On-callMediumoc-p010

Subject Mitigation vs rootcauseLevel Mid–Senior~20 minCommon in Reliability & on-call interviewsIndustries Technology

Question

Errors spiked right after a deploy 10 minutes ago. Do you roll back or roll forward, and how do you decide?

What a strong answer looks like

Stop the bleeding first (mitigate), then form hypotheses from real signals. Separate root cause from symptom, communicate status as you go, and close with what prevents a repeat.

Learn the concepts

Diagram & narrate the incident

Loading whiteboard…

Run or narrate your approach, then ask the coach.