just got through the Atlassian behavioral round and i want to document what actually came up, because what i found online was pretty generic and the real questions had more texture.
Atlassian uses a competency framework internally. the behavioral round (usually 45-60 min) is structured, meaning the interviewer is working off a rubric, not just chatting. they told me upfront what the competencies were for the round, which i appreciated.
questions i got (paraphrased): tell me about a time you disagreed with a technical decision and how you handled it. describe a situation where you had to deliver work in a context of ambiguity. how did you determine what done looked like? when have you had to influence stakeholders who didn't report to you? give me an example of a time you had to adapt your communication style for different audiences.
that last one tripped me up a bit. i'd prepped the classic STAR stories but not specifically for communication-style adaptation. lesson: prep that one.
what the Atlassian values actually map to: they care about "open company, no BS" and "don't #@!% the customer" as actual cultural tenets. the behavioral round is essentially asking you to demonstrate these. the disagreement question is directly probing for openness and honesty under pressure. the ambiguity one is about bias for action without waiting to be told.
my experience as a returner: i took 2 years off for caregiving and was nervous about gaps. the interviewer did not ask about the gap at all. they were completely focused on the competency questions. when i naturally mentioned "before my break" in a story they just nodded and moved on. so that was a relief.
prep tip: the STAR method works but go deeper on the "so what" at the end. they pushed back on my first story with "what was the actual impact" and i had to quantify. have numbers ready where you can.