Alex Chiou

Data structures and algorithms problems (i.e. LeetCode) suck up all the attention among software engineers when it comes to interviews. However, you need to master far more than LeetCode to land a quality tech job (even at FAANG). If you want to succeed on the software engineer interview journey, you absolutely have to get good at what's *actually* the most important interview type: Behavioral interviews.

Here are the attributes of behavioral interviews that make them so critical:

- You will encounter them on every interview loop from Big Tech to early-stage startups
- They can screen you out early (often at the recruiter pre-screen)
- They're used extensively for leveling
- You cannot fail them and still get an offer

Despite this, many engineers see them as a fairly meaningless and "fluffy" exercise. This leads to them struggling with behavioral interviews, often not realizing that they're getting hard rejected on these rounds! By taking this course, that won't be you anymore. After going through it, you will:

- 🧠 Have the right mentality to answer *any* behavioral question well
- ✅ Understand good vs. bad behavioral answers
- 📖 Use the right tactics to prepare properly
- 🤔 Possess the skills to vet the company
- 📊 Know what behavioral performances look like across different levels

The beautiful thing about behavioral interviews is that by improving at them, you just become a better software engineer overall. Skills like effective communication, speaking with charisma, and empathizing with others are fundamental skills that are useful anywhere at any stage in your career.

Master The Behavioral Interview As A Software Engineer

Overview

Answering The Questions

Questions To Ask

Leveling

Preparation

Conclusion

Go Deeper: Follow Through

How This Course Works

You're (Probably) Sleeping On Behavioral

The 3 Keys To Behavioral Interviews

Don't Memorize: Be Nimble

It’s A Conversation

STAR

The #1 Behavioral Interview Question

Timing

The Interviewer Isn’t You

When You Don’t Have An Answer

Interviews Are A 2-Way Street

Double Dip

Good Vs. Bad Questions To Ask

Junior Engineer

Mid-Level Engineer

Senior Engineer

Staff Engineer

How To Get The Level You Want

Cultural Values

Write Stuff Down

Record Yourself

Do Mock Interviews

Just Be A Human

Challenge Yourself, Do Great Work

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 25] - Go Deeper: Follow Through

Go through case studies by level to understand the expectations at each one: [\[Taro Top 10\] Understanding Engineering Levels](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/e9rjATPbSyvRPsukXiHn/)

Take these courses as well:

- [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)
- [\[Course\] Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 1] - How This Course Works

Let's not mince words: Most software engineers are pretty terrible at behavioral interviews. Unlike interview types like data structures & algorithms (DSA) and system design, behavioral interviews are purely open-ended. Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Your instructor [Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background across top companies like PayPal, Course Hero, Meta, and Robinhood, explaining how ultra-sharpening his behavioral interview skills played a huge part in his career success. His reward? Growing from $85k TC to $750k in just 7 years!
- How software engineers throw their careers by from over-indexing on LeetCode grinding instead of developing more balanced interview expertise, particularly with behavioral interviews
- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will have the right mentality to answer *any* behavioral question well, understand what a good behavioral answer looks like (vs. a bad one), use the right tactics to prepare, possess the skills to vet the company, and know what behavioral performances look like across different levels

To learn more about Alex's interview success journey and overall job searching tactics, check out his master job searching course: [\[Course\] Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 2] - You're (Probably) Sleeping On Behavioral

Grinding LeetCode endlessly makes no sense and will not get you a great software engineer job, especially in a bad market. So why does it makes no sense? Because data structures and algorithms (DSA) rounds are far from the most important. This lesson teaches you: 

- The reason why companies weigh behavioral interviews so heavily (usually more than candidates realize)
- Why behavioral interviews are actually the most important interview type
- How engineers waste the precious time they have in behavioral interviews

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 3] - The 3 Keys To Behavioral Interviews

In a behavioral interview, you can say literally anything. So what should you say? This lesson teaches you:

- The 3 keys to any effective behavioral interview answer
- How to specifically show each of the 3 keys
- What a good behavioral interview answer looks like vs. a bad one (hint: the good ones integrates the 3 keys while the bad one doesn't)

To learn how Alex built 30 side projects with 5 million+ users combined: [\[Taro Top 10\] Building Impressive Side Projects](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/vKUWMgmmaEvzcYUXZs4B/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 4] - Don't Memorize: Be Nimble

