Weak and Strong Answer to a Behavioral Interview Question
Real-world example of an answer to a behavioral interview question comparing the weak and strong responses
In my interviewing experience, most people are able to structure their answers in STAR format but the answers lack the required details/depth/scope/impact.
I will be writing more about how you can ensure that you provide the details interviewers are looking are for. However, in the first article to kick start the newsletter, lets looks into an example of a weak and strong answer of a behavioral interview question.
Question
Give an example of a time when you had to deal with a particularly challenging customer or user issue. What was the problem, and why was it difficult to resolve? How did you approach understanding the customer's needs? What steps did you take to address the issue? What was the final resolution, and how did you ensure customer satisfaction? What did this experience teach you about customer service?
Answer
Situation:
I was working as a Product Manager at a tech company when we launched a new feature. A big client started complaining about slow performance right after the update.
Task:
I had to fix the problem and keep the client happy.
Action:
When the issue came up, I got the team together to look at the problem. We found out it was because of the new feature we had just released. I decided to call the client to apologize and let them know we were working on fixing it. We made a quick fix to make the system a bit better for the time being. After that, we spent some time changing how the feature worked with the database. We also did some extra testing to make sure this kind of thing wouldn't happen again in the future.
Result:
In the end, we managed to fix the problem and even made the system faster than it was before. The client was happy with how we handled things and decided to stay with our company. Our product got better overall because of the changes we made. I learned some things about how to deal with clients when problems come up. It was a challenging situation, but we got through it okay.
Shortcomings of this answer
The answer, though in STAR format, does not provide enough details or the full picture to the interviewer. It will be considered a weak answer for following reasons:
Lack of specificity: The answer is vague and doesn't provide concrete details. For example, it doesn't specify the nature of the performance issues or quantify the improvement.
Insufficient problem-solving depth: It doesn't delve into the technical aspects of the problem or solution, which is crucial for big tech companies.
Limited scope of action: The steps taken are basic and don't demonstrate advanced problem-solving or leadership skills.
Absence of data: There are no metrics or specific data points to back up claims of improvement or client satisfaction.
Weak demonstration of impact: The results are generic and don't show significant value added to the company or client.
Lack of strategic thinking: There's no mention of long-term strategies implemented to prevent similar issues in the future.
Poor showcase of leadership: The answer doesn't highlight how the candidate led the team through the crisis or made critical decisions.
Missing cross-functional collaboration: It doesn't elaborate on working with different teams, which is crucial in large tech companies.
Insufficient learning and growth: The learning point is vague and doesn't show deep reflection or substantial personal development.
Weak customer focus: While it mentions keeping the client happy, it doesn't go into detail about understanding and addressing the client's specific needs.
This answer would likely get the candidate rejected because it fails to demonstrate the depth of technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, leadership abilities, and strategic thinking that big tech companies looks for in its candidates. It presents a simplistic view of a complex problem and doesn't showcase the level of impact.
Strong Answer
Situation:
While working as a Product Manager at a software company, we launched a new feature in our project management tool. Shortly after the release, a major client – a Fortune 500 company managing over 10,000 projects on our platform – reported severe performance issues. Users were experiencing significant delays, with some operations taking up to 30 seconds to complete, rendering the tool nearly unusable for their large teams.
Task:
My responsibility was to quickly identify the root cause of the performance issues, develop a solution, and restore the client's faith in our product. The challenge was magnified by the potential loss of this high-profile client, which could have severe financial and reputational consequences for our company.
Action:
Immediate Response: I immediately assembled a cross-functional team including developers, QA specialists, and customer support representatives. We established a war room to focus solely on this issue.
Problem Analysis: We conducted a thorough analysis of the client's usage patterns and system logs. We discovered that the new feature was causing unexpected database queries when used with large datasets, something our initial testing hadn't caught.
Client Communication: I personally called the client's CTO to apologize for the inconvenience and assured them we were treating this as our top priority. I provided regular updates every few hours.
Temporary Solution: Within 24 hours, we developed and deployed a patch that significantly reduced the impact of the problem, bringing operation times down to 5-10 seconds.
Root Cause Resolution: Over the next week, we completely redesigned the database queries for the new feature. We also implemented a more robust caching system to handle large datasets more efficiently.
Enhanced Testing Protocols: I worked with our QA team to develop new testing scenarios that would simulate extreme usage cases, preventing similar issues in the future.
Client-Specific Optimization: We created a custom configuration for this client, optimizing our system for their uniquely large dataset.
Result:
Performance Improvement: The final solution reduced operation times to less than 1 second, even for the largest projects. This was actually an improvement over the pre-update performance.
Client Satisfaction: The client was impressed by our rapid response and the extent of our efforts. They not only remained with us but also expanded their usage of our tool to other departments.
Product Enhancement: The optimizations we implemented benefited all our users, leading to a 15% increase in overall system performance.
Process Improvement: We integrated the new testing protocols into our development lifecycle, significantly reducing the likelihood of similar issues in future releases.
Personal Growth: This experience taught me the importance of proactive communication with clients during crises and the value of robust testing for edge cases. It also honed my skills in leading cross-functional teams under pressure.
Company Impact: Our successful handling of this crisis became a case study within our company for customer service excellence. It led to the implementation of a rapid response protocol for critical client issues across all our products.
Why this answer is effective?
I’m sure you are able to see how this answer provides the necessary details. But lets look into them in detail:
Specific and detailed: It provides concrete information about the situation, including the client's size and the exact performance issues.
Demonstrates technical depth: The answer shows understanding of database queries, caching systems, and performance optimization. Interviewer know the areas where they can dive in to test your knowledge.
Showcases leadership: It describes how the candidate assembled and led a cross-functional team to address the crisis.
Highlights strategic thinking: The solution involves both short-term fixes and long-term improvements to processes and systems.
Quantifies results: It provides specific metrics, such as reducing operation times from 30 seconds to less than 1 second, and a 15% overall system performance increase.
Emphasizes customer focus: The candidate personally communicated with the client's CTO and provided regular updates. Showcases candidate can communicate with C-level executives.
Shows scalability awareness: The solution addresses large dataset handling, crucial for companies.
Illustrates cross-functional collaboration: The candidate worked with developers, QA, and customer support teams.
Highlights personal growth: It articulates specific learnings about crisis management and client communication.
Shows company-wide impact: The experience became a case study and led to new protocols across products.
Addresses long-term prevention: New testing scenarios were developed to prevent similar issues in the future.
Balances technical and business aspects: It covers both the technical solution and its business implications.
This answer effectively demonstrates the problem-solving skills, technical knowledge, leadership abilities, and strategic thinking. It shows the ability to handle complex challenges, work across teams, and drive significant improvements, all of which are crucial in high-level tech roles.
Next time, when you are preparing your answers for a behavioral interview, try to cover these points.
Prasad one clarification, for Client Communication should we mention like C level executive or senior stakeholders as calling directly CTO seems challenging for large clients.