Behavioural interview questions and answers are designed to learn about your past behavior in situations relevant to the job you’re applying for. The core idea is that your past performance is a strong predictor of your future performance. Hiring managers use these questions to understand how you’ve handled real-world challenges and how you’ll likely perform in their team.
In this blog post, I will provide you with proven interview tips for handling behavioral questions and give you strong, structured sample answers you can adapt.
I have used a company like Cisco Systems as an example here because, for many Network Engineers, working for an industry leader like Cisco, AWS, or Google is a common aspiration. Before we dive in, one more thing: “behavioural” and “behavioral” mean the same thing. “Behavioral” is more common in North America, while “behavioural” is used elsewhere. I will use both words interchangeably in this blog post.
What is a Behavioural Interview?
In a behavioral interview, the interviewer asks you to tell stories about specific work situations. These questions are designed to assess key work-related competencies like your analytical skills, leadership abilities, problem-solving process, and how you collaborate with a team. The goal is to move beyond hypothetical questions and get concrete examples of your skills in action.
The best way to answer is by sharing a specific story that demonstrates the quality the interviewer is looking for. For example, they might ask you to provide a specific example of how you handled a conflict, managed a tight deadline, or took initiative. Explain the situation, what you did, your thought process, and the outcome. This applies whether the interview is in person or a video interview.
How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions: The STAR Method
The most effective framework for structuring your answers is the STAR method. It ensures your story is clear, concise, and compelling. Here’s what it stands for:
- Situation: Briefly set the scene. Describe the context and the challenge you were facing.
- Task: Explain your specific role or responsibility in that situation. What was the goal you needed to achieve?
- Action: Describe the specific steps you took to address the situation. Focus on your individual contributions, using “I” statements.
- Result: Share the outcome of your actions. What was the positive result? If possible, quantify your impact with numbers, data, or specific feedback.
22 Common Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers
Q1. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a coworker and how you managed it. (Teamwork Question)
Sample Answer: “In a previous project, a coworker and I had different opinions on the best technical approach for a network migration. He favored a well-established manual method, while I believed an automated script would be more efficient and less prone to error. I listened to his concerns about the risks of a new script, and then I scheduled a brief meeting where I presented a demo of the script in a test environment. I showed him the built-in checks and rollback capabilities. He saw the benefits, and we agreed to use the automated approach, which ultimately saved the team over 10 hours of manual work and resulted in a flawless migration.”
STAR Method Breakdown:
Situation: A disagreement on the technical approach for a network migration.
Task: To resolve the disagreement and choose the best path forward for the project.
Action: I listened to my coworker’s concerns, prepared a demo of my proposed solution, and presented its benefits and safety features.
Result: We agreed on the automated approach, saving 10 hours of work and completing a flawless migration.
Q2. What are your long-term professional goals?
Sample Answer: “My immediate goal is to excel in a Network Engineer role where I can contribute my skills in automation and cloud networking. Within the next 3-5 years, I aim to become a senior-level engineer, taking the lead on complex projects and mentoring junior team members. Long-term, I’m passionate about network security and plan to pursue advanced certifications like the CISSP to eventually specialize as a Network Security Architect, helping to design and secure enterprise-level infrastructure.”
Q3. What do you consider your greatest weakness?
Sample Answer: “In the past, I sometimes focused too much on perfecting the technical details of a project and could be hesitant to delegate tasks, fearing they wouldn’t be done to my standard. I realized this was not scalable and could slow the team down. To address this, I’ve been actively working on my project management and delegation skills. I now focus on creating clear documentation and setting specific expectations for tasks I assign. This has helped me trust my teammates more and allowed our team to increase its overall productivity, as I can now focus on higher-level strategic issues.”
Q4. How would you evaluate the quality of your work on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best)?
Sample Answer: “I would rate the quality of my work as a 9. I’m very proud of my attention to detail and my commitment to delivering robust, well-documented solutions. For example, on my last project, I not only met all the technical requirements but also created a comprehensive guide that reduced future support tickets by 25%. I leave that one point off because I believe there is always room for improvement and learning, especially in a fast-evolving field like technology. I’m always seeking feedback and looking for ways to become more efficient and effective.”
