Interview Prep
Interview types you can practice
Behavioural, technical, case study and general, and which to pick.
Four types are available. They differ in what is being tested, not just in the questions asked, so choosing the right one changes what the report is able to tell you.
Behavioural
Past experience: leadership, conflict, failure, working across teams. Questions open with "tell me about a time". This is the most common format in almost every industry and the one most candidates underestimate, because the questions sound easy and the answers are hard to structure under pressure.
What it tests is whether you can tell a complete story (situation, what you actually did, and how it ended) in about two minutes without wandering.
Technical
Coding problems, system design, and domain questions for engineering and technical roles. Practice here is about explaining your reasoning while you work, which is usually what is being assessed. An interviewer can see the code, but only hears the thinking if you narrate it.
Case study
An open business problem to work through out loud. Standard for consulting, and increasingly used for product and strategy roles. There is rarely a correct answer; the assessment is whether you structure the problem before diving at it, state your assumptions, and reach a defensible recommendation.
General
A mix: motivation, strengths and weaknesses, why this company, where you want to be. Best for a first-round screen with a recruiter, or when you do not yet know the format.
Choosing
- You do not know the format: general first, then behavioural.
- A recruiter screen: general.
- A hiring-manager round: behavioural.
- An engineering loop: technical, plus one behavioural session. The behavioural round is where technical candidates most often lose offers.
- Consulting, product, or strategy: case study, plus behavioural.