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Preparing for the Behavioral Interview
Posted Date: 26 May 2008 Resource Type: Articles/Knowledge Sharing Category: Jobs & Interviews
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Posted By: bharath sudar Member Level: Platinum
Rating:  Points: 1
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Of all the interviewing techniques utilized over the years to improve on the hiring of new employees, Behavioral Interviewing has stood the test of time. More and more often, Behavioral Interviewing is seen as the best way to separate the good candidate from the perfect candidate.
What exactly is this technique called Behavioral Interviewing?
It's a method of determining whether you are a good fit for a job by asking questions related to your past behavior.
Anyone can say they are a "great problem solver," or a "hard worker." But what the interviewer needs is a concrete example of this, proof really, that the person they are interviewing has done what they say they can do.
An example of a behavioral question would be: "Tell me about a time when you were successful because you worked hard and went above and beyond the assigned duties of the job."
Is this technique new?
No, it's been around since the 70's when industrial psychologists developed a way of "accurately" predicting whether a person would succeed in a job. They concluded if candidates were asked questions that requested examples of past behavior it would be an indicator of their future behavior - good or bad.
What is the difference between a behavioral question and other questions? A behavioral question will be very specific. For example when asked, "Tell me about a time when you solved a problem," the key words are "a time." This calls for a "specific" example.
"What if" questions encourage you to use your imagination to come up with an answer. In, "What would you do if you had a problem to solve?" the word "if," should be a clue that the interviewer wants to hear about your thought process - the path you take when thinking through a problem. Here, an example of a past experience is not required.
Is it possible to prepare for behavioral interviews?
Preparation is important for every interview, and is essential for the behavioral interview. The key is to have examples or stories ready that illustrate any skill or experience you have claimed on your resume or that may reasonably come up in the interview.
Let's look at an example. Say you claimed to be "very organized" on your resume or in your personal statement, the interviewer might then ask you, "Tell me about a time when you organized a project." This is your opening to tell them about a project you organized, including the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them and ultimately succeeded. Doing this gives the interviewer solid evidence of your organizational skills. It's not longer your opinion that you're organized, it's proven!
The technique to succeed
Various methods work well for story telling, but the main point to remember is that any story has three main parts:
Luckily you learned all about them in grade school. There's a Beginning. "There was a time when I faced the following challenge...." A Middle - "These are the steps I took to solve it..." and an End - "The problem was solved and.."
One way to stay focused when telling a story is to think about going to a movie.
Arriving 10 minutes late to a movie can cause you spend the rest of the time trying to figure out what it is you missed. This is because it's in the beginning of the story, the first 10-20 %, that the whole movie is set up or "framed" for the audience. In the interview, if you don't "frame" your story the interviewer will be just as confused.
The middle of the movie should be a good 60-70% of the story. It's where our hero, you, overcomes the challenge that was set up in the beginning. Don't be shy here. You're the star of this movie. Be careful of using words like "we" and "us" too much. That just makes it difficult to see the star. Keeping the story focused on you by using "I" statements. If you must use the word "we" in the story, make sure your listener, is aware of who "we" is. For example, "My partner and I," or "I worked with a team of four people."
Now, if you were to leave 10 minutes before the movie was over, you would never know what happened in the end, and would probably be pretty unsatisfied. A strong ending is vital to your story. If you leave it out, the interviewer may ask, "So what was the result?" That's a clue you have left off the ending.
Keep in mind, Beginning, Middle, and End. Every good story has each.
How can you become a good storyteller?
Stories should be interesting and full of action. This is the pitfall for most people - the story lacks detail. Give the interviewer something to remember about you. A savvy interviewer will be able to hear skills from the stories and judge your behavior from your past actions, but you must let them hear the steps you took to solve the problem. The more details and skills you can work into your story, the more convincing your story will be. The biggest fault are examples/stories where there is no "action" or detail.
Succeeding in the behavioral interview will take time and preparation, but it will allow you to tell the success stories your interviewer needs to hear with confidence. Your examples will allow the interviewer to get a clear picture of who you are and if you're the right person for the job!
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