Behavioral Interviews

What to Expect Even if an employer has not told you that you will be involved in a "Behavioral," "Behavior-Based," "Situational," or "Event" Interview, you are still likely to face "Behavioral Interview" style questions. Traditional Interview questions ask you basic questions such as "Tell me a little bit about yourself." The process of Behavioral Interviewing is much more challenging. They will ask you about situations and try to pick apart your answers to see if your behaviors match up with the desirable Behavioral Competencies they are looking for. They are trying to make a prediction of your future success by understanding how you have handled situations in the past. In a Traditional Interview, you can usually get away with somewhat vague, general answers -- or just tell the interviewer what you think he or she wants to hear. In a Behavioral Interview, on the other hand, they're going to be asking you for very specific examples. They're going to be asking you for details -- including names of people, dates, and outcomes. They'll ask you about lengthy projects you've been involved in -- how your role evolved, how you handled deadlines, pressures and difficult personalities, how you went about thinking through problems, and how you determined what steps to take, and in what order. When you give examples from your work experience, the Behavioral Interviewer is going to probe you to try to understand how you think. They are going to start questions with "Tell about a time ..." or "Describe a situation ..." and then they will ask you to elaborate with questions like "So what were you thinking at that point?" or "What was your decision making process?" or "Tell me how the meeting went with that person." Sample Behavioral Interview Questions: "Tell me about a high pressure situation you had to handle at your last job. Tell me who was involved, what happened, and what you did to solve problems and come up with a solution." "What kinds of experiences have you had in speaking with difficult customers or clients? Specifically, describe a time when you had to deal with an angry person who had no right to be angry. What was the outcome?" "Everyone has to make decisions about the balance between personal life and company objectives. When do you feel you've had to make personal sacrifices in order to get the job done?" "Tell me about a time when you had to work very hard to achieve a work-related goal and be very specific about what you achieved. How did you start? How did you measure your progress? Did it turn out like you thought it would? How were other people involved?" "Describe a time when you found out that one of your co-workers was slacking off, cheating on expenses, stealing, skipping out on work, or not pulling his or her weight? What happened? What did you do?"