There are many various interview styles and procedures, and one prevalent one is called the behavioral interview. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, interview responses “should give verifiable, specific proof of how an applicant has dealt with challenges in the past.” This tutorial will take you through precisely what a behavioral interview is, what questions will be asked and how you may effectively prepare for it.
What is a Behavioural Interview?
It’s an interview dominated by questions that will get to the bottom of how you’ve performed and acted in the past using genuine outcomes and circumstances. Behavioral questions are asked to analyze whether a person is a suitable match for the position, team, and organization. They aim to examine if a job candidate’s previous conduct will predict their future performance. And they are pretty prevalent.
You’ve probably gone through several behavioral interviews and never known it. For example, each time you’ve been asked, “Tell me about a time you had a problem with a colleague and how you handled it,” you were asked a behavioral question to understand how you performed in particular employment-related scenarios.
A behavioral interview is most successful when the interviewer already understands what they are searching for in a job prospect. It may assist the hiring manager in deciding if someone applying for a management post has exhibited leadership qualities or whether a candidate looking for a fast-paced job can juggle obligations.
Behavioral Interview Tips
Here are some crucial ideas to consider while preparing for your following behavioral interview:
-
Study the job description.
-
Review essential projects you’ve worked on.
-
Revisit prior work performance evaluations.
-
Make a list of your professional successes.
-
Use the STAR technique to organize your answer.
-
Be upfront and honest in your response.
-
Practice your interview replies aloud.
-
Keep your reactions within two minutes.
With these types of inquiries, interviewers typically aim to understand three things: First, they want to know how you acted in a real-world circumstance. Second, they want to understand the quantifiable value you provided to that circumstance. Finally, they seek to discover how you characterize something like “pressure at work”—a notion various individuals can perceive differently.
Success in a behavioral interview is all about preparation. There aren’t necessarily inadequate responses. These questions are aimed at getting to know the real you. The main thing is to be open and practice arranging your replies to express what you have to give.
Common Behavioral Interview Questions
Here are five basic behavioral questions employers could ask any candidate.
1. Tell me about a time you had a problem with someone inside the company.
As you know, conflict is a part of life, and it’s particularly prevalent inside organizations since employees spend most of their days working side-by-side with various people and personalities. So, hiring managers use this question to measure how you settle disputes with other people—and figure out how you’d do it at their firm.
2. Tell me about when you worked on a hard team project.
You are going to have to work as part of a team, and firms want to know that you play nice while you are cooperating, which is why they will commonly ask this question. Companies wish to discover whether you can interact with others, can manage any difficulties that may emerge, and if you are typically a team player.
3. Do you like to work alone or with others?
Regardless of the sort of business, interviewers use this question as a technique to assess whether the job prospect would fit into the corporate culture. They know their environment—and will use this question to determine if you’d fit in or have tremendous difficulty acclimating.
4. Tell me about a time you took a leadership position. What was the role, and what was the outcome?
Suited primarily for senior-level job prospects, this is a behavioral inquiry that many organizations use to assess whether you have leadership potential. Not only is it tough to fake this question, but it’s an excellent one to utilize to check whether you possess any leadership qualities.
5. What's the most challenging difficulty you had to solve? How did you navigate it?
Challenge-solving is a crucial talent in virtually every career, so firms often ask job seekers to tell them about a challenging problem they had to solve. Here, a hiring manager wants to understand whether you are the type to go to your boss each time there is a crisis—or someone who will deal with the matter on your own.
Tricky Behavioral Interview Questions
We've all been delighted that an interview was going pretty well until the interviewer threw out an absolute monster of a question that you don't know how to respond to. But you don't have to panic. Here are several complex questions you could be asked in a behavioral interview.
1. If a colleague had a bothersome habit, and it impeded your quality of work, how would you fix it?
2. Tell me about the worst boss you ever had. How did you navigate them?
3. What portion of the newspaper do you read first? What does this say about you?
4. If your present company hosted an anniversary celebration for you, what five words would be placed on the cake to characterize you?
How to Answer a Behavioral Interview Question
The most excellent approach to prepare for and answer behavioral questions could be the STAR Method, a strategy that makes your answers truly shine—bad pun intended.
Here is what the STAR Method stands for and how to apply it to behavioral queries:
S = Situation. Ask yourself, what was the problem? Be as precise as possible.
T = Task. Then, define the aim—ask, what did you need to do?
A = Action. Identify the particular measures you took to attain the objective.
R = Result. Report the ultimate conclusion. This is the moment to talk yourself up. Take responsibility for what you did, and if you can emphasize many positives, the better!
Now that you know the phases of the STAR Method, here's how you would apply it to answer a behavioral interview question: Let's imagine you're asked, "What's the most challenging challenge you had to solve?" Using the STAR Method, here's how you might compose a response:
S: Our team revenues were down in the year's fourth quarter.
T: We had to boost our income by 10 percent.
A: I redesigned our antiquated and unproductive methods and worked with my coworkers to establish new, more effective techniques.
R: Thanks to procedures I reworked and the new techniques I established, we boosted our revenue by 12 percent that quarter.
Because behavioral interview questions might be complicated, write up your replies. This will help you think things through more thoroughly. Then practice with someone whose professional judgment you trust.
When you are in the interview room, sometimes anxiousness might take over and make you feel less in control than you'd want to be. The method to control this is through training your mind and body. It will strengthen your confidence when you learn that you can face any interview topic despite any pressure you may first feel.
And don't forget to make studying business part of your preparation! It's one more method to be calm, in control, and ready to amaze.