Q5. What has been the most difficult part of your prior employment?
Sample Answer: “One of the most challenging experiences was when my previous company went through a rapid growth phase, and our legacy infrastructure struggled to keep up. The immediate difficulty was managing frequent, small-scale outages while also trying to plan a major upgrade. To handle it, I took the lead on creating a detailed monitoring system to anticipate failures before they happened, which stabilized the network in the short term. I then used the data from that system to build a business case for the necessary upgrades, which management approved. It was a stressful period, but it taught me a great deal about proactive problem-solving and communicating technical needs to non-technical stakeholders.”
Q6. Tell us more about your passion for technology (your niche) and how it applies to your professional aspirations.
Sample Answer: “My passion lies in leveraging technology to solve concrete problems and improve efficiency. For example, I’m passionate about network automation and have been teaching myself Python and Ansible to automate router configurations, which has reduced deployment errors by 30% in my home lab. This passion directly applies to my professional aspirations because I want to move beyond just fixing issues as they appear. I want to build resilient, self-healing networks that prevent problems from occurring in the first place. I believe a strong skill set in automation is key to achieving that and bringing significant value to a forward-thinking team.”
Q7. Why do you think you will be a good fit for this role at Cisco (or any Company)?
Sample Answer: “I’m confident I’ll be a great fit for this role because my experience directly aligns with the key requirements listed in the job description. My three years of experience managing enterprise-level routing and switching, particularly with BGP and OSPF, matches what you’re looking for. Furthermore, my recent project involving a migration to a cloud-based network architecture using AWS Direct Connect shows I have the forward-looking skills your team needs. I’m not just a network engineer; I’m a proactive problem-solver who is passionate about building scalable and secure infrastructure, which I see reflected in your company’s values.”
Q8. How did you learn about this employment opportunity at Cisco Systems?
Sample Answer: “I’ve been following Cisco’s work in software-defined networking for a while and have been particularly impressed with your ACI platform. I saw this position posted on LinkedIn, and when I read the description, it felt like a perfect match for my skills and career goals. The opportunity to work on cutting-edge data center technologies is exactly what I’m looking for in my next role.”
Q9. What techniques do you use to establish relationships with tough clients or customers?
Sample Answer: “When dealing with a frustrated client, my first step is always to listen actively and empathize with their problem. I had a situation where a key client was experiencing intermittent connectivity issues that were impacting their business. They were, understandably, very upset. I scheduled a call immediately, let them explain the full impact without interruption, and validated their concerns. I then committed to providing daily updates until the issue was resolved. By being transparent, responsive, and demonstrating a genuine commitment to solving their problem, we transformed a tense situation into a trusting partnership. We ultimately traced the issue to a faulty fiber optic line from their ISP, but they were grateful for our dedicated support throughout the process.”
Q10. Describe an instance when you went the extra mile for a customer.
Sample Answer: “We were deploying a new firewall for a client, and the scheduled maintenance window was overnight on a Friday. After the deployment was complete, I noticed that their new monitoring dashboard wasn’t populating correctly. It wasn’t part of the original scope, but I knew the client relied on it for their morning reports. Instead of leaving it for the next business day, I spent an extra two hours troubleshooting. I discovered a misconfigured API key on their end. I documented the fix, sent them a clear email with instructions, and confirmed with them early the next morning that everything was working. They were extremely appreciative that I had taken the initiative to solve a problem that wasn’t technically mine, ensuring their operations ran smoothly.”
Q11. Describe an instance when you overcame a difficult problem.
