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Resume, Portfolio & GitHub Profile Module 10

AI, privacy and integrity interview questions

Interview questions on AI, privacy and integrity: short warm-ups, then what each harder question tests, the first step of a good answer and its follow-ups.

11 questions: 3 warm-ups and 8 with model answers · Levels: Fresher to senior

Warm-up questions

Short questions with short answers, each answered in full.

Fresher to mid

Did you use AI to write your resume?

Answered in the lesson Using AI on your resume without backfiring
Fresher to mid

What personal details should a resume leave out?

Answered in the lesson What not to publish: privacy for job seekers
Fresher to mid

What does a background check look at, and how do you prepare for one?

Answered in the lesson Honesty, background checks and credit

Questions with model answers

What each question tests, the first step of a good answer and the follow-ups to expect.

Fresher to mid

An AI edit turned your bullet into "Led a team of 6 that cut cloud costs by 30 %". You were one of four, did not lead, and nobody measured costs. That resume went to an employer last week. What do you do now, and what do you say if an interviewer asks?
What it tests

Owning an inaccurate claim quickly, correcting every copy, and answering a question about it with the true record instead of defending or hiding it.

First step

Separate what is true from what the edit added: you moved services with a team of four, and the lead, the six and the 30 % are inventions. Then correct the master copy and every place the resume went, before anyone asks.
Follow-ups
- Should you write to the employer, or wait for the interview?
- What if the interviewer has not noticed?
- How do you stop it from happening again?
From the lesson Using AI on your resume without backfiring
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In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

A friend says he hides a line of keywords, and an instruction meant for AI screeners, in white text on his resume, and that it "works". What do you tell him, and how would you check a resume, his or a template, for hidden text?
What it tests

Recognising hidden text as deception that extraction exposes, knowing it is named as an attack, and checking a file for it with a method that fails on the weak file and passes on the fixed one.

First step

Start from what software does: text extraction reads characters, not colours, so the white line comes out in the text every parser, screener and recruiter reads. Then name what the instruction is, and give him a check he can run on his own file.
Follow-ups
- He says nobody reads the extracted text. Is he right?
- What is the difference between keywords in white and a skills section?
- How would you check a template you downloaded?
From the lesson Using AI on your resume without backfiring
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

You sent a resume PDF built from a template you kept from a previous job. A recruiter mentions that the file's properties name your old employer's HR team. What happened, how do you fix the file, and how do you prove that the fixed file is clean?
What it tests

Knowing where PDF metadata lives, choosing a removal that does not leave recoverable copies, and verifying the result the way a recipient would.

First step

Read the file as the recruiter did: a tool such as pdfinfo shows the document information, and the XMP packet can hold the same values again. Then decide how to remove both so that nothing stays in the file, and how you will test that it worked.
Follow-ups
- Which fields besides the author can give something away?
- Your viewer shows the fields empty after a wipe. Is that proof enough?
- How do you stop the next template from doing the same?
From the lesson What not to publish: privacy for job seekers
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to senior

Your portfolio repository has been public for a month, and you notice that its first commit added a .env file with a working API key. You deleted the file in the next commit. What do you do now, in which order, and why?
What it tests

Treating an exposed key as compromised, ordering the response so the damage stops first, and knowing what deleting a file and rewriting history can and cannot do.

First step

Assume the key is known to others: the repository was public for a month, and any clone or fork keeps the old commit. So the first action is the one that makes every copy of the key useless, before anything about the history.
Follow-ups
- Is deleting the file in a new commit enough?
- Should you rewrite the history?
- How do you make sure it does not happen again?
From the lesson What not to publish: privacy for job seekers
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

The dashboard you built in your internship is your best portfolio piece, but its screenshots and data show the company's real customers. How do you present it in a public case study, and what do you ask first?
What it tests

Recognising other people's personal data and an employer's confidential data, asking for permission, and showing the work without the people in it.

