Tell me about a time you cut a cloud bill. How did you find where the money was going, and what did you change?

What the interviewer is looking for

• This question tests cost optimisation. Uses tagging, cost reports, right-sizing, commitments and cleanup, and quantifies savings achieved.
• What to bring out: Used cost tools and tagging, found idle or oversized resources or bad storage tiers, made changes safely, and quantified the savings.
• Expect a follow-up like: How did you keep the costs from creeping back up?

Another way it may be asked: Think of a time costs were too high. How did you dig in and bring them down?

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 cost optimisation 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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