Too many software engineers keep thinking as if they're still in school, and this applies to how they study for interviews. Unfortunately, memorization is a terrible strategy with behavioral interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- The mindset you need to have to be a successful behavioral interviewer
- Why memorization doesn't work with behavioral interviews
- How to properly train your brain when it comes to behavioral interviews
- What good vs. bad looks like when it comes to what to remember with behavioral interviews

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 5] - It’s A Conversation

If you're doing it right, behavioral interviews shouldn't even feel like interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews should feel like a conversation
- How the flow of behavior interviews are fundamentally different from all other interview types
- Why behavioral interviews are actually about far more than just the words you say
- The importance of honesty in interviews, not just in reality but with perception as well

Here is the communication course: [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 6] - STAR

Behavioral interviews are ultimately an exercise in story-telling, something that many software engineers unfortunately struggle with. This lesson teaches you:

- The STAR format, how it works, and why it's important
- What to include with S(ituation)
- What to include with T(ask)
- What to include with A(ction)
- What to include with R(esult)
- What a stellar behavioral interview answer following the STAR format looks like

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 7] - The #1 Behavioral Interview Question

In life, many things follow a power law where a specific group of things are far more important than all the others. This applies to behavioral interviews as well. This lesson teaches you:

- The most important behavioral interview question you absolutely must know and the many forms it can take on
- How to answer it properly, especially if the true meaning is hidden
- What a great project to talk about during a behavioral interview looks like

Go through the "Project Credit And Scope" section of the [promotion course here](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/): <https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/its-not-just-about-impact/>

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 8] - Timing

Behavioral interviews are intense, containing more questions than every other interview type. This greatly affects how you need to talk to pass these rounds as a software engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews are a marathon
- How long you should take per behavioral interview answer
- Tactics you can use to communicate more efficiently

For more advice on communicating concisely: ["How to make communication succinct and more impactful?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/QDLV5owweJveRLlspOdc/how-to-make-communication-succinct-and-more-impactful/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 9] - The Interviewer Isn’t You

One of the biggest mistakes software engineers make during behavioral interviews is not having empathy. This lesson teaches you:

- A crucial way to understand the goal of a behavioral interview
- How a lack of empathy leads to immediate tactical failure in behavioral interviews
- How you can use empathy to take in a non-confusing way

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 10] - When You Don’t Have An Answer

If you're an earlier-in-career software engineer, there is a very high chance that you will get a behavioral interview question where you don't have an answer. This lesson teaches you:

- How to gracefully and immediately react when you get a behavioral interview question asking for a scenario that you have never been in before
- Backup options that you can present to the interviewer to still answer the question despite not having an answer that 100% fits

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 11] - Interviews Are A 2-Way Street

One of the easiest ways to tank your career as a software engineer is to join the wrong company or team. Despite this, so many software engineers squander their time in behavioral interviews to uncover extremely valuable information about the quality of an organization. This lesson teaches you:

- Why not having thoughtful prepared questions to ask the interviewer makes you look really bad in a behavioral round
- The critical career importance of behavioral interviews being a 2-way street

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 12] - Double Dip

Software engineers and people in general don't realize how incredibly powerful questions can be when you ask the right ones. This lesson teaches you:

- How the best questions that you can ask in a behavioral interview actually help you pass on top of extracting useful team selection information
- What the 2 core failure modes are when it comes to you asking the interviewer questions

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 13] - Good Vs. Bad Questions To Ask

You're a software engineer and you have slogged through the behavioral round, answering many grueling questions. And now the interviewer opens up the floor to you: "Do you have any questions for me?". What do you do here? This lesson teaches you:

- What a good behavioral interview question to ask looks like through many examples, which you can ask word-for-word in your next behavioral interview
- What a bad behavioral interview question looks like (avoid these)
- The attributes of a high-quality question vs. a low quality question in a behavioral interview

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 14] - Junior Engineer

Every software engineer starts off as a junior engineer. Junior engineers can't really do anything, but they still need to do pass interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- The expectations from a junior engineer overall and how that reflects in behavioral interviews
- The kinds of stories junior engineers tell in behavioral interviews

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 15] - Mid-Level Engineer

Mid-Level engineers are engineers who have a good amount of experience but aren't exactly senior yet. Most software engineers fall into this bucket. This lesson teaches you:

- The expectations from a mid-level engineer overall and how that reflects in behavioral interviews
- The kinds of stories mid-level engineers tell in behavioral interviews

