Module Review: Behavioral Interview Prep
Key Takeaways
- Structure is King: Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to prevent rambling and ensure you hit all key points.
- Own Your Story: Avoid the “We” trap. Clearly articulate your specific contribution (“I identified…”, “I proposed…”, “I drove…”).
- Politics is Necessary: Politics is just decision-making at scale. Use Stakeholder Mapping to identify who to partner with and who to keep satisfied.
- Influence Without Authority: Use techniques like Nemawashi (pre-alignment) to build consensus before the meeting.
- Impact Over Output: Move beyond “I wrote code” to “I improved business metrics.” Use the Impact Pyramid to level up your answers.
- Quantify Everything: Even if you don’t have exact revenue numbers, use proxy metrics (latency, build time, conversion) or estimations.
Interactive Flashcards
Test your knowledge by flipping through these cards.
What does STAR stand for?
Situation, Task, Action, Result. It's the standard framework for structuring behavioral answers.
What is the 'I' vs 'We' trap?
Using 'We' too much obscures your personal contribution. You must explicitly state what YOU did (e.g., 'I proposed', 'I led').
In Stakeholder Mapping, how do you handle High Power / High Interest people?
Manage Closely. These are your key players. Partner with them and involve them early.
What is 'Nemawashi'?
A Japanese term for 'root binding'. It means building consensus one-on-one before a formal meeting takes place.
What is Political Capital?
The trust and goodwill you earn by delivering results and helping others. You spend it to push for difficult changes.
What is the difference between Output and Outcome?
Output is what you did (e.g., shipped a feature). Outcome is what happened because of it (e.g., increased revenue by 10%).
Cheat Sheet
The STAR Framework
| Section | Percentage | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Situation | 10% | Context, difficulty, stakes |
| Task | 10% | Goal, constraints |
| Action | 60% | What YOU did (influence, architecture, trade-offs) |
| Result | 20% | Outcome, metrics, lessons learned |
Stakeholder Strategy
| Power | Interest | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| High | High | Manage Closely (Partner) |
| High | Low | Keep Satisfied (Meet reqs) |
| Low | High | Keep Informed (Updates) |
| Low | Low | Monitor (Ignore) |
Impact Metrics
| Category | Metric Examples |
|---|---|
| Revenue | Conversion rate, Average Order Value, Churn |
| Cost | Infrastructure bill, Vendor licenses, Headcount efficiency |
| Performance | Latency (p99), Throughput (RPS), TTFB |
| Productivity | Build time, Deploy frequency, Onboarding time |
| Reliability | Uptime (9s), MTTR, Incident count |
Glossary
Review the full Staff Prep Glossary for definitions of terms like Political Capital, Sponsorship, and Technical Vision.