First step

Ask whose data it is before deciding how to hide it: the customers' details are personal data, and the dashboard, its numbers and the data belong to the employer. Permission comes first; blurring and invented data come after.
Follow-ups
- The employer says no. Can you still show the work?
- Is blurring the names enough?
- What do you write in the alt text?
From the lesson What not to publish: privacy for job seekers
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

Your first job lasted 18 months, and a friend says to write "2 years" because everyone rounds. What do you write, and what do you say when an interviewer asks why you left after a year and a half?
What it tests

Giving lengths as the records give them, seeing why a rounded claim fails a check, and answering a question about a short tenure directly and without apology.

First step

Work out the length from the documents: the start and end months on the offer and relieving letters, both months counted. Then write those months, or the length they make, and prepare one true sentence about why you moved.
Follow-ups
- Is "1.5 years" acceptable?
- The interviewer says 18 months is short. What do you add?
- What if the second job also lasts under two years?
From the lesson Honesty, background checks and credit
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

Your team of four won a hackathon, and the winning feature was mostly a teammate's. How do you put the win on your resume, and how do you answer "What exactly did you build?"
What it tests

Separating a team's result from your own part, writing a bullet that credits both, and answering an ownership question with specifics instead of the team's headline.

First step

List who built what before writing anything: the feature that won, its parts, and the parts that were yours. The win belongs to the team; the bullet's verb belongs to your part.
Follow-ups
- Can you write "Won the hackathon" at all?
- Your part was the presentation, not the code. Does it count?
- The teammate who built the feature is applying to the same company. What then?
From the lesson Honesty, background checks and credit
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

A friend gave you a parser for your portfolio project, with no licence and no credit in the repository. The project is public and has helped you get interviews. What do you do now, and what do you say if asked who wrote it?
What it tests

Knowing that unlicensed code gives no permission, fixing permission and credit without hiding the past, and answering an authorship question honestly.

First step

Separate permission from credit: the friend must agree to the code being shared, under a licence, and the README must say who wrote it. Until both are true, the repository is sharing code you have no permission to share.
Follow-ups
- The friend says "use it however you like". Is that enough?
- Would rewriting the parser yourself fix everything?
- An interviewer already praised the parser. What do you say?
From the lesson Honesty, background checks and credit
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes

All Resume, Portfolio & GitHub Profile interview questions · The Resume, Portfolio & GitHub Profile track

Warm-up questions

Did you use AI to write your resume?

What personal details should a resume leave out?

What does a background check look at, and how do you prepare for one?

Questions with model answers

An AI edit turned your bullet into "Led a team of 6 that cut cloud costs by 30 %". You were one of four, did not lead, and nobody measured costs. That resume went to an employer last week. What do you do now, and what do you say if an interviewer asks?

A friend says he hides a line of keywords, and an instruction meant for AI screeners, in white text on his resume, and that it "works". What do you tell him, and how would you check a resume, his or a template, for hidden text?

You sent a resume PDF built from a template you kept from a previous job. A recruiter mentions that the file's properties name your old employer's HR team. What happened, how do you fix the file, and how do you prove that the fixed file is clean?

Your portfolio repository has been public for a month, and you notice that its first commit added a .env file with a working API key. You deleted the file in the next commit. What do you do now, in which order, and why?

The dashboard you built in your internship is your best portfolio piece, but its screenshots and data show the company's real customers. How do you present it in a public case study, and what do you ask first?

Your first job lasted 18 months, and a friend says to write "2 years" because everyone rounds. What do you write, and what do you say when an interviewer asks why you left after a year and a half?

Your team of four won a hackathon, and the winning feature was mostly a teammate's. How do you put the win on your resume, and how do you answer "What exactly did you build?"

A friend gave you a parser for your portfolio project, with no licence and no credit in the repository. The project is public and has helped you get interviews. What do you do now, and what do you say if asked who wrote it?