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 16] - Senior Engineer

Senior engineers are proven leaders who make the engineers around them better. "Senior" is a badge of honor that almost all engineers strive for after entering the industry. This lesson teaches you:

- The expectations from a senior engineer overall and how that reflects in behavioral interviews
- The kinds of stories senior engineers tell in behavioral interviews

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 17] - Staff Engineer

Staff engineer is a level that most engineers never reach (when using the expectations and compensation that FAANG/FAANG-adjacent companies have of Staff). This lesson teaches you:

- The expectations from a staff engineer overall and how that reflects in behavioral interviews
- The kinds of stories staff engineers tell in behavioral interviews

You can learn about Staff Engineer archetypes in our senior -&gt; staff course here: <https://www.jointaro.com/course/grow-from-senior-to-staff-engineer-l5-to-l6/why-have-archetypes/>

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 18] - How To Get The Level You Want

If you don't play your cards right, it is easy to get down-leveled, which means getting a level lower than what you were at before. This is very common in bad markets and for engineers breaking into FAANG. It's also common if you don't give an amazing behavioral interview performance. This lesson teaches you:

- The overall strategy to not get down-leveled
- Tips you should follow to maximize your level

To better understand the expectations at each level, go through this: [\[Taro Top 10\] Understanding Engineering Levels](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/e9rjATPbSyvRPsukXiHn/)

For resources on becoming a better engineer:

- [\[Course\] Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/)
- ["What are software engineering fundamentals?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/3VNPK7wol76s89EkgFeW/what-are-software-engineering-fundamentals/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 19] - Cultural Values

Culture fit is real. A lot of tech companies have toxic culture and don't vet for it properly, but that doesn't change the fact that culture fit is extremely important to running a healthy engineering organization. This lesson teaches you:

- Why cultural values are important
- What you should do to effectively study and internalize the cultural values of a company you are interviewing with
- How to weave a company's cultural values into your behavioral interview answers through an example with Alex for his Meta interview

If you're curious as to how Meta's engineering culture works: ["Is sprint planning and agile not a thing at Meta?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/tB7borE2AWb1KcuFEcon/is-sprint-planning-and-agile-not-a-thing-at-meta/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 20] - Write Stuff Down

Writing English is far more important than writing code, and this applies to mastering the behavioral interview as a software engineer as well. This lesson teaches you:

- How to create a powerful Q&A database to master the behavioral interview
- What you should be remembering from your written preparation vs. not

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 21] - Record Yourself

Behavioral interviews are inherently difficult as they're very open-ended and there's no such thing as a 100% "right" answer. Luckily for you, behavioral interview questions are incredibly easy to simulate. This lesson teaches you:

- How to properly record yourself for behavioral interviews
- What kinds of questions you should be asking yourself in behavioral interview recordings
- Creative ways to make behavioral interview recordings more realistic
- How to analyze the quality of your behavioral interview response recordings

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 22] - Do Mock Interviews

Software engineers love working and studying solo, but this is extremely difficult with behavioral interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews are inherently collaborative and effectively require mock interviews to master
- How to get the most value from your mock behavioral interview sessions

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 23] - Just Be A Human

Behavioral interviews are really just an exercise in communication (a skill many software engineers struggle with). This lesson teaches you:

- The difference between being an introvert (this is fine) and shy (this is really bad for your career in tech)
- The right mindset to have when it comes to building relationships and the underlying skills necessary to ace behavioral interviews
- The secret behind getting extremely good at communication

To get better at communication, check out our course: [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 24] - Challenge Yourself, Do Great Work

Behavioral interviews are fundamentally an exercise in storytelling. This means that in order to pass these interviews as a software engineer, you need great stories to begin with. This lesson teaches you:

- The 2-step process to become absolutely incredible at behavioral interviews
- The most common mistake software engineers make with their mentality when it comes to growth
- How to get better at coding, even if you're unemployed

For more resources on becoming a better software engineer:

- [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)
- [\[Course\] Build Side Projects With 500k+ Users: Coming Up With An Idea](https://www.jointaro.com/course/build-side-projects-with-500k-users-coming-up-with-an-idea/)
- [\[Taro Top 10\] How To Create Scope As An Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/EWIo3USNcsgXbCs5PS0h/)
- ["What are the Core skills a SDE should be consistently developing?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/Hs8VJtUb6bfTPjUgbj96/what-are-the-core-skills-a-sde-should-be-consistently-developing/)