Six Timed Behavioral Prompts: AI Tools, Debugging, Teamwork, Explaining, Goals, Quality

This is a recorded (one-way) video interview with six behavioral questions. For each question you have 1 minute to prepare and 3 minutes to record your answer. Nobody is present to ask follow-up questions, so every answer has to stand on its own. Five of the six questions ask about something you created, which can reasonably be code, a feature, a tool, a document or a whole project. Prepare an answer to each of the six questions below that fits within 3 minutes. ### Constraints and Clarifications - Six questions, answered one after another. - 1 minute of preparation and at most 3 minutes of recording per question. - No live interviewer: each answer must supply its own context, your actions and the result, without prompting. ### Clarifying Questions Nobody can answer questions during the recording, so settle these beforehand from the platform instructions or with the recruiter: - Can a recording be retaken, or is the first take final? - Is it acceptable to use the same project in more than one answer, or should each answer draw on a different example? - Are examples from coursework, personal projects or work outside software acceptable? - Is finishing an answer well before the 3 minutes are up viewed negatively? ### Part 1 — Using an AI tool to create something "Tell me about a time you used an AI tool to help you create something. How did you work out what it could and could not do well, and what did you check or change before relying on its output?" ```hint Show the verification, not the tool Pick an example where the tool's output needed checking or correcting, so you have something concrete to say about its limits and about what you changed. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - What was built and which parts the AI tool contributed. - How the tool's strengths and weaknesses were discovered, deliberately rather than only by accident. - The concrete checks and changes made before relying on the output. - What the experience changed about how you use such tools. ### Part 2 — Something you created that did not work as expected "Tell me about a time something you created did not work as expected. How did you work out why, and looking back, what might you have missed?" ```hint Two halves The question asks for both a diagnosis and a candid look back. Plan time for each instead of spending all three minutes on the fix. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - The expected versus the actual behavior, and its impact. - A systematic diagnosis that reaches a root cause. - An honest account of what was missed and why, more specific than "I should have tested more". ### Part 3 — Creating something with other people "Tell me about something you created with other people. What was your role, and how did you help the team work effectively together?" ```hint Separate I from we Be precise about which parts were yours, and choose one or two things you did for the team's way of working, not only for the product. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - The team, the goal and your specific role. - Concrete actions that improved collaboration: coordination, communication, resolving a disagreement or unblocking others. - The outcome for both the product and the team. ### Part 4 — Explaining your work to someone unfamiliar with it "Tell me about a time you had to explain something you had created, in writing or in person, to someone who was unfamiliar with it. How did you make it easy to understand, and how did you know it was understood?" ```hint Evidence of understanding Decide in advance which observable sign showed you the explanation had worked; the question explicitly asks how you knew. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Who the audience was and what they needed to do with the explanation. - The techniques that made it accessible: structure, examples, visuals, removing or defining jargon. - Concrete evidence that it was understood, rather than an assumption that it was. ### Part 5 — Setting and achieving a goal "Tell me about a time you set a goal. How did you achieve it?" ```hint Make the goal measurable A goal with a clear target and a deadline makes the rest of the story, and the result, easy to judge. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A specific goal you set yourself, and why it mattered. - The plan, how progress was tracked, and how obstacles were handled. - The result, measured against the original goal. ### Part 6 — Making sure something you created worked properly "Tell me about a time you were responsible for making sure something you had created worked properly. What did you do to ensure it worked as intended, and what was the outcome?" ```hint Define working first Start from what "working as intended" meant in that situation; the checks you describe should follow from that definition. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - How "working as intended" was defined: requirements, acceptance criteria, the users affected. - Verification before and after release that goes beyond the happy path. - The outcome, with evidence, including anything the checks caught. ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A consistent structure (situation, task, actions, result, reflection) that fits within 3 minutes, with most of the time spent on actions. - Six distinct, specific examples, or deliberate reuse of one project from clearly different angles. - First-person ownership, concrete details and measurable results rather than generalities. - Honest reflection, especially where a question asks what you missed or how you knew. ### Follow-up Questions - For Part 1: if you could not fully verify an AI-generated piece of code yourself, how would you decide whether it was safe to ship? - For Part 2: what change to your process, not just to that piece of work, came out of the failure? - For Part 3: what would you have done if a teammate had repeatedly failed to deliver their part? - For Part 6: how did you decide that your checks were sufficient to release?