The Difference Between Good & Great Interview Answers: A Guide to Interview Success

TL;DR

• Good answers check boxes; great answers leave a lasting impression.
• Hiring managers want impact and value, not just tasks.
• Use the STAR method to structure clear, specific stories.
• Show self awareness, leadership skills, and problem solving with real examples.
• Highlight interpersonal skills, not just technical ones.
• Bring energy, preparation, and confidence to every answer.
• Interviews are a two-way street, ask smart questions and know your value.

Introduction to the Interview Process

The interview process is a filtering mechanism. It’s how hiring managers decide which candidates move forward and which get cut. If you’re aiming for your dream job, you can’t just be “good.” You need to stand out.

That starts with how you answer interview questions.

Not with fluff. Not with generic stories.

With structured, self-aware, results-driven answers that actually show who you are, not just say it.

Over the past 13+ years, including my time as an L7 Senior Manager at Amazon, I’ve interviewed thousands of candidates. What separated the best candidates wasn’t raw intellect or big job titles. It was their ability to turn common questions into powerful insights about their leadership skills, interpersonal skills, and problem solving abilities.

My Personal Experience

When I interviewed candidates at Amazon, I was trained by Bar Raisers,  a team of senior interviewers responsible for raising the hiring bar across the company.

Their job?

To separate the “good” from the “great.”

And I learned quickly that it’s not about credentials or job titles, it’s about how candidates communicate their value.

Here’s what stood out to me in the best responses:

• A great answer teaches me something new about the candidate; their thinking, their approach, or their leadership style.
• A great answer shows measurable impact; not just what they did, but why it mattered.
• A great answer is structured, confident, and memorable; it sticks with you long after the interview ends.

If you're serious about landing your dream job, stop settling for “good enough.”
Aim for great.

Because great answers don’t just get you to the next interview, they get you offers.

Read on to learn not only how to have great interview answers, but how to have a great interview overall.

Understanding Interview Questions

Most interview questions are traps, at least for unprepared candidates.

They’re designed to evaluate communication skills, problem solving, relevant skills, and how well you understand your own strengths and weaknesses. And while some are phrased differently, they all share one goal: to help interviewers identify the right candidates.

• Behavioral questions: “Tell me about a time when…”
• Situational questions: “What would you do if…”
• Softball openers: “What’s your biggest weakness?”

What hiring managers are really doing is digging for patterns. Patterns of behavior, self-awareness, and your ability to reflect on lessons learned. If you’re not prepared, even basic questions can trip you up, and make you sound like every other candidate.

Crafting a Good Answer

Here’s the thing: a good answer checks boxes. It’s clear. It’s technically correct. But it won’t separate you from other candidates.

A good answer sounds like:

“I delivered the task that was assigned by leadership. I built a plan, organized, and executed.”

It’s fine. But it doesn’t leave a mark.

• It explains what you did
  

• But it doesn’t highlight your unique value
• It doesn’t show self-awareness or impact

This is where most candidates stop.

Moving to a Great Answer

A great answer?

It lands.

It shows impact, context, and a key insight.

It shows that you’re not just a doer, you’re a builder. Someone who improves the system, not just operates inside it.

A great answer sounds like:

“I identified an opportunity to improve something leveraging data analytics or a key insight. I built a plan, organized a group, and drove the team to execute.”

Why does this work?
Because it’s value creation, not just task completion.

In interviews, great candidates:

• Use the STAR method to frame stories (Situation, Task, Action, Result)
• Show how their work created measurable results
• Share why their actions mattered, what changed as a result

→ A good answer tells me what you did.
→ A great answer tells me why it matters.

This is the difference between good & great interview answers.

Navigating Your Current Job

When asked about your current job, skip the surface-level summaries.

Don’t say:

“I lead a team of five and manage projects.”

Instead, get specific:

• What metrics moved?
• What lessons did you learn?
• What feedback did you act on?
• What systems did you improve?
• What processes did you optimize?

Use direct examples that show impact, not just responsibilities.

For instance:

• “Launched a new onboarding flow that cut early attrition by 15%.”
• “Reduced reporting time by 20% by building an automated dashboard.”
• “Led a cross-functional team that delivered a product launch 2 weeks early.”

Stay Positive and Reflective

Even if your last job was tough:

• Don’t dwell on toxic environments
• Avoid blaming leadership or teammates
• Skip complaints about longer hours or poor management style

Instead, focus on:

• Growth: How did you evolve in your role?
• Self reflection: What feedback did you take seriously?
• Work environment: How did you contribute to team culture?
• Self improvement: What skills or soft skills did you sharpen?

What Hiring Managers Want to Know

Use your current job to answer these unspoken questions:

• Can you hit the ground running in a new role?
• Can you work independently without handholding?
• Can you adapt, lead, and take on more responsibility?

Remember: Good answers describe tasks.

Great answers show growth, impact, and leadership maturity.

Developing Interpersonal Skills

Soft skills aren’t just soft, they’re essential. Communication, feedback, collaboration, and adaptability are what make high-performing teams actually work. And in interviews, they’re often the difference between a “maybe” and a “yes.”

