Prompt
“Why do you want to join us?” / “Why this role?” / “What are you looking for in your next job?”
What interviewers are testing
- Preparation — you understand what they build and how data shows up in it.
- Fit — your strengths map to their pain (scale, trust & safety, monetization, ML infra, etc.).
- Retention signal — you’re running toward something specific, not only away from a bad boss.
Senior/Staff DE angle
Mention how Staff behaves here: scope of ownership, bar for cross-org influence, on-call or reliability culture if relevant. Avoid sounding like you want Staff title without Staff problems — show you want the ambiguity and multiplicative work.
Answer formula
- Company / product — specific: product line, data scale, mission, or technical moat you respect (not “I use your app”).
- Role — what you’d own: domains, stack adjacency, team charter, partnership model.
- Your fit — 2–3 proof points from past work (impact + behavior).
- Why now — career arc, skill you’re sharpening, or problem class you’re hungry for.
Company research checklist
- Recent blog posts, engineering pages, or conference talks (even skimming counts).
- How data / ML / experimentation shows up in their business.
- Values you can truthfully echo with examples from your experience.
Mistakes to avoid
- Generic culture words (“innovative,” “fast-paced”) with no anchor.
- Bad-mouthing your current employer — stay forward-looking.
- A script that could apply to any FAANG — swap in one sentence only they would love.
Drill
Write one custom paragraph per target company; read it aloud. If a friend can guess which company before you say the name, you’re specific enough. Keep a modular closing so you can trim for time.