Sample Answer: “Recently, our team was faced with a network-wide performance degradation that none of our standard diagnostic tools could explain. The situation was that application latency was high, but there was no packet loss or high bandwidth utilization. My task was to identify the root cause. I took a systematic approach, starting with packet captures at various points in the network. By analyzing the captures, I noticed an unusually high number of TCP retransmissions, but only for certain applications. This led me to suspect a Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) mismatch somewhere along the path. I wrote a script to methodically test the MTU path to different servers and eventually isolated a misconfigured switch on a partner network. After coordinating with them to fix the configuration, all application performance returned to normal. We then implemented a new monitoring check to prevent this from happening again.”
Q12. Describe how you would approach an ambiguous scenario in a challenging situation. (Adaptability Question)
Sample Answer: “When faced with ambiguity, my first step is to gather as much information and context as possible. I was once tasked with ‘improving network security’ for a new branch office with no specific budget or guidelines. It was a challenging, ambiguous request. My approach was to break the problem down. First, I met with the local IT staff and business managers to understand their specific operations and concerns. Second, I performed a vulnerability assessment to get a baseline of our current security posture. With this data, I was able to define a clear, prioritized set of objectives—like implementing 802.1X for port security and upgrading the firewall. I presented this as a phased plan with clear costs and benefits, turning an ambiguous goal into an actionable project that leadership quickly approved.”
Q13. Tell me about a time when you were forced to make a critical decision based on incomplete knowledge.
Sample Answer: “During a major system outage, we were losing connectivity to a critical database server. The monitoring alerts were inconclusive, pointing to a potential network hardware failure, but we couldn’t be certain without physical access, which was an hour away. We were losing thousands of dollars per minute. My task was to restore service immediately. Based on the pattern of the failure and my knowledge of the network topology, I hypothesized that the issue was with a specific core switch. I had to make a decision with incomplete data: either wait for confirmation and prolong the outage, or take a calculated risk. I decided to proactively fail over to the redundant switch. The action worked, and connectivity was restored within five minutes. A later investigation confirmed the primary switch had indeed failed. My decision, though based on incomplete information, saved the company nearly an hour of costly downtime.”
Q14. Describe a moment when you solved a complex problem with a simple solution.
Sample Answer: “Our helpdesk was being flooded with tickets about poor Wi-Fi performance in a specific area of our office. The team had spent weeks analyzing signal strength and considering expensive access point upgrades. The problem seemed complex. I decided to take a different approach and simply observed how people were working in that area. I noticed that a new, large metal filing cabinet had been placed directly against the wall where the primary access point was mounted. I hypothesized that this was causing signal reflection and interference. We moved the cabinet ten feet away. The problem was instantly solved, and Wi-Fi performance returned to normal. It was a simple, no-cost solution to a problem that everyone had been over-complicating, and it saved the company thousands in unnecessary hardware upgrades.”
Q15. Tell me about a situation at work where you took a calculated risk.
Sample Answer: “Our team was spending about 10 hours per week manually validating firewall rule sets, which was both time-consuming and prone to human error. I saw an opportunity for automation but knew that automating changes to security infrastructure carried risk. The calculated risk was proposing the development of a validation script that would run in a read-only mode initially. I spent my own time developing a prototype and presented it to my manager. I highlighted the potential time savings against the minimal risk of a read-only script. He approved a trial run. The script successfully identified three major configuration errors in its first week. Based on this success, we secured resources to build a full-fledged automation tool, which ultimately reduced our validation time by 90% and improved our security posture.”
Q16. Tell me about a time you were unsuccessful or failed.
Sample Answer: “Early in my career, I was tasked with leading a small project to upgrade the firmware on a series of branch office routers. I was confident and created an aggressive timeline, but I failed to adequately account for the time needed to coordinate with the staff at each individual branch. As a result, we missed several maintenance windows, and the project fell behind schedule. It was a failure in my project planning. I took ownership of the mistake, communicated the delay to my manager, and created a revised, more realistic schedule that included buffer time for coordination. The project was ultimately completed successfully, and I learned a valuable lesson: technical execution is only one part of a project’s success. Proper planning and stakeholder communication are just as critical.”
Q17. Tell me about a time you disagreed with your supervisor.
