Talking your way through an interview — honestly
Most interview advice tells you what to say. This site focuses on why certain answers land and others don't — grounded in real conversations, not scripts. Mawunua is a personal online news portal and writing project built around the craft of interviewing, one specific situation at a time.
Older pieces age better than you'd expect
Browse the archive by situation rather than date. A piece written about salary negotiation in a first-round call is just as applicable now as when it was published — the mechanics haven't shifted. Filter by the type of conversation you're preparing for: behavioural, technical, panel, or closing.
The most-referenced material sits in three clusters: structuring answers under pressure, reading the room during a panel, and asking questions that reveal whether a role is actually right for you. Each cluster links to a short reading path — three to five pieces in a suggested order.
Pieces marked with a reference flag are kept updated when practices change. Everything else is left as written — context and all — so you can see how thinking evolved.
"The most useful piece I found was two years old. The situation it described matched mine almost exactly."
What three years of writing looks like in numbers
Where the writing goes deepest
Behavioural questions
The largest cluster on the site. Covers STAR structure, common failure patterns, how interviewers score answers, and what "tell me about a time" actually tests for.
Salary and offer negotiation
Specific scripts, timing decisions, and how to respond when a number comes in lower than expected without ending the conversation.
Technical screening
For non-engineers navigating technical rounds — how to demonstrate analytical thinking without a coding background.
Panel and group formats
Managing multiple interviewers in the room, reading disagreement between panellists, and directing answers without appearing to play favourites.
Second-round dynamics
What changes between a first call and a final interview — and why most candidates prepare for the wrong things at this stage.
Questions worth asking
Closing a conversation well. The questions that reveal culture, pace and actual expectations — not the ones that just signal enthusiasm.
Different readers, different starting points
The first-timer
Arrives after accepting an interview for a role they genuinely want. Leaves with a preparation structure they can actually follow in under a week — not a list of generic tips.
The experienced candidate who keeps stalling at final rounds
Reads the second-round dynamics pieces and recognises specific mistakes they've been repeating. Takes away a different way of framing seniority in conversation.
The hiring manager
Reads to understand what candidates are being coached to say — and adjusts questions accordingly. Several pieces are written explicitly from the interviewer's perspective.
The career changer
Uses the industry-transfer case studies to understand how to frame experience that doesn't map cleanly onto a job description. Finds the salary negotiation material particularly useful when moving sectors.
One email, one situation, every two weeks
No roundups. No link collections. Just a single piece on one specific interview scenario.
Each newsletter takes one situation — a candidate asked to present without warning, a panel where two interviewers clearly disagree, a closing offer that arrives with a 24-hour deadline — and works through it in detail.
- Arrives every second Tuesday morning
- Between 600 and 900 words — readable in one sitting
- No advertising, no affiliate links
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