Know More About The Behavioral Interview

Do you know what a behavioral interview is? Your next interview could be a behavioral one. Many companies believe this is the ideal way to predict a candidate’s potential for job success. Behavioral interviewing is basically a standardized method designed to draw out information from a candidate about his past behavior and performance in order to judge his future behavior, and hence his chances of performing successfully at the current job.

During a behavioral interview a candidate is asked a series of questions that focus on examples of actions and behavior, which interviewers will use to assess proficiency of the candidate in one or more job-related areas. These areas can include anything from adaptability to leadership to problem solving. Another aspect interviewers will definitely focus on, though they may not question a candidate on it, is the impression of their physical presence and communication skills – both verbal and non-verbal.

The kind of questions a candidate can expect at a behavioral interview can be of the following kinds:

1. Describe a difficult problem that you tried to solve. How did you identify the problem? How did you go about trying to solve it? (Demonstrates problem solving)

2. Describe a time when you tried to persuade another person to do something that he/she was not very willing to do. (Demonstrates leadership)

3. Describe a time when you decided on your own that something needed to be done, and you took on the task to get it done. (Demonstrates initiative)

Answers to these questions will decide the candidate’s fate as far as that particular job is concerned. There is more or less an invariable format in which the answers should be given, which one can think of as the STAR format:

1. Situation or Task: Describe the context in which the behavior or action took place.

2. Action: Guide the interviewer through the course of your action and the steps you took to cope with the situation. Be clear and concise.

3. Results: What were the results of your endeavors? Even if you were not as successful in achieving your target as you would have wanted, make it clear to the employers that you understood the core problem and the implications of the outcome and why it happened.

There are certain steps you can take to prepare yourself for behavioral interviews. Look for them in the upcoming article.

By: Shilpi Ganguly

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