Sample Answer: “My manager proposed a network solution that involved purchasing new hardware from a vendor to solve a capacity issue. Based on my analysis, I believed we could achieve the same result by re-architecting our existing network and leveraging features we already owned but weren’t using. I knew I needed to present my case respectfully and with data. I put together a document that compared the costs, implementation time, and performance benefits of both approaches. I scheduled a meeting and walked him through my analysis, showing that my proposed solution would save an estimated $50,000 and could be implemented faster. He appreciated the thorough research and agreed that my approach was the better option. It taught me that a good manager is open to ideas when they are backed by solid evidence.”
Q18. Show me one of your remarkable projects and explain how you did it.
Sample Answer: “A project I’m particularly proud of is the complete redesign of a client’s data center network to support IPv6. The client, a North American service provider, wanted to get ahead of their competitors. The task was complex as it was my first large-scale IPv6 project. I started by immersing myself in IPv6 technologies, focusing on transition mechanisms like dual-stack and NAT64. I then designed a phased rollout plan, starting with a pilot deployment in a lab environment to validate the design. I led the technical presentations to the client, explaining the benefits and walking them through the migration steps. The result was a seamless transition with zero unplanned downtime, enabling the client to become one of the first in their region to offer native IPv6 services to customers.”
Q19. Do you prefer to work alone or as part of a team? (Teamwork Question)
Sample Answer: “I enjoy a balance of both. I’m very comfortable with heads-down, focused work when I’m deep in troubleshooting or designing a network segment. However, I believe the best results come from collaboration. I prefer working as part of a team for brainstorming solutions, reviewing configurations, and tackling large-scale projects. For example, while I might script a solution alone, I always have a teammate review my code before deployment. This collaborative approach catches errors and ultimately leads to a more robust outcome.”
Q20. When was the last time you worked as a team to finish a challenging task? (Teamwork Question)
Sample Answer: “In my most recent project, our team was tasked with migrating our entire on-premise data center to a hybrid cloud environment under a very tight deadline. It was a massive undertaking. My specific role was to handle the network connectivity piece, establishing a secure and redundant connection to the cloud provider. We held daily stand-up meetings to synchronize our efforts. When the server team ran into an unexpected issue, I collaborated with them to troubleshoot the network path, even though it was outside my direct responsibilities. By working closely together and communicating constantly, our cross-functional team successfully completed the migration ahead of schedule and with minimal disruption to the business.”
Q21. Why did you leave your last job?
Sample Answer: “I’ve really enjoyed my time at my previous company and learned a great deal about network fundamentals. However, I’ve reached a point where I’m eager to take on new challenges, particularly in the areas of cloud networking and automation. I’m looking for a role where I can contribute to more complex, large-scale projects and continue to grow my skills in those specific areas. This position seems like the perfect opportunity to do that, as it aligns directly with my career goals and the direction I want to take my expertise.”
Q22. What are your greatest strengths?
Sample Answer for a Network Engineer: “My greatest strength is my systematic approach to troubleshooting complex problems. I excel at staying calm under pressure, gathering data methodically, and logically narrowing down potential causes to find the root of an issue. For example, I recently resolved a persistent application latency issue by using packet captures to identify an MTU mismatch that had been missed by standard monitoring tools. This combination of deep technical knowledge in areas like TCP/IP and a structured problem-solving process allows me to resolve issues efficiently and effectively.”
Conclusion
Mastering the STAR method is your key to excelling in behavioral interviews. By preparing specific stories that showcase your skills and accomplishments, you can walk into your next interview with confidence. You now have a powerful strategy and 22 structured examples in your arsenal to help you succeed.
In case you want to prepare for a technical interview, there are lots of technical articles on this blog. Make sure you study all Tips and Questions with Answers for Network Engineer and be prepared for your next Video Interview.
I would also recommend you to read about VLANs, VLAN tagged vs untagged, and VLAN Trunking Protocol to grasp the basic understanding of networking.
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- Jobs for Network Engineers: Roles, Skills & Pay - December 3, 2025
- How to Change WiFi Password on Any Router : The Last Guide You Need - December 1, 2025
