Mastering tough interview questions

Succeeding at behavioral interviewing is about mastering tough interview questions. These are the questions that make you squirm. They go beyond such old standards as "tell me about yourself", and "what are your strengths". A behavioral question doesn't "have" a right answer except the one that is right for you.

In mastering these tough questions, expect ones that start like this:

• Tell be about a time when..."
• Give me an example of how you..."
• Describe a situation where you..",
• Think of situation where something didn't work out. What did you learn?

When you answer, it's not what you say, but how you say it.  Once I was asked: "tell me about a time where something you did backfired in a class (I teach)". Whoa! Why would I tell the interviewer about my failings. I described a time where I misread the class needs, but then explained what I learned from it.

Like anything else, the more experience you have with behavioral interviews, the better you get.