How to Show Your True Level in a Job Interview

Your communication defines your level long before your résumé does.

I once met a recruiter at Google. Jeff had a 4-year tenure there and had recruited over 300 people for engineering teams. I asked him a simple question that had always puzzled me. How does Google map levels during the interview process? And how can someone prepare to be upleveled?

His answer blew my mind.

He said, “The level naturally shows up in a conversation. No one can artificially prepare to be upleveled. However, people can be downleveled if their answers don’t articulate the scope and impact they delivered in their previous jobs.”

That sentence stayed with me.

We often obsess over frameworks, problem-solving patterns, and STAR interview formats, but the truth is more human than mechanical. Communication is the hidden differentiator.

In a 45-minute interview, your ability to convey the depth of your thinking, the complexity of your impact, and the clarity of your decisions often determines the level you’re mapped to.

In Big Tech, levels represent seniority and scope — from L3 (entry-level) to L8 (director or beyond).

At Google, an L4 engineer is typically an independent contributor who executes well-defined tasks, while an L5 engineer leads projects, influences design decisions, and drives outcomes across teams. An L4 solves problems. An L5 defines which problems are worth solving.

The difference is not just symbolic. Compensation jumps by 40–60%, scope multiplies, and career trajectory changes dramatically. But the transition from L4 to L5 doesn’t happen because someone suddenly becomes smarter. It happens because they learn to express the why behind their actions, not just the what. They learn to communicate context, not just output.

After that conversation, I realized that interviews aren’t about impressing someone across the table. They’re about helping them see the scale of your impact.

So how do you prepare for that? Here are 5 practical tips to get ready for interviews at Big Tech companies:

❶ Think in impact stories, not task lists

• When describing your work, start with the problem, then describe your contribution, and finally, the measurable outcome.

• Use specific metrics or tangible results to anchor your impact.

• Replace “I built X” with “I built X to solve Y, which resulted in Z.”

❷ Reflect on scope and influence

• Ask yourself: Did I execute or did I lead?

• Clarify whether you influenced just your module or cross-functional systems.

• Interviewers listen for scope more than effort.

❸ Practice structured communication

• Use short, logical narratives instead of rambling through details.

• Pause between sections and check for alignment with the interviewer.

• Treat your answers like short stories with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

❹ Demonstrate leadership behaviors, even in technical questions

• Highlight how you mentored others, made trade-offs, or handled ambiguity.

• Big Tech companies value collaboration and influence as much as coding ability.

• When I coach candidates, I often see them undersell their work because they skip the outcome. A sentence like “I reduced deployment time by 30%” instantly changes how interviewers perceive your level.

❺ Simulate real interviews out loud

• Thinking in your head is not the same as speaking under pressure.

• Record your mock answers and listen for clarity, tone, and logical flow.

• You’ll quickly notice whether your stories sound impactful or flat.

Mastering communication doesn’t mean rehearsing perfect lines. It means building self-awareness to express your work with clarity and purpose. It’s what allows your true level to show up naturally in a conversation, just like Jeff said.

Looking back, Jeff’s insight wasn’t just about interviews. It was about life. The way you communicate your work determines how far your work takes you.

Learn the art of communication and storytelling. It’s the most human skill you can build — and it’ll help you thrive in the age of AI.