry knowledge, working well with people — whatever the company wants — should be demonstrated by the stories rather than claimed separately.
Pro tip This is what makes the same three to five stories work across very different questions.
Watch out Stated values without a story attached are unverifiable and forgettable.
- 4
Ask the looking-back question
Say this interview went really well and a year from now I got the job and you're looking back — what would I have had to have done for you to feel it was a good decision?
Pro tip It does two things: it makes them imagine hiring you and it going well, and it makes them lay out exactly what excelling in the role requires.
Watch out The typical alternatives — asking a question you do not have, or declining to ask one — are both missed opportunities.
- 5
Reuse it for the raise
Say you would like a raise, and faster than usual, but want to make sure it is worth it for them: six or eight months from now, what would I have had to have done for this to be a no-brainer?
Pro tip They give you the playbook. Do those things, keep up with that person, and you are on track. Houpert notes the bummer is that you might have done them anyway, but without the conversation you would not get the raise.
Watch out If the company refuses the conversation entirely, that is itself information about whether you want to be there.
In the wild
Houpert received off-cycle raises and preferential treatment in consulting despite there being better analysts than him — people he actually went to for help with his own work.
→ He attributes it entirely to having established relationships with people who liked him and wanted him to do well. He calls it what nepotism is with the family removed.
Bartlett extends it immediately: a personal trainer meeting a client on day one asking what six months from now would look like for them to be happy; a marketing agency asking a new client what twelve months of success would require.
→ Houpert confirms it — they lay out exactly how they want to be treated and what their expectations are, so you can meet and exceed them, and asking shows you care.
Common mistakes
Cramming technical material on the way in
Houpert says it needs to be dropped 15 to 30 minutes in advance — it is either in there or it is not — and the window is better spent getting warm.
Wasting the closing question
People either ask a question they do not really have because they feel obliged, or say they have none. Both forfeit the single most valuable exchange available.
Waiting to be given a raise
Houpert notes you might have done the qualifying things anyway, but without the explicit forward-looking conversation, in most cases they will not give you the raise.
Is it for you?
Best for
Job candidates, anyone negotiating a raise, and service providers setting expectations with a new client.
Not ideal for
Highly structured technical interviews where the assessment is purely on demonstrated skill.
From the transcript
“the interview does not start when you land in the room with that person it starts when you leave your house”
“a year from now I got the job and you're looking back what would I have had to have done in order for you to…”
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Charlie Houpert