Everything you will ever need for behavioral Interviews

This article will forever be your one stop shop to clear every behavioral question

Firstly, to master behavioral questions, you need to answer interview questions in STAR format. And here is how to prepare for STAR format :

STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

• Situation (S): Begin by describing the specific situation or context you were in. Set the stage for your story. Provide enough background information to help the interviewer understand the scenario.

  • Example: "In my previous role as a software engineer at XYZ Company, we were working on a project to improve the performance of our e-commerce platform."

• Task (T): Next, explain the task or challenge you were faced with. What were the goals or objectives you needed to achieve in that situation?

  • Example: "The task was to reduce page load times and increase the overall responsiveness of our website to enhance the user experience."

• Action (A): Describe the actions you took to address the task or challenge. This is the most critical part of your response. Be specific about the steps you took, your responsibilities, and your thought process. Focus on your actions, not the team's actions.

  • Example: "To address this challenge, I first conducted a performance analysis to identify bottlenecks in the code. Then, I collaborated with the front-end and back-end teams to implement code optimizations, including browser caching, image compression, and code minification. I also introduced lazy loading for non-essential content."

• Result (R): Finally, share the results or outcomes of your actions. Be quantitative whenever possible. Describe the impact of your actions on the situation or task.

  • Example: "As a result of our optimizations, we achieved a 30% reduction in page load times and a 20% improvement in overall website performance. This led to a 15% increase in user engagement, as measured by longer session durations and higher conversion rates."

For Behavioral Questions , especially with answers in star format, please use this extensive resource which has answers to all the questions

Tell me about yourself.

I am a software developer with over five years of experience in the tech industry, specializing in full-stack development. My journey in software development began with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, which laid a solid foundation in programming and problem-solving skills.

Throughout my career, I have worked with various technologies and programming languages, including JavaScript, Python, and Java. I have a strong background in developing web applications, and I am particularly passionate about creating user-friendly, efficient, and scalable solutions. My most recent role was with XYZ Tech, where I was part of a team that developed a cloud-based logistics management system. This project not only honed my technical skills but also improved my abilities in teamwork and communication.

I am always eager to learn and grow. Apart from my project work, I regularly engage in professional development activities. This includes taking online courses to stay updated with the latest technological trends, participating in coding challenges, and contributing to open-source projects.

In my free time, I enjoy attending tech meetups and seminars, which helps me stay connected with the tech community and continuously learn from my peers. I also have a keen interest in AI and machine learning, and I am currently working on a personal project that utilizes machine learning algorithms to analyze and predict user behavior.

I am excited about the opportunity to bring my diverse skill set, passion for technology, and collaborative spirit to your team. I look forward to contributing to innovative projects and being a part of the dynamic and forward-thinking environment that your company is known for.

• What’s a professional mistake you’ve made that you haven’t included on your resume?

On my first job, I created an ETL pipeline for a data visualization project. While it handled the data I was given very well, because, it was my first project, I hadn’t encompassed for unstructured data in production. As a result, I didn’t have a staging environment to mirror production. As a result, when the code was pushed to production, it immediately ran into issues and had to be rolled back. There was 1 key mistake: lack of staging environment which would have allowed me to test the code before. This could have avoided the entire mishap in production. So, I learnt from this and ensured I tested the ETL pipeline in staging before the next launch, fixed the issues before eventually rolling it out successfully in production. This is something I have kept in mind during my tenure and always ensure that the code has a staging environment before going to production.

• If I called your former manager, what do you think they’d say you need to work on?

At my current job, I have an eye for detail and this means sometimes, I spent to much time on certain topics without realizing the need to zoom out and thing about the bigger picture. It also led me to spend more time than usual. So, I had a conversation with manager about this and have been actively working on it. I use a priortization process called Eisen hower matrix to ensure my time is spent in a more valuable manner and that I can dive into details on only topics that need the attention. This also ensures, I have more expediency in my work.

• Have you ever disagreed with someone ? How did you resolve it ?

In my consulting job, my manager put me on a contracting job to write queries. This was a great opportunity to make money for hours worked. However, I saw this as an opportunity to also pitch a product we were working with. My manager was initially hesitant to do this because we were already doing well with the opportunity. So, I created a demo, where I showed the clear benefits of using our product. This gave him confidence with my decision and we had a meeting with merchant who loved the demo as well and now we have a SaaS agreement making us more revenue while directly benefiting the client.

• Tell me something that is not on your resume

This could be anything positive :

1. Work at an NGO

2. Any passion project you are pursuing.

3. Paint yourself in a positive light.

• If you get another job offer which is better, what would you do?

I evaluate a job offer on four main values. :

1. Company Mission

2. Company Work Culture

3. Alignment of my work and experience with the role offered.

4. Growth opportunity.

Currently, your company fulfills all of those criterias which is why I am excited to work for this role. If there is a company that fulfills all the above which is incredibly hard, then at that time, I would need to evaluate it carefully. However, I am someone who invests in a company fully and as long as the core 4 values align, I would more likely continue working here.

• Tell me about a time you had too many responsibilities. How did you prioritize?

I think having too many responsibilities and managing them is a part of the job. I priortize them by using Eisenhower matrix. If its urgent and important, do it first. If its urgent but not important, delegate if I can. If its important and not urgent, put it on my to do list. If its neither urgent nor important, I can put it on my roadmap to when it needs to be done.

• What’s a decision you regret in your career, and what did you learn from it?

I think every decision is a learning. I don’t necessarily have regrets. I decided to pursue Product Management and while I did well in the role, i realized , its not for me.I also realized I thrived in roles which involved selling more than building. The experience in PM was exhausting but I am thankful for the opportunity because it made me realize what I was good at and gave me clear decision for my career.

• Why are you looking for a change ?

I am currently saturated with my role and not learning. This opportunity :

1. offers me chance to learn and grow

2. aligns with my education and experience ensuring I can hit the ground running.

3. Am impressed with company culture and like the values it stands for.

Questions you can ask the interviewer

• What brought you to this company? What has been most challenging for you?

• Can you share some insight about the day-to-day responsibilities of this position? What’s a typical day like?

• Can you tell me about the opportunities for career advancement at [company name]?

• What are some of the challenges [company name] is facing right now and how could I contribute to overcoming it?

• How has the organisation changed since you’ve joined?

• What is the code and design review process like?

• What is the day-to-day responsibility for someone in this role?

• Could you talk little about your work?

• What is the ratio of testers to developers to program managers? What is the interaction like? How does project planning happen on the team?

• What is a typical career path at [company name] for someone in the role that I am interviewing for?

• What are the most exciting projects you’ve worked on here?

• What is the onboarding process like for this role?

• What do you like most about working here?

• Can you describe the [company name]'s overall management style and the type of person who usually does well here?

• What excites you the most about the [company name]'s future?

• I’m very interested in scalability, and I’d love to learn more about it. What opportunities are there at this company to learn more about this?

Amazon Leadership Interview Prep : Link