mediumBehaviouralScenarioMidSeniorStaffLead
Tell me about a time you had to deliver with unclear requirements or a deadline you did not believe in.
6 min readUpdated 2026-08-15
Answer
Short answer
Show that you made the ambiguity smaller before you started coding, that you wrote down the assumptions you were proceeding on, and - for the deadline half - that you renegotiated scope early with evidence rather than absorbing the pressure silently and missing the date.
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Likely follow-ups
- Which of your assumptions turned out to be wrong, and what did that cost?
- What did you deliberately not build, and who agreed to that?
- If nobody could tell you what the requirement was, how did you know when you were done?
- What did you say to the person holding the date, and when did you first say it?
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