What are the best research methods for answering behavioral interview questions?

1 Review your resume

Your resume is a summary of your professional achievements, and it can provide you with a lot of examples to use for behavioral interview questions. Go through your resume and identify the most relevant and impressive situations that showcase your skills and abilities. For each situation, write down the details of the STAR method, such as the context, the challenge, the actions you took, and the outcome you achieved. Try to quantify your results with numbers or percentages if possible. This will help you prepare concise and specific answers that highlight your value.

4 Practice with common questions

Common behavioral interview questions you may encounter in any industry or role can include asking about a time you had to deal with a difficult customer, working under pressure, making decisions with limited information, how you handle feedback or criticism, and your greatest professional failure. To practice with these questions, use the examples you have prepared from your resume, job description, and company culture research. Additionally, ask a friend, mentor, or career coach to mock interview you and give feedback on your answers. The more you practice, the more confident and fluent in your responses you will become.

5 Prepare for follow-up questions

Sometimes, the employer will ask you follow-up questions to probe deeper into your answers, or to test your consistency and honesty. These questions might include inquiring about how you felt about the situation or outcome, what you did differently after that experience, how you measured your success or impact, and what challenges and difficulties you faced and how you overcame them. Additionally, they may ask what skills or knowledge you gained or improved from that situation. To prepare for these questions, it’s important to be ready to elaborate on your answers and provide more details or evidence. Furthermore, use these questions as a chance to show off your self-awareness, reflection, and growth. You can mention how you have applied the lessons learned from that situation to other scenarios or how you have sought feedback or training to improve your skills or performance.