Different types of interviews have different goals. The traditional interview seeks a broad knowledge of the candidate’s qualifications, while the behavioral interview looks at how he or she has performed on the job. There’s even a situational interview that presents scenarios that might be faced on the new job and asks how the candidate would resolve them.
The
behavioral interview is specifically designed to find out the past behaviors the
candidate has exhibited in on-the-job situations that will benefit your company. This type of
interview demands a lot of “show me” answers from the candidate, under the premise that past behaviors are an excellent way to predict the candidate’s future behavior. Some sample behavioral interview questions include:
- “Tell me about an experience you had where you were able
to demonstrate how organized you are.”
- “When you were employed by
XYZ Corporation, did you ever have to find a way to deal with conflict
between members of your department?”
- “Tell me about a time in your most recent position when you had to solve a challenging problem. What steps did you take? How did it turn out? What would you do differently, if the situation came up again?”
- “Give me a past example of a policy at work that you didn’t agree with but had to follow anyway. What challenges did you encounter here?”
Because behavioral interview questions are so fact-specific, there’s no list of “right” answers. However, strong candidates will respond to these questions with:
- Specificity: You won’t get wishy-washy responses like, “Well, I can’t think of one specific time, but in general I find it’s best to be fair when dealing with workplace conflict.”
- Honesty: You’ll hear genuine candor about actions the candidate took in the past and what he or she would have done differently.
- Thoughtfulness: Good candidates will have thought through the consequences (both good and bad) of their past decisions. They will not make excuses or blame others.
Once you’ve gotten the best candidates in the door, it’s your job to hang onto them. Learn how with our free White Paper, Employee Orientation: How To Energize, Integrate, and Retain Your Newest Hires.
One nice feature about the behavioral interview is that it automatically spotlights the very best candidates, who have undoubtedly thought long and hard about many of the questions you’ll be asking them about past job situations and performance.
One nice feature about the behavioral interview is that it automatically spotlights the very best candidates, who have undoubtedly thought long and hard about many of the questions you’ll be asking them about past job situations and performance.