The Behavioral Job Interview

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In the 1970s behavioral interviewing was developed by industrial psychologists. It differs from the traditional interview in that the questions center on your behavior in past situations rather than why you would like to work for the company or what you believe your strengths may be. The answers to traditional questions can be anticipated and rehearsed; the behavioral ones are harder to plan for.

Behavioral interviewing is based on the premise that “the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation”. The traditional interview is based on theoretical questions like “how would you…” while the behavioral questions will state “tell me about a time when…” Preparing for the chance of having a behavioral interview will prepare you for both styles. If you are unprepared, it can lead to interview disaster.

The companies that employ this style of interviewing know what type of person they need for a particular job. Once they have scheduled the interview, they have already determined that you are basically qualified for the position. At this point, they need to know if you have a particular skill set they are looking for with this position. Often, these skills are things like leadership, organization and planning, problem solving, the ability to work well within a team, and/or communication. Before the interview, you must make some decisions, based on the position and the company, on which skills they may be looking for. This is where your pre-interview research comes into play. Try to decide which skills may be important in landing you that job.

The most important step in preparing for this interview will be developing three to five stories that you can recount to the interviewer to illustrate your past performance. These should follow the STAR method; Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Think of an interesting or difficult situation that you faced. How did you assess what needed to be done (task)? What specific action did you then take and what was the result. Using this method is the best way to tell your interviewer about your experience in a clear manner and highlights what they want to know.

These stories are real-life experiences and therefore hard to fake. That is one of the reasons why behavioral interviewing is being used to sift through applicants who have similar credentials for the job. You should make a list of situations that you could use and practice telling each story. This will make you more comfortable with the interviewer and make it easier to remember the details. It will also give you experience in developing stories on the spot using the STAR method when asked a question that you did not expect. These stories can also be used in a traditional job interview. When asked how you might respond to an angry customer, use the same method and tell about how you responded to one in the past. This is usually beyond what most other applicants will do in a traditional interview and gives you an edge over the competition.

A question in a behavioral interview to establish your ability to communicate can be “Have you ever had to speak up to get a point across that was important to you?” To establish your organizational skills, they may ask something like “How do you decide what gets top priority?” Flexibility may be established by asking you to tell about a time when a task or goal frustrated you. The questions can vary widely, and you can’t prepare for every one you may be asked. Just remember that the overall goal is to find out how you really perform in real life situations. Recalling past examples of your successes and times when you were proud of your actions under pressure is the key to winning the job.