How to Approach Behavioral Interview Questions

As an applicant, your job interview presents the biggest obstacle – and alsothe biggest opportunity – in landing the job of your dreams. To impress the person or people interviewing you, it’s important to come prepared to answer whatever questions may come your way…and in many cases, that means mastering behavioral interview questions.

What Are Behavioral Questions?

Behavioral interviews focus on applicants’ past work experience in order to predict how they will handle future challenges and potential conflicts on the job. According to researchers, this type of question is 55% predictive of forthcoming behavior, while traditional interview questions actually draw on a different part of the brain than actual job skills and are only 10% effective in predicting work behavior.

What does all this mean? Instead of asking the same old clichéd questions, such as “What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?”, the interviewer will focus on specific challenges you’ve faced in previous work situations. Based on your response, they’ll get an impression of your character and your capabilities.

How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions

It’s much more difficult to prepare for behavioral questions, because they can be so specific and because a good interviewer will ask for a level of detail that makes it impossible to prepare or fabricate a story.

Further questions like “What were you thinking at that point?” and “Tell me more about that conversation” draw out very revealing details and make it difficult to lie or omit information. These kinds of questions effectively highlight problem solving and critical thinking skills, as well as your willingness to learn and ability to think and act on your feet.

So what’s the secret to success when it comes to behavioral interview questions? Honesty and a little bit of foresight work wonders in this situation. The best answer to any behavioral interview question is one that is clear, honest, and that demonstrates a difficult situation you handled to the best of your ability – and conveys the lessons learned that you can demonstrate today.

Preparing for Behavioral Questions

Preparation is essential for this kind of interview – but since you can’t possibly know the specific questions that are likely to be asked, the key is to consider potential answers for a variety of questions.

• As you get ready for your interview, think back to previous work situations in which you were challenged and managed to create success despite problems, or where your trouble-shooting skills helped others to succeed.
• If you can, research the hiring company as thoroughly as possible, while considering the skills and strengths they are likely to want in job candidates.
• Think about telling your job experiences as a story, complete with a situation or problem, the action you took, and the outcome or result of your action. This kind of narrative arc is easy to understand and makes a solid, coherent impression.

Behavioral Questions to Expect in Your Interview

Some of the most common behavioral interview questions include:

• Have you ever had an angry customer? How did you resolve the situation?
• Have you ever been in a work situation where the rules or guidelines weren’t clear? How did you feel about it? What did you do?
• Tell me about a project or workplace change that was initiated because of your ideas, or that you managed. What were the results?
• What impact did you have in your last job?
• Describe a major job change that made you uncomfortable, and how you handled it.
• What, in your opinion, are the major elements in building good work relationships? How do you employ them?

In behavioral interviews, as any other professional dialogue, preparation makes all the difference. Brush up on success stories and experiences from previous jobs and you’re sure to excel.

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