Preparing For Behavioral Interviews In Tech Roles

Friends, many people seek advice for interviews. You'll discover your own method, which is ultimately the best, but here is my guidance based on receiving and accepting four offers from Amazon and conducting nearly 200 Amazon interviews myself. Attached is the Amazon "one sheet" I created for myself. More on this later. It's fully applicable to interviews beyond Amazon as well. First, be authentic and humble. Honesty and acknowledging both strengths and weaknesses are irreplaceable, as people can easily detect insincerity. Second, understand the company and the role for which you are applying. Many applicants fail to demonstrate a convincing passion and suitability for their chosen role. Being non-traditional is fine, but your application shouldn't seem vague or general. Third, have over 30 examples of impactful situations, whether related to Amazon's Leadership Principles (LPs) or general stories, that follow the STAR format. Ensure each story (S+T) clearly illustrates what you (not others) did (A) and the outcomes (R), including metrics if possible. Incorporate layers of thoughtfulness, such as scalability and lessons learned. Fourth, create a one-pager that organizes your preparation and serves as a reference during live interviews. As mentioned above, I've attached the actual edited (with brackets for confidentiality) one-pager I used for my Amazon interviews. I prepared three stories for each LP (42 in total), since interviewers value unique stories and it's uncertain which LPs will be discussed. I prepared three questions for the interviewer, incorporating topics throughout the job process. I crafted a four-point, 60-second summary of my resume, and a 5-minute version, as many candidates overly extend their background discussions. I also practiced delivering every LP response within five minutes, aware that people often extend their answers during the actual interview and in anticipation of follow-up questions. I prepared specific examples of successes in team/stakeholder management. For each past job, I outlined 3-6 examples of impact, serving as backups for LP stories. I noted my interests for the job I'm applying for. In this case, for my ultimate passion for games at Amazon, I went further and listed expertise in games, collectibles, non-endemics, and specific account and platform ideas. Outside of Amazon, prepare 30-40+ general anecdotes and you can make categories for different areas of impact you anticipate wanting to highlight or that they will ask about. I found this one-pager to be an optimal tool for motivation and structuring my preparation. It may seem excessive, but it worked for me, and you'll find what works for you. Given virtual interviews, having a "cheat sheet" seems even more sensible. You can find this reference sheet within resource 9 of 10 ("Career Job Pack") on my LinkedIn profile page, under the 10 video game career resources. I hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck in all your interviews.

In the last eight years, I have interviewed 500+ Software Engineers for various roles. Here are the most actionable tips I can give you on how to do better during your behavioral round. 1/ Set the Stage Clearly - Describe the Situation or Task that needed solving. Focus on the challenge. - Example: "The API response times were too slow, affecting user experience, and I was tasked with optimizing it within a sprint." - Keep it short. If the interviewer wants more details, they’ll ask. 2/ Focus on Key Actions - Highlight 3 core actions you took to solve the problem. - Example: "I profiled the API calls, implemented caching for frequent queries, and reduced payload size by 30%." - Stick to impactful actions. Each action should take under 2 minutes to explain. 3/ Use “I” to Show Ownership - Make it clear what you did to demonstrate leadership and initiative. - Example: "I spearheaded the migration from monolithic architecture to microservices, improving scalability by 40%." - Avoid saying "we" too much. The interviewer needs to know if you led the effort or just contributed. 4/ Stick to Facts, Avoid Emotions - Keep your answers factual, even when discussing challenges. - Example: Instead of "I was frustrated with a teammate’s slow progress," say, "I scheduled a pair programming session to help them meet the deadline." 5/ Understand the Purpose of the Question - Think about what the interviewer is trying to assess—teamwork, problem-solving, leadership, or technical expertise. - Example: If asked about handling conflict, they want to see how you navigate disagreements productively. Frame your response accordingly. 6/ Use Data to Back Your Results - Quantify your impact wherever possible. - Example: "After optimizing the query logic, I reduced database read times by 40%, cutting down page load times by 2 seconds." - Data shows real impact and demonstrates the value you bring. 7/ Keep It Interactive - Make your responses concise to encourage follow-up questions from the interviewer. - Example: "I automated the deployment pipeline, cutting release times from 2 hours to 15 minutes. If you'd like, I can explain the challenges I faced setting up the CI/CD tools." 8/ Maintain good eye contact -Eye contact showcases confidence -In the era of online interviewing, it’s even more critical to showcase your focus via eye contact. And one thing you should never do in the behavioral interview is makeup details. It’s visible how shallow a story is if someone grills you on the details. I hope these tips will help you achieve great results. – P.S: Follow me for more insights on Software engineering.

The worst thing I did when preparing for my first data analyst interviews was stress over technical questions. I assumed technical skills alone would get me hired, spending hours on SQL and Python—only to struggle when it mattered most. Then, I walked into interviews unprepared for behavioral questions, giving vague, unstructured answers that failed to convince hiring managers. No matter how strong my technical abilities were, the rejections kept piling up. The reality? 𝟴𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹. Once I mastered them, I started passing more rounds and landing offers. These are the top 7 behavior questions I have faced in data analyst interviews: 1. Tell me about yourself?  2. Why are you interested in this role and our company? 3. Describe a time when you had to manage multiple priorities. How did you handle it? 4. Have you ever made a recommendation based on data that was initially met with skepticism? How did you handle it? 5. Describe a time when you had to explain complex data findings to a non-technical audience. How did you make it understandable? 6. Give an example of when you collaborated with cross-functional teams to drive a data initiative. 7. Tell me a time when you had to tell a stakeholder no? How did you go about doing it? The key to answering these questions is to have 4-5 prepared stories from your experience that you can tweak to answer each question. These stories should be ingrained in your memory by practicing them 10s of times in front of a mirror. Use the STAR framework to build these stories: 𝗦𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – Describe the context or background of the scenario. 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸 – Explain the specific challenge or responsibility you had. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – Detail the steps you took to address the challenge. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 – Share the outcome, ideally quantifying the impact if possible. Focusing on behavioral questions = passing more interview rounds #dataanalytics #star #interviews

𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. Most people think passing an interview is just about technical skills. After interviewing at places like Amazon, Meta, and other top tech companies, here’s what actually works: 𝗟 - 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 Ten minutes of research before an interview can completely change the conversation. - Look up your interviewer on LinkedIn. - Check their background, interests, past projects. - Find common ground. One time, I found out an interviewer spoke French. We ended up talking in French for part of the interview. Guess who stood out? 𝗔 - 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 At the end of the interview, always ask this: "𝘐𝘧 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦, 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦?" Why? Because it makes them visualize you in the role. 𝗦 - 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 If you can’t craft an engaging story about your experience, you’re losing points. Use the 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to help structure your answers. - Situation: What was the challenge? - Task: What was your responsibility? - Action: What did you do? - Result: What was the outcome? 𝗘 - 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 How you say something is just as important as what you say. Your tone can totally change how people understand your words. Be confident and engaging, and remember to stay professional. 𝗥 - 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲-𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 If you know what team you're interviewing for, find out what their tech stack is. - Mention relevant experience with their technologies. - Show that you already understand their problems. Most people walk into interviews hoping to be impressive. The best candidates walk in prepared. Hope this helps—and don’t forget to LASER. ♻️ Repost to share the advice!