Walk me through the career decisions that brought you here. Why did you make each move?

How to answer

One engineering leader has described asking a version of this. Leo Mehr, Ramp’s Director of Engineering, said on Basil Chatha’s podcast, published in July 2026, speaking of hiring in general, not FDE hiring, that he assesses drive and ownership by asking candidates about the decisions they made in their careers, what they were responsible for, how much responsibility they took on and how quickly they grew. ^[1]Source 1Leo Mehr - Ramp's $44B Bet on Services (YouTube auto-generated English captions)PublisherBasil Chatha, YouTubeSource typerecorded talk or interview So each move is checked for a reason and for scope that grew.

1. Say how many moves, and where you start. The first decision that shaped the rest, not school. Skip jobs that changed nothing.
2. For each move, three things. What you had stopped learning or could not own; why you picked the next place, including what you turned down; and what you took on there. Two or three sentences per move. Name the scope: the system, the customers, the people who relied on you.
3. Tell the awkward move plainly. A short stint, a layoff, an acquisition. One sentence on what happened and one on what you took from it. Hiding it invites the follow-up.
4. Name the thread. Closer to customers’ problems, more of the outcome owned.
5. Say why you are leaving now, and why this role is next on that line. The move you haven’t made yet is the one they will probe, so give its reason as plainly as the others, and name one real cost of taking the job. Keep it to about two minutes; they will pull on whichever move interests them.

Give reasons that pull you toward something. “My manager was difficult” or “the pay was better” may be true, but neither shows how you choose. The trap is a resume recital: every title and date, and no “because”.