I just went through Zoom's full loop after a 2-year career gap and the behavioral rounds were honestly what I was most nervous about. writing this up because I think it helps to know specifically what they care about, not just 'prepare STAR stories.'
Zoom's published values include things like care, deliver, collaborate, and a few others. the behavioral questions map pretty directly to these. every question I got was basically testing one of those pillars.
questions I got asked (paraphrasing): tell me about a time you had to deliver a project under significant time or resource constraints. what did you cut and why? describe a situation where you disagreed with a decision your team made. how did you handle it? tell me about a time you had to work cross-functionally with a team that had different priorities than yours. how did you build alignment? describe a time you made a mistake that impacted users or customers. what happened?
the 'mistake that impacted users' one was the one I fumbled slightly. I'd prepped stories about internal failures but not external-facing impact. worth having one ready.
what they want in answers: specificity. 'we collaborated well' is not an answer. they want the concrete moment, who did what, what the outcome was, what you'd do differently. one interviewer pushed me with 'what would you do differently' on every single story, so have that part ready.
two rounds of behavioral in my loop, each 45 minutes. different interviewers, some overlap in themes but not the exact same questions.
for anyone returning after a gap: they did not ask about my gap directly. I mentioned it briefly in my intro and no one followed up. the focus was on the substance of what I've done, not the timeline.