Behavioral Interviews
Because behavioral interviews are so very subjective and personal,
there are an infinite number of questions and answers.
So, there's no list of "correct" answers that you can
memorize in advance. Answers must spontaneously come from within
you, based on your personal experience; after all, that's the whole
idea behind behavioral interviews.
However, there are some preliminary steps that you can take to
prepare for behavioral interviews.
Preparing for Behavioral Interviews
With the sample behavioral
interview questions from the previous page in mind, start
preparing by studying your resume
and cover letter. The skills, education, accomplishments,
experience and other qualities you've presented, will likely
become fodder for similar types of behavioral interview questions.
The job description too will likely become fodder for behavioral
interview questions, similar to the samples on the previous page.
Study the job description and try to anticipate questions based
on the skills, education, experience and other qualities it requires.
Get the job description from the job ad or ask the HR department.
For your answers to behavioral interview questions, think back
into your career; particularly about special or difficult situations,
such as high-priority projects with tight deadlines or other obstacles
you had to overcome. Think also about accomplishments that made
you proud; particularly those that were difficult to achieve and
for which you received pats on the back.
In other words, focus on specific, work-related situations that
were difficult or otherwise special to some degree, and for which
you had to rely on your qualities to demonstrate desirable behaviors
or actions; examples are planning, problem solving, leadership,
teamwork, initiative, and regard for customer care.
Then craft two or three true
"stories" that highlight your accomplishments, competencies
and other qualifications. Make sure that each of your behavioral
interview stories has a logical beginning, middle and end, as does
any well-crafted story. A good, simple "formula"
to follow is: Situation + Action = Outcome
For example, if you had a problem to resolve, practice telling
the behavioral interview story of how you identified the problem,
how you went about resolving it, and what the result was. (An example
is on the next page.)
Natch, you'll likely tend to favor only work situations that had
positive results; but, that's okay, because it's what interviewers
typically want to hear.
However, just in case an interviewer asks a behavioral interview
question about a negative outcome, also prepare a story like that
too, if you have one to tell; but, don't tell it too negatively.
Try to put a positive spin on the negative outcome, by explaining
how well you coped, kept chipping away at it despite obstacles,
and so on.
Even if an interviewer doesn't ask about a particular story that
you've crafted and rehearsed, you've not wasted your time; your
story-crafting practice will still help you to better answer even
the toughest of behavioral interview questions.
|
About
