Watch the idea
The concept
Weak
write an email
Professional
Role · goal · constraints · example · shape
S-A-P, not a TED talk
Situation: the messy real thing. Action: what you personally did. Proof: a number, a gate, or a lesson. Stop talking when the proof lands. Rambling is how good engineers fail screening.
Tell a failure
A chatbot invented a source. You caught it with an eval, added a refusal, and the next client demo did not lie. That story beats 'I love learning'. It shows you will not ship embarrassment.
Match the door
Builder interviews want systems. Deployer interviews want discovery and change management. Domain interviews want a workflow you still own. Recite the wrong door and you sound unfocused, not ambitious.
Worked example
The two-sentence RAG answer
RAG is an open-notes exam: retrieve the right page, then generate. If the notes are missing, we refuse rather than invent a footnote. You can say that to a hiring manager in twelve seconds.
Picture to keep
S-A-P
- 1Situation
- 2Action
- 3Proof