Running Out of Stories for Behavioral Interviews? This Simple Trick Works Wonders!
Interviewers love stories, learn how to always have great ones ready!
Early in my career, I made a mistake I now regret. I never kept a personal record of my work. Sure, I documented my contributions during appraisal cycles, but I never maintained a detailed log of my projects, challenges, and outcomes. As I changed job, even those records were lost, except the few that were jotted in my resume.
Why does this matter?
Most MAANG companies (and many others) ask situational questions in behavioral interviews, e.g. “Tell me about a time when…” These interviews often span multiple rounds (depending on the role), and interviewers expect unique, non-redundant examples in each round. The interviewer would also often gently prod, “hey, I am looking for your contributions, so feel free to use a lot of “I”s instead of “we”s in your answers.” This means keeping a rich log of such anecdotes handy with you.
Obviously, just having anecdotes isn’t enough. One must be able to quantify his/her impact. Thus, saying “I led a critical project” isn’t as compelling as saying “I led a project that reduced processing time by 40%, saving the company $500K annually.”
If I could go back, I’d tell my younger self (and now, I tell you): Maintain a personal “Impact Journal” (or Success Journal, Achievement Ledger, whatever). Update it when a project ends or when you switch teams.
Bare minimum things to document:
1️⃣ Program/Project details: What was the project about? Who was the customer? What was the functional domain? Why was it important?
2️⃣ Contract details: Value, type (fixed price, T&M, etc.); multiple vendors? Who were the other competitors during the bid stage? Why was it awarded to your company (value proposition, differentiators)?
3️⃣ Team structure: Team construct with onshore/offshore mix (if any), Key stakeholders (if you have the Stakeholder Matrix or Power-Interest Grid, better)
4️⃣ Delivery methodology: Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Waterfall with tools used
5️⃣ Your role & contributions: What specific technical challenges did you (in particular, not the team) solve?
6️⃣ Business impact: What changed for the customer or company as a result of the project? How did it move the needle?
Additional stuff that you can record:
1️⃣ Key Learnings & Mistakes: Document the challenges you faced, decisions made, and what you learned. These insights can be invaluable in future roles and interviews.
2️⃣ Major Wins & Achievements: These need not just be work-related. Did you mentor someone in the team? Did you manage people? Created a process improvement? Published an article internally or externally? Spoke at a conference? These all add to your professional story.
3️⃣ Feedback Received: Keep track of both positive feedback and constructive criticism from peers, managers, and stakeholders. It helps in self-improvement and performance reviews, and above all, will stop you from making the same mistake twice.
4️⃣ New Skills Acquired: Every time you learn a new skill (technical or soft skills), note it down along with where/how you applied it. At least record it in Linked In so that you can refer back later.
5️⃣ Industry Trends & Insights: When you read something insightful about your field, summarize it in your journal. It helps in thought leadership and staying ahead in your career. I often tried doing it via my blog Null Pointer, and now via Medium/Substack.
6️⃣ Networking & Key Contacts: This has been probably my post vulnerable area, being an introvert and being someone who forgets names easily. Jot down people you’ve connected with, how you met, and what they specialize in. This makes it easier to reach out for collaboration or mentorship.
7️⃣ Certifications & Learning Milestones: Completed a course? Earned a certification? Note down how it helped and where you applied that knowledge.
8️⃣ Tough Decisions & Trade-offs: Document situations where you had to make a difficult choice and why. Times when you failed or got a bad custimer feedback. Occassions when you got a critical feedback. These make for great leadership and decision-making stories in future interviews.
Why This Matters?
Keeping this journal will certainly help you in interviews (especially behavioral ones). It would also make performance reviews easier for you and aid in resume & LinkedIn updates. But best of all, it would serve as a personal reflection tool that will prepare you for mentorship & leadership roles.
If you’ve been doing this already, I’d love to hear your approach! If not, it’s never too late to start. 😊