A large part of what makes job interviews nerve-wracking is that you don’t know what you’re going to be asked. While you can’t know the exact question list before an interview, there are some common types of questions that interviewers often ask that you can prepare to answer, and one of these is behavioral interview questions. Show
We’ll cover how to answer behavioral interview questions and give you some example questions and answers as well as explain what behavioral interview questions are and why interviewers ask them. Key Takeaways
How to Answer Behavioral Job Interview QuestionsLike with all interview questions, there is a right and a wrong answer — the issue with behavioral questions is that this answer can be much more difficult to figure out than with traditional interviews. While it is, as we said before, more difficult to game behavioral interview questions than traditional ones, there is still a chance that you can figure out how to answer a question correctly based on the way it’s asked. The interviewer isn’t trying to trick good people into giving “bad answers” — but they are trying to trick people with poor judgment into revealing themselves early on. In this vein, here are some big things to keep in mind if you find yourself in a behavioral job interview:
Example Behavioral Interview Questions and AnswersEssentially, a behavioral interview means being asked a bunch of open-ended questions which all have the built-in expectation that your answer will be in the form of a story. These questions are difficult to answer correctly specifically because the so-called “correct” answers are much more likely to vary compared to traditional interview questions, whose correct answers are typically more obvious and are often implied. Behavioral interviewers are likely to ask more follow-up questions than normal, while giving less of themselves away. They want to hear you talk and react to every opportunity they give you, because the more you talk, the more you reveal about yourself and your work habits. And that’s okay. The takeaway here shouldn’t be that “the hiring manager wants to trick me into talking, so I should say as little as possible.” The real trick with this kind of question is to use the opportunities you’re given to speak very carefully — don’t waste time on details that make you look bad, for example, unless those details are necessary to show how you later improved. In addition to these general techniques interviewers might use on you, here are some common questions you might be asked during a behavioral interview:
More Behavioral Interview Questions
What Are Behavioral Interview Questions?Behavioral interview questions are questions about how you’ve dealt with work situations in the past and seek to understand your character, motivations, and skills. The idea behind behavioral interview questions is that you’ll reveal how you’ll behave in the future based on your actions in the past. Unlike traditional interview questions, a hiring manager or recruiter is looking for concrete examples of various situations you’ve been in at work. As such, the best way to prepare for any and all behavioral interview questions is to have an expansive set of stories ready for your interview. A hiring manager is never going to come right out and tell you — before, during, or after the fact — whether or not your interview with them is traditional or behavioral. That’s because the difference between the two is more related to philosophy than it is necessarily technique. Often, an employer won’t even know themselves that the interview they’re conducting is behavioral rather than traditional — the deciding factors are the questions that they decide to ask, and where the interview’s focus settles on. In a nutshell, traditional interviews are focused on the future, while behavioral interviews are focused on the past. In a traditional interview, you’re asked a series of questions where you’re expected to talk about yourself and your personal qualities. Interviews in this vein tend to ask questions that are sort of psychological traps — oftentimes the facts of your answer matter less than the way you refer to and frame those facts. Moreover, if you find that you’re able to understand the underlying thing an interviewer is trying to learn about you by asking you a certain question, you might even find you’re able to game the system of the traditional interview a little bit by framing your answer in a particular way. Behavioral interviews are harder to game, because instead of asking about how you might deal with a particular situation, they focus on situations you’ve already encountered. In a behavioral interview, you probably won’t find yourself being asked about your strengths. Instead, you’ll be asked about specific problems you encountered, and you’ll have to give detailed answers about how you dealt with that problem, your thought process for coming up with your solution, and the results of implementing that solution. Why Interviewers Ask Behavioral Interview QuestionsHiring managers and recruiters like to ask behavioral interview questions to determine whether a candidate is a good cultural fit. They also help assess whether the behaviors you’ve exhibited in the past are what the company requires from the role you’re applying for. That’s why you can expect more behavioral interview questions if your interviewer has a clear idea of what sort of person they want to hire for the job. For example, if they believe that time management and rapid communication are vital for success in the position you’re applying for, they’ll be on the lookout for answers that highlight these traits. Tips for Answering Behavioral Interview QuestionsFollow these tips before and during the interview to help ace every behavioral question thrown at you:
Final ThoughtsBehavioral interview questions aren’t usually isolated. That is to say, you won’t usually find yourself in “The Behavioral Interview.” They could be sprinkled into your very first interview, or you might not hear any of them until you’ve almost got your job in the bag. You might have an entire interview made up of just these sorts of questions. Maybe you’ll hear only one. Either way, behavioral interview questions are less of an overwhelming strategy than they are a specific tool that a hiring manager has at their disposal. It’s true that some hiring managers prefer them while others avoid them, but as we said, a lot of that ultimately comes down to personal philosophy. There are a lot of weaknesses to asking only behavioral questions, though, so the best hiring managers out there know to mix them in with the more straightforward, future-focused traditional interview questions.
Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you. What is the best method for answering behavioral interview questions?How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions. Situation. Describe the situation or set the scene. ... . Task. Describe the issue or problem you were confronted with.. Action. Describe the action you took to intervene in the situation or solve the problem. ... . Results. Describe the results your action generated.. What should you not say in a behavioral interview?You'll make sure that your awesome abilities and accomplishments—not a totally avoidable faux pas—will be what your interviewer remembers.. “So, Tell Me What You Do Around Here” ... . “Ugh, My Last Company…” ... . “I Didn't Get Along With My Boss” ... . 4. “ ... . “I'll Do Whatever” ... . “I Know I Don't Have Much Experience, But...”. How do you pass behavioral interview questions?Come prepared with examples of your past experiences.
Questions asked in behavioral interviews should be based on the core competencies for the position, so give the job description a close read and think about experiences you have that demonstrate your abilities in desired areas.
How do you answer difficult behavioral interview questions?You can use the STAR method when answering behavioral interview questions like this. Provide a brief summary of the situation, your role in the situation, the action you put into place to resolve the issue, and how the issue was resolved as a result.
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