In technical interviews, candidates often struggle to accurately demonstrate their level of seniority, leading to a phenomenon known as being "down-leveled." This occurs when candidates, despite their impressive resumes and experiences, are perceived by interviewers as being qualified for a position of lower responsibility than they are seeking. To help candidates avoid this, Prasad Rao, a Principal Solutions Architect at AWS, provides a 3-step method to ensure candidates present themselves at the appropriate senior level.

The method focuses on three key pillars that should be emphasized in answers to behavioral interview questions: scope and impact, technical depth and complexity, and leadership and collaboration.

First, in describing the situation, candidates should clearly articulate the scope and business impact of the project or problem they were addressing. Rather than stating that a task was performed or an issue was resolved in vague terms, the candidate should reference specific, high-impact business metrics. For example, instead of saying, “the e-commerce site was loading slowly,” one might say, “our platform, which handles $10 million in monthly sales, was causing a 5% drop in conversion rates due to slow load times.” This demonstrates the significance of the problem and highlights the candidate’s awareness of the business implications of their work.

Next, when explaining the task and action, it’s important to showcase technical depth and leadership. This involves going beyond simple solutions and demonstrating an ability to handle complex, multi-faceted issues. A junior-level response might focus on basic tasks like optimizing image load times. However, a senior-level response would detail how the candidate led a cross-functional effort to optimize both front-end and back-end performance, working with various teams and implementing advanced technical solutions such as database indexing, query caching, and content delivery networks. This not only highlights technical expertise but also leadership and collaboration, key traits for senior engineers.

Finally, the results section should quantify the impact of the candidate's work. Basic answers might focus on superficial improvements, such as a faster page load time. A more effective approach involves linking the result back to the initial problem, emphasizing the broader business outcomes, such as increased revenue or improved customer satisfaction. For example, stating that the optimizations reduced page load times by 30%, leading to a 15% increase in conversion rates and $1.5 million in additional monthly revenue, reinforces the candidate’s contribution to the organization’s success.

This method helps candidates frame their experiences in a way that showcases their seniority and expertise. It encourages the use of specific metrics and business outcomes, demonstrating a deeper understanding of the broader implications of their work. Moreover, candidates should be prepared to answer follow-up questions with the same level of detail, as interviewers may probe further to assess whether they truly possess the expertise they claim.

By mastering this approach, candidates can avoid being down-leveled in interviews, accurately presenting themselves as senior engineers who are capable of handling complex, high-impact work.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kprasadrao/

https://read.highgrowthengineer.com/p/how-to-avoid-downleveling