Cheat sheet: Behavioural interviews
Every module on one page: its memory hook and the points worth saying out loud. Print it (Ctrl/⌘ P) and re-read it before a practice session; open the page behind any card when something doesn't come back to you. Built automatically from the pages, so it always matches them.
Level 1 · How it works
How behavioural interviews are scored
“Evidence, not adjectives”
Interviewers write down what you did and what happened. Describing yourself leaves the page blank.
- Avoid
- Describing yourself
- Too much context
- "We" all the way through
The STAR method
“Set the scene, then spend the time on what you did”
A sentence or two of context, most of the answer on your actions and reasons, and never skip the result.
- Avoid
- A minute of situation
- "We" in the action
- Stopping at the action
Building your story bank
“Ten stories, many angles”
A small bank of true stories, each prepared to prove several competencies from different angles.
- Avoid
- One hero story for everything
- Writing scripts
- Only success stories
Level 2 · The core questions
Ownership and delivering results
“Notice it, own it, prove it”
Ownership answers show that you started it, saw it through, and can measure what changed.
- Avoid
- Ownership of an assignment
- Hero stories
- Taking the team's credit
Conflict and disagreement
“Same goal, different route, test it”
Agree on what you both want, disagree only about how, and let evidence decide.
- Avoid
- A villain story
- "I've never really had a conflict"
- Escalating first
Failure, mistakes and feedback
“Own it, fix it, change it”
Admit it quickly, repair the damage, then change something so it can't happen the same way again.
- Avoid
- The humblebrag
- Someone else's fault
- A catastrophe with no fix
Leadership and influence
“Understand, show, make it easy”
Find out what they care about, prove it with evidence, then remove the work of saying yes.
- Avoid
- "My manager told them to"
- One big presentation
- Leadership = managing
Ambiguity, priorities and trade-offs
“Shrink the fog, then take a reversible step”
Turn unknowns into questions, write assumptions down, and move first where it's easy to undo.
- Avoid
- Waiting for clarity
- Charging ahead
- No trade-off named
Level 3 · Company, level and delivery
Company values and Amazon's Leadership Principles
“Same story, their angle”
Your stories stay true everywhere; turn each one to show the value the company scores.
- Avoid
- Naming the value
- Bending stories to fit
- Ignoring the values
Tell me about yourself, why us, and your questions
“Present, past, future, then stop”
Ninety seconds: where you are, how you got here, why this is next. Then let them choose what to ask.
- Avoid
- Reading the résumé
- Starting at the beginning
- No ending
Senior and staff signals
“Zoom out one level”
Whatever you did, say what problem it belonged to, who else it changed, and what it meant over time.
- Avoid
- Only telling the technical part
- Underselling
- Overselling
Follow-up questions and practising out loud
“Answer first, then the detail”
One direct sentence answers the follow-up; the detail comes after. Never restart the story.
- Avoid
- Restarting the story
- Inventing precision
- "Nothing" to do differently