One way of thinking. Five ways to use it.

Most people meet PARIS as an interview tool — a way to turn "I led a project" into a story someone actually wants to hear. That's true, and it's where PARIS started. But the same five questions work in more places than an interview room: before a project starts, not just after; for a team, not just for one person; as a way to coach someone else, not just yourself.

 

P — Problem. What's the situation, the challenge, and — the part people skip — what's actually at risk?

A — Action. What needs to be done? Or, looking back: what did you do?

R — Result. What are you aiming for? Or: what did you achieve?

I — Insights. What did this teach you — or how could you think of this differently?

S — Skills. What skills did you use  — or what skills will you need?

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PARIS isn't meant to be filled in once, in order, and left alone. The most useful moment is usually when Result forces you back to Problem — you sketch what success would look like, and realize the problem you named wasn't quite the real one.

 

Good use of PARIS means circling back through it, sometimes more than once, until the picture is actually clear.​​​​​​

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Find Your Perspective

PARIS looks different depending on who's asking the questions, and when.

 

→ For Job Seekers & Professionals: interviews & performance reviews
Turn your accomplishments into stories that actually land — in interviews, performance reviews, or just for your own clarity.

[Try the AI-tool: craft a story worth telling]

 

→ For Coaches: practice your PARIS coaching skills
Most people tell their story flatly the first time. Learn to ask the questions that help someone find the Problem — or the Insight — they didn't know was there.

[Try the AI-tool: practice the discovery conversation]

 

→ For Professionals: before you start a project
Before you open a project plan, use PARIS to pressure-test what you're actually solving — so you're not discovering the real problem three weeks in. [

[Try the AI-tool: pressure-test your plan]

 

→ For managers: prep for your next 1:1

Coach your team before the work begins, not just after it goes wrong. A structured conversation that tests someone's plan without taking it over.

[Try the AI-tool: prep your next 1:1]

 

→ For teams: get clarity

Define your Problem and Result together at the start — and know how to revisit them honestly when the project doesn't go the way you expected.

[Go to team session guide]

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Want the full picture?

All five views, one connected story — a product manager leading her company's first launch into a new market, seen from five different angles.

 

[Download the full PARIS Method booklet]

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The Origins of the PARIS Framework

PARIS was first developed for Build a Career That's You — the book on building a career that's genuinely yours. It started as a tool for interview stories, but it turned out to be useful for a lot more than that, which is why it now shows up across coaching, planning, and team work too.