How To Reflect On Past Experiences For 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.

I just had the "perfect" candidate bomb their interview. Perfect resume. Stellar experience. All the right skills. But they made one critical mistake... They couldn't tell me a SPECIFIC story about their experience. Every answer was vague: "We usually handled it as a team" "I typically followed the process" "Things generally worked out well" Red flags everywhere. Here's what I've learned after thousands of interviews: The difference between a good candidate and a great one? Details. When I ask about a challenging situation: - Good candidates tell me what "we" did - Great candidates tell me what "I" did - The best candidates walk me through exactly HOW they did it Want better interview results? Here are 3 things I listen for: 1. Context Do they paint the full picture? Or just give surface-level answers? The details tell you everything. 2. Actions Not what "should" be done. What they ACTUALLY did. Step by step. 3. Results Did they own the outcome? What did they learn? How did they grow? The truth? Past behavior predicts future performance. If they can't give specifics about their past... They probably don't have them. When I shifted to this approach, our retention rate jumped. Want to know the exact questions I ask? Drop a comment below or DM me. #hiring #recruitment #interviewing #leadership

🚀 Amazon Interviews: Keys to Success ✨ After sitting on both sides of the table—going through Amazon’s interviews and serving as a Bar Raiser—I learned something important: To stand out and ace the interview, you have to engineer your stories strategically. Here are four lessons that can help anyone—whether you’re applying internally or externally—ace the challenge. 1️⃣ Go Beyond the Basic STAR (Situation–Task–Action–Result) Stories: Surface-level answers won’t cut it. Amazon interviewers dig deep—so layer in details, metrics, and reflection. Share what you did, what you learned, and HOW you were able to achieve results. 2️⃣ Anchor Everything in Metrics & Mechanisms: Every story should have a measurable impact. How did you know you succeeded? What mechanism or process ensured it lasted? Amazon values scalable, data-driven results. 3️⃣ Map Your Stories Across the Amazon Leadership Principles: Build a story bank. Each example should connect to multiple Leadership principles (e.g., a cost-saving project exhibiting Deliver Results, could also demonstrate Invent & Simplify). This keeps your answers versatile and engaging. 4️⃣ Demonstrate That You’ll Raise the Bar: Amazon isn’t just hiring for today— Amazon is hiring people who elevate the standard. Share moments where you didn’t just deliver, but created lasting change for your team, customers, or the business. 💡 Pro tip: Reflection is a secret weapon! Reflection shows maturity and leadership. Turning experience into insight makes your story memorable—and transforms good candidates into great ones. 🔥 So, if you’re preparing for an interview: practice discussing your experiences and dive deep in the STAR format. Quantify your impact, connect the experiences back to the principles, and close with reflection. Here’s to raising the bar! Fight On, Together! ✌🏾❤️ #Leadership #Amazon #CareerGrowth #InterviewTips #HireandDevelopTheBest #BarRaiser