Interview prep — STAR story rules

Always anchor stories in measurable outcomes. The interviewer should remember a number, not an adjective. If you don't have a number, give a comparison (before/after) or a scope (size of team, customers, dollars).

Avoid: "I worked on the team that improved performance." Prefer: "I rebuilt the index used by 2.1M daily queries; p95 dropped from 480ms to 180ms over six weeks."
