Expert Behavioral Interviewing
Posted By Ron On March 18, 2010 @ 8:30 AM In Business,Careers,Tips & Techniques | Comments Disabled
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Photo by Esthr
Behavioral interviews are all the rage in human resources circles. Why? HR managers believe the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation. So, they want you to explain your career in a series of stories based on the situations they present. It can be a challenging exercise to say the least.
But preparing for a behavioral interview isn’t that difficult if you do a little research on the company and do a little reminiscing about your own work life. Does the company value planning and organizational skills? Think back to times when you’ve been responsible for planning a company or department project and what worked, what didn’t, how it succeeded or failed, and what you learned.
After you’ve determined which behavioral interview questions you might be asked during an interview [3] (see the chart below for examples), think back on your own work experience. Then design coherent stories around those personal situations. These stories must be:
- True – never lie in an interview.
- Detailed – and you better know the details inside and out.
- Brief and to the point – never ramble.
These stories must have:
- A brief account of a specific challenge you faced.
- A brief account of the specific actions you took to conquer the challenge.
- A brief summary of the results (quantify these results with actual numbers).
Here are some areas where human resources managers might ask for your story and how they might ask it:
| If the company values: | The interviewer or HR person might ask: |
| Leadership | Tell me about a time you had to lead a team, what you did, and how did you handle any conflicts between members.
Have others ever disagreed with your ideas? Tell me about it. |
| Performance | Tell me about a specific instance when you identified a problem. What did you do to solve it and what was successful in your approach?
If you went to work for us today and we asked you to solve [X], what would be your first steps and why? |
| Decision Making | Tell me about a time when your use of good judgment made a difference.
Have you ever had to make a quick decision before you could gather all the information you wanted? Tell me about what happened. |
| Interpersonal Skills | Tell me about a time you had to present an unpopular decision to your team. What was their response and how did you handle it? What did you learn from it?
Have you ever disagreed with your boss or an upper management decision yet YOU had to implement it? How did that work? |
| Skill | Tell me about a particular time where you used [fill in the skill]. What was successful and unsuccessful about your approach?
Can you [fill in required skill]? Tell me about a few instances when you used this skill. |
| Motivation | Tell me about a time you had to motivate [4] a team. What methods did you use and why? Did those methods work? Why or why not?
Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty. What were the circumstances and what was the result? |
| Management | Tell me about a time when you had to discipline an employee. Without naming names, what were the circumstances and what steps did you take?
How successful have you been at developing others? Give me some examples of how you trained an employee and where that employee is now. |
| Planning | Tell me how you prioritize your work or the work of others. Can you give me an example or two?
What steps do you take in deciding to trust someone with developing a plan? Can you think of an instance when you’ve done this? |
| Customer Service | Tell me about the most irate customer you ever dealt with. What were the circumstances and what did you to resolve the situation?
How do you satisfy a customer complaint without giving away the store? Give me an example of when you used just such an approach. |
Photo by Esthr [14]
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[4] motivate: http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/6-ways-to-motivate-yourself/
[5] behavioral interviewing: http://technorati.com/tags/behavioral+interviewing
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