Walk through a project you built and explain why you want to join this specific team

This is a behavioral screen for a software engineering internship. The interviewer spends it on two questions: a detailed walk-through of a project you have worked on, and why you want to join the specific team you are interviewing for. Expect follow-up questions on anything you mention. ### Clarifying Questions - Would you like me to choose the project, or is there one on my resume you want to hear about? - How long should my overview be before you start asking follow-up questions? - How technical should I go: architecture and code-level decisions, or mainly the problem and the outcome? ### Part 1 — Walk through a project "Pick a project from your resume and walk me through it." Expect to be asked what you personally did, why you made particular technical choices, what went wrong, and what you would change. ```hint Pick for depth Choose the project whose every decision you can explain and defend under questioning, not the one with the most impressive name. The follow-up questions go wherever your overview points them. ``` ```hint I versus we Most student projects are team efforts. Plan how you will make your own contribution unmistakable without dismissing your teammates. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - The problem and its context, explained so that an outsider can follow it in a minute or two - The candidate's own role and contribution, separated from the team's - At least one technical decision, with the alternatives considered and the reason for the choice - A concrete outcome, and an honest lesson or change in hindsight ### Part 2 — Why this team "Why do you want to join this team specifically?" ```hint Make it non-transferable If your answer would work word for word for any other team, it does not answer the question. Anchor it in something concrete you learned about what this team works on. ``` ```hint Close the loop Connect what the team does to something you have already built or studied, and to what you want to learn during the internship. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Evidence of research into the team's product area, technology or problems - A link between the team's work and the candidate's projects, coursework or skills - What the candidate hopes to learn and to contribute within an internship - Motivation that is specific and sincere rather than general praise of the company ### What a Strong Answer Covers - Structured, time-boxed answers instead of a chronological narration - Technical depth on the chosen project that holds up under follow-up questions - Consistency between the project discussed and the stated reasons for wanting the team - Intern-appropriate framing: curiosity, coachability and ownership of a scoped piece of work ### Follow-up Questions - What would you change if you rebuilt that project today, and why? - What was the hardest bug or obstacle in the project, and how did you find and fix it? - If you were placed on a different team from the one you asked for, how would you approach it? - What would you want to have delivered by the end of the internship?