If you’ve gone on any interviews recently, you may have noticed a change in the way questions are asked. No longer are the questions simply “what are your strengths and weaknesses?” Now many interviews begin along the lines of “tell me about a time when…” Whether you’ve already experienced the second type of questions or are just learning about them, there’s a good chance you’ll encounter them in a future interview. This new approach is known as a behavioral interview, and hiring managers around the country are using it to help them find the best candidates for their open positions.
In behavioral interviewing candidates are asked pointed, specific questions to determine how they’ve responded to particular situations in the workplace. The idea is that past behavior is a predictor of future behavior, so how you behaved once is probably how you would respond if faced with a similar situation. These questions may seem designed to trip you up, but they’re not. Read on for tips on how to prepare for behavior-based interviews.
Refresh Your Memory
Take the time before an interview to refresh your memory about situations you’ve encountered in your current role. Behavior-based interviews typically include questions that reference specific situations or issues that you might have dealt with, so take the time to think through difficult, unexpected, or new situations, recalling how you dealt with them and assessing what you learned or would do differently in the future. While you won’t know exactly what the interviewer may ask, having a few different situations in mind will make it easier for you to find one that best answers the question, without making you seem too rehearsed.
Answer the Question
As someone who has been using behavior-based interview techniques for years, I can’t tell you how many candidates don’t answer the question asked. Behavior-based interview questions often have multiple parts, or follow-up questions. These are not designed to confuse or dismay you, but rather to provide a deeper and clearer insight into how you work. The worst thing you can do is neglect to answer the question fully. To prevent that from happening, think about the question in its entirety before answering, and if you get lost or forget the question, just ask the interviewer to repeat it. The interviewer may also reframe or ask a similar question to get at something that wasn’t included in your original answer — don’t ignore that. Be sure to answer the question fully and in detail.
Be a STAR
A popular technique for responding to questions in behavior-based interviews is the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method. In this approach you set the stage by sharing a situation you experienced, describing your responsibility (the task), explaining how you handled the challenge (action), and describing the outcome achieved through your efforts (result). For many candidates, this method can help create an easy-to-follow structure that allows for clear and concise answers to behavior-based questions.
Don’t Panic
Even with practice, research, and interview experience, you may still get unexpected questions during your interview. Don’t panic! Take a few breaths to gather your thoughts and think about your answer. You can buy yourself time by saying something like, “That’s an interesting question,” or “I’ve never really thought about that before.” Whatever you do, don’t feel like you need to say the first thing that comes to mind. There’s nothing wrong with taking a few moments to think about your answer. As an interviewer, I’d much prefer you take a few extra seconds to give a well-considered answer than immediately replying with a less than complete one.
Behavior-based interviewing is becoming the norm for positions ranging from entry level to executive. There are plenty of resources online that provide lists of behavior-based interview questions. Take time before your interview to review them, and think about how you would answer those same questions. At the end of the day, behavior-based interviewing is a better way for interviewers to truly learn about you and how you work, and it’s a great opportunity for candidates to shine.
—Alexa Panza
Jeff Dunn, Intel Corporation
Jeff Dunn is campus relations manager at Intel Corporation. He has more than 20 years of corporate recruiting experience, including 11 years at Intel. He frequently conducts workshops on successful job search tips and strategies.
Has the shift to behavioral interviews improved hiring decisions at your organization?
Hypothetical questions and scenarios are too easy to answer, and they’re not useful in evaluating skill sets. Behavioral interviews, on the other hand, improve hiring decisions because they explore a candidate’s past behaviors as the best indicator of future performance. During behavioral interviews, the questions asked of the candidate are job related, which helps interviewers avoid getting into discriminatory situations.
Is this approach used for all positions and all levels?
Intel has been using behavioral interviewing for more than 20 years at all levels within the company.
What competencies can a candidate showcase during a behavioral interview?
Candidates can demonstrate both functional and interpersonal skills during a behavioral interview. They should be prepared to give examples of functional skills, such as project management, analyzing financial statements, coding with C++, and so on. Interviewees can illustrate their interpersonal skills with stories that highlight flexibility, teamwork, judgment, and tolerance of ambiguity. Candidates should expect to hear questions like, “Give me three reasons to hire you.” The answer to this question showcases their top strengths and could be used in response to a number of questions.
Please give us an example of a question that helps glean pertinent information about a candidate? Why is it so effective?
I like to ask this three-part question: Give me an example of a difficult decision or judgment you made on your own. What was your thought process? How did things turn out? The answers demonstrate how the candidate analyzes a situation or problem without direction. It also gives them the opportunity to explain how they take ownership, go the extra mile, and learn from successes or failures.
What types of experiences should a candidate be prepared to talk about?
A candidate should focus on experiences that are the most recent and the most relevant to the job they’re interviewing for. Past projects, volunteer efforts, or actual work experience should highlight what the candidate learned, and/or what measurable results they achieved. They should choose stories in which they are the hero and the outcome was successful.
How can a candidate with limited experience make an impression during a behavioral interview?
Candidates can share examples that are not related to paid work. Any activities, projects, or volunteer opportunities that a candidate has completed can be shared to demonstrate what they’ve learned and/or the results they’ve achieved. Interviewers truly care about interpersonal skills such as flexibility, teamwork, communication skills, judgment, and resourcefulness. Employers can always teach functional skills — it’s much harder to train someone on interpersonal traits.
