Why are behavioural interviews important?

What is a behavioural interview?

Behavioural interviews are an increasingly popular type of job interview, where an interviewee is asked to provide examples from their past employment of specific situations and go through how they behaved in those circumstances.  The logic is that past performance is predictive of future performance, ie how you behaved in the past will forecast how you will behave in the future.

 Why use behavioural interviewing?

 1)   A bad hiring decision will cost you more than your bottom line: behavioral interviewing is a preventative method to help ensure you’re hiring the right fit for your company.

2) You learn what you really need to know about the candidate: soft skills such as: the ability to handle day-to-day challenges, grow, and learn from mistakes.

3) Behavioral interviewing predicts future behavior and will help to describe actual past behavior on the job, which in turn helps you predict their future behavior.

 What should I expect in the interview?

Typical questions include: 

• Why are you a good leader?
• What type of leadership style do you adopt?
• Explain a mistake you have made in delegating- what were the consequences?
• In what instance would you delegate a task?
• Give an example of an instance when you have had an argument with someone at work?·
• How do you react if your boss asks you to do something which conflicts with your own deadlines?

 STAR statements

When answering a behavioural interview question, candidates are expected to use the STAR method to shape their responses. 

 STAR is an acronym for the four parts of an answer to a typical behavioural question:

• Situation – the background to the example.  The situation the candidate was in or the problem that faced them. 
• Task – the ultimate goal or what the candidate needed to achieve.
• Action – what the candidate did and the reasons why they made this decision.  If the action was a team initiative, it is important for the candidate to focus on their role only.
• Result – what did the action achieve and was the goal accomplished?  It’s not necessary for all examples to have positive results, as long as a candidate can justify their actions and show that they learnt from the results.

 How to succeed in a behavioural interview? Follow some of these tips and stand out as the right job candidate in your next interview.

1. Prepare for common behavioral interview questions

Determine which questions you will be asked so that you can prepare good answers. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What skills are necessary to do the job?
• What makes a person successful in this type of position?

The answers to these questions indicate what behaviors the interview will explore. For example, a customer service position requires good communication skills, problem solving ability, accuracy, adaptability and tolerance.

 2. Have good behavioral interview answers ready.

Review your experience and background and think of examples that highlight your strength and skills in these areas. For example: High Work Standards.

Tell me about a time that you were not satisfied with your work performance. What did you do about it?

 All interview questions around work performance are designed to explore whether you set high standards for yourself and strive to meet these standards. What do you consider to be a "high standard"?

 In your interview answer demonstrate how you attempt to attain high performance standards and correct substandard performance.

"My performance review rating was lower than I had expected or wanted.(Situation)

 I met with my manager to establish a plan of action for improvement and set very specific targets to be met on a monthly basis. I worked hard to meet thes targets and constantly monitored my performance. I also asked for regular feedback about my performance. (Action)

After six months, my boss conducted another review and my rating improved (Result)

3. Include sufficient detail in your answers.

Be detailed and specific with the examples you use to answer the behavioral question. Avoid irrelevant ramblings or going off at a tangent. Stick to the facts and carefully outline in detail the actions you took.

 4. Listen carefully to each question.

If you are not sure what the interviewer is looking for, you can rephrase the question back to clarify. "Are you asking me to describe a situation where ......?" This also gives you time to think about your answer. It is quite acceptable to take a little time to formulate your response.

If you're in the market for a new job, preparing for potential interviews is likely on the top of your priority list so don′t forget to consider these tips. 

Adapted by Comfy Languages Team