A manager asks for a dashboard showing sales performance. What questions would you ask before building anything?

What the interviewer is looking for

• This question tests requirements gathering. Asks about decisions, audiences and definitions before building, and manages scope changes openly.
• What to bring out: Who uses it, which decisions it supports, key metrics and definitions, level of detail, refresh frequency and data sources.
• Expect a follow-up like: How would you confirm you'd understood them before building it fully?

Another way it may be asked: Someone just says I need a sales dashboard. What do you need to know from them first?

A structure to follow: STAR, with the weight on Action and Result

1. Step 1

   Situation

   One or two sentences: where, when and what was at stake. Pick a real example you were close to.

2. Step 2

   Task

   What you personally were responsible for. Say "I", not only "we", so the requirements gathering you showed is visible.

3. Step 3

   Action

   The two or three things you did and why you chose them over the alternatives. This should be about half your answer.

4. Step 4

   Result

   What changed, in your own measure of it, and what you would do differently. Only use numbers you can stand behind.

This is guidance on shape, not a script. Use your own real experience and facts; never invent details to fill a gap. See the STAR guide and answer frameworks.

Common slips

• Describing what the team did without saying what you did.
• Choosing an example with no clear outcome, or one you cannot answer detailed questions about.
• Ending on the action and skipping the result and what you learned.

How to practise it

Write two bullet points for each STAR letter, then say the answer aloud in about two minutes.

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