2 min lesson
Both stages touch the same weights; they optimize for different things
Imagine this comes up at work: "A model produces well-formatted, syntactically valid tool calls but the actual edits it makes are often wrong. Which stage is most likely the lever and why?" Start with the practical move.
Step 1 of 3
SFT vs RL: what each is actually forthe distinction interviewers test
Both stages touch the same weights; they optimize for different things. Read them side by side, and the figure lines up exactly where they diverge.
Interactive diagram. Tab through its regions; each focused region shows its detail in the panel below.
diagram: compare
The distinction interviewers test: shape versus score.