Most interview answers die in the 'so what?' zone.

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I recently interviewed at Meta & Google...

Here's what I realized halfway through re: what makes a bad interview answer.

➡️ The stakes are never clear.

➡️ The tension is always missing.

This will usually lead to the interviewer zoning out.

Put differently, your interviewer wants to know: "Why did your leadership care about this thing you did?"

Candidates rarely go that deep.

And unfortunately, the STAR method won't save your answer if your story is missing clear tension.

But what if I told you there's another story framework that isn't Google-able?

Let me introduce you to SPARK!

• S – Stakes → What's on the line if the problem isn't solved? What you were up against (arguing teams, broken systems, budget).
• P – Priorities → Why execs would care (revenue, risk, reputation, strategy).
• A – Action → 2-3 steps you took to fix it.
• R – Result → The business impact.
• K – Key Takeaway → The lesson or principle you'd apply again.

Before & Afters!

Example 1 - Forecasting

❌ Before:

“I fixed reporting errors to improve forecast accuracy.”

✅ After (SPARK):

• S (Stakes): “We were ranking last in forecast accuracy and needed a fix fast.”
• P (Priorities): “Leadership was flying blind and frustrated that our forecast kept shifting week to week.”
• A (Actions): “I rebuilt the entire process: set guardrails, introduced variance reviews, and consolidated 3 disconnected systems into a single source of truth."
• R (Result): “We closed a $13M gap, our forecast became the #1 most accurate across all regions, and my model was adopted org-wide.”
• K (Key Takeaway): “I learned that accuracy requires both reliable data and a process that leaders can trust and scale."

Example 2 - Project Management

❌ Before:

“I streamlined requests to help leaders prioritize critical tasks."

✅ After (SPARK):

• S (Stakes): “Our leaders were drowning in competing requests, and without a clear intake process, high-priority needs were getting stuck behind pet projects.”
• P (Priorities): “Leaders needed visibility into which projects actually tied to exec-level goals so they could allocate resources with confidence.”
• A (Actions): “I built a centralized intake and prioritization process, aligned stakeholders on shared criteria, and piloted it with 3 teams to prove out adoption.”
• R (Result): “Within a month, the intake form became a standing agenda item in weekly exec syncs, 50% of low-value projects were cut, and the top 3 initiatives were completed ahead of schedule.”
• K (Key Takeaway): “I learned that a new process only sticks when leaders see it as critical to how they run their business and make decisions.”

I know, you're probably thinking...

"How the hell do I do this for every story? A lot of my responsibilities really are unsexy!"

Stopping you right there.

You can do this for every story.

Every story has a 'so what' if you zoom out far enough.

It might not directly tie to leadership priorities, but it always ties to something that matters - clarity, speed, confidence, resources, risk avoided, or time gained.

I'm not saying to make up an entirely fake story.

The goal isn't to lie, but to find the piece of your story that deserves to be elevated.

If your work made decisions easier, helped people move faster, freed up people's time.. that's the part you elevate.

Got an interview story you're unsure about? Send it my way. I read every email! Or book an hour with me.

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