Explain a project to non-technical stakeholders

Imagine your audience has no technical background—for example, a business stakeholder, someone on the operations team, or a friend outside engineering. Walk through one project you contributed to:

• What issue you were tackling and why it mattered
• What you personally owned and were responsible for
• What you created or changed at a high level, without jargon
• The outcome and impact, with numbers if you have them
• One obstacle you ran into and how you handled it

Overview

The question tests communication, stakeholder management, and leadership skills by asking for a concise, plain-language account of a technical project—covering why the problem mattered, what you personally did, what resulted, and what obstacles arose. It sits in the Behavioral & Leadership category and focuses on applied communication and impact reporting rather than abstract technical knowledge. Interviewers often use it to gauge whether an engineer can translate technical work for business listeners, show measurable outcomes and teamwork, and surface real-world problem-solving and prioritization when working across functions.