Preparation for a Successful Behavioral Interview

Behavioral Interview Questions are considered a very effective interview technique working across various types of organizations making them a critical part of the hiring process to evaluate a candidate's skills and work experience. It is also the world's most widely used interviewing approach.

What is a Behavioral Interview?

It is an interview technique used to ask questions to identify past behaviors of the candidate in different situations which closely relate to the requirements of the current job role. It is based on popular research that past behaviors are the best indicators of the future performance.

How to prepare for a behavioral interview?

1. Prepare specific examples from your past experiences on different scenarios.

2. Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique to structure your response.

Situation: Describe and provide details of an example from a previous experience and how it relates to the question

Task: Describe your role in the situation and what was expected from you

Action: Describe what you did to address the situation and how did you overcome any challenges. 

Result: Explain what was the outcome of the situation and how it was beneficial for you or the team 

3. Keep your answers concise and under two minutes.

4. Practice your interview responses

Sample Behavioral Interview Question & Answer

Sample Question: 

Tell me about a time when you made a mistake. What did you do to correct it?

Sample Answer: 

Situation: I’m the kind of person who tries to learn and grow from every mistake. When I was new to my company, I accepted two simultaneous projects from my manager as I wanted to make a good first impression. When the requirements for one of the projects unexpectedly changed, I narrowly missed the deadline for the project which was a huge setback for me.

Task: I had to inform my manager about the missed project deadline.

Action: I admitted the mistake in front of my manager who was quite supportive as I was new to the organization.

Results: I've since learned how to prioritize my tasks in a better way and always raise a flag whenever there is a risk of meeting the project deadline well in advance.

Top Common Behavioral Interview Questions:

1. Describe a time in your previous employment when a situation called for creativity and how you went about handling it.
2.  Tell me about a time when you had to manage multiple responsibilities. How did you handle that?
3. Everyone starts somewhere. Talk about a time when you were new on the job and had a lot to learn. How did you manage that?
   
4. Let’s say you’re working on a major project and you’re in the weeds. How do you find your way out? Tell me about how you work under pressure.
   
5. Tell me about a time when you were in conflict with a peer and how the situation was resolved.
   
6. Give me an example of a time you made a decision that was unpopular and explain how you handled implementing it.
   
7. Share an example of how you were able to motivate a co-worker, your peers or your team.
   
8. Tell me about the toughest decision you've had to make in the past six months.
   
9. When have you gone above and beyond at work?
   
10. Tell me how you handled a difficult situation at work?
    
11. How did you handle a disagreement with your manager?
    

Click here to access sample answers to all the behavioral interview questions