Great candidates don’t just mention interpersonal skills, they demonstrate them with clear examples.

Show how you:

• Built trust with teammates across levels, functions, and cultures
• Navigated tough conversations with empathy, honesty, and clarity
• Set healthy boundaries to avoid burnout and model sustainable leadership
• Used feedback (both giving and receiving) to grow yourself and your team
• Adapted your communication style to suit different audiences or work environments

Signals like emotional intelligence, self awareness, and strong people skills are just as critical as technical know-how. Hiring managers are watching for how you:

• Handle conflict
• Support others’ success
• Take constructive criticism
• Contribute to a team’s overall energy and resilience



These are the small details that make a big difference. Don’t just say you’re “collaborative,” prove it.

Addressing Big Deal Topics

Topics like salary, benefits, and career growth can feel awkward to bring up, but great candidates know how to navigate them with confidence and professionalism.

Here’s how to approach these conversations:

• Be direct, not aggressive. Ask about compensation, benefits, and advancement opportunities in a way that’s clear but respectful.
• Frame your questions strategically. Try:
• “How does this role contribute to broader team goals?”
• “How is success measured here in the first 6 to 12 months?”
• “What are the typical growth paths for someone in this position?”
• Connect your performance to outcomes. Show that you understand how your results tie into company objectives, not just personal gain.
• Know your value. Back up your expectations with data; industry benchmarks, prior performance metrics, or market compensation tools.

Remember: Interviews are a two-way street. You’re not just trying to land the job, you’re trying to make sure it’s the right job.

And being clear about what matters to you? That’s a sign of maturity, not entitlement.

Overcoming Your Biggest Weaknesses

This one trips up a lot of people. It’s a tough one because it requires honesty and strategy.

The wrong answer sounds vague, overly polished, or defensive:

“I care too much.”
“I’m a perfectionist.”

The right answer shows:

• Self reflection – You’ve taken time to understand your blind spots
• Self improvement – You’re actively working on the issue
• Forward momentum – You’re getting better, and here’s how

Great candidates dig deep and offer real, relatable insights. For example:

“Earlier in my career, I struggled with public speaking. I used to avoid presenting, but I realized it was limiting my impact. I enrolled in a training course and now lead monthly leadership briefings. It’s still a growth area, but I’ve come a long way.”

When discussing your biggest weakness, keep these tips in mind:

• Choose something real, not a disguised strength
• Explain what you’re doing to grow
• Tie it back to your leadership skills or professional development
• Keep the tone confident, not apologetic

Being self-aware enough to own your development and talk about it openly is one of the strongest signals you can send in any interview.

Using the STAR Method

The STAR method isn’t just a structure, it’s a storytelling tool. It helps you turn experiences into compelling, results-driven answers that hiring managers actually remember.

Great candidates don’t ramble, they guide the interviewer through a clear, relevant example that shows impact and intentionality.

Use this format to upgrade your answers:

• S – Situation: Set the stage. What was the context or challenge?
• T – Task: What was your responsibility or the goal you were trying to achieve?
• A – Action: What specific steps did you take? Focus on the contributions you made.
• R – Result: What happened? Share measurable outcomes, success metrics, or what changed.

Bonus tip: Always close with a key insight; something you learned, improved, or would approach differently next time. This shows self-awareness and growth.



Whether you’re answering a common interview question or tackling something more nuanced, STAR gives your response a clean arc that’s easy to follow, and hard to forget.

Providing Specific Examples

If I had to pick one thing that separates average from excellent candidates, it’s this:

Specificity.

Vague answers blend in. Specific examples stand out.

• Not: “I helped improve retention.”

• Better: “I implemented a new onboarding flow that improved 30-day retention by 18%.”

When you give clear metrics, direct examples, and real outcomes, hiring managers immediately see:

• What you actually did
• The scale of your impact
• How your skills align with the role

Great answers include:

• Names of tools or systems used
• The “before and after” of a situation
• Measurable results (percentages, dollar impact, time saved)



Good answers sound like theory.
Great answers sound like you’ve done it.

Demonstrating Skills and Experience

Final tip: show, don’t tell.

This isn’t the time to recite your resume, it’s your chance to bring it to life with real, tangible examples that connect directly to the job.

Focus on how you’ve applied your skills in ways that made a difference. Highlight:

• Systems or processes you built, streamlined, or scaled
• Problem solving during high-stakes or ambiguous situations
• Leadership skills in fast-moving or high-pressure environments
• Communication skills when stakes were high or emotions were elevated
• Core values and how they align with the company’s mission, team, or leadership principles

Tie each example back to outcomes:

• What improved because of your actions?
• How did your involvement create a better result?

That’s what great candidates do, and it’s exactly what hiring managers are listening for.

FAQ: Good vs. Great Interview Answers

Interview Preparation Check-List

Interview prep doesn’t stop at rehearsing lines.

• Research the company
• Review the job description
• Build STAR stories for key questions
• Practice delivery
• Focus on how you say things, not just what you say

Because a good answer checks boxes.


But a great answer?
It creates confidence, tells a story, and makes them remember your name.