Answer styles
Answer style changes the shape of every response. Change it from the control bar at any point, including mid-round.
The answer style menu open in the interview control bar with Conversational, Hints, Structured, STAR, and Explain listed.
public/docs/settings/answer-style-menu.pngThe five styles
Conversational
The default. Natural phrasing that sounds like a person talking rather than a document being read. Best for most of a behavioral round.
Hints
Nudges you toward the answer instead of giving it to you. You still do the reasoning. This is the mode to use when you are practising, when you are working an untimed take-home you will have to defend later, or when you would rather leave the interview having actually learned something.
Structured
Explicit reasoning steps in order. Good for technical explanations where the interviewer wants to follow your thinking, and for anything where you might otherwise lose the thread halfway through.
STAR
Situation, Task, Action, Result. The standard structure for behavioral answers, and what most interviewers are implicitly scoring against whether or not they say so.
Explain
Phrased specifically to be read out loud. Shorter sentences, fewer clauses, no constructions that only work on a page.
Switching mid-round
Rounds change shape. A screen that opens with "tell me about yourself" and moves into a design discussion wants Conversational and then Structured. The control bar switches instantly and the change applies to the next response.