Behavioral interview :Important tips

 

Here are some more tips to answering behavioral interview questions

 

FOCUS AND DEDICATION TO THE INDUSTRY:

1. Why did you choose your major and career?
2. At what point did you make this decision?
3. Specifically, what attracts you to this industry as a career?

ANALYSIS:

1. What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision?
 2. We can sometimes identify a small problem and fix it before it becomes a major problem. Give an example(s) of how you have done this.
 3. Describe a situation in which you had to collect information by asking many questions of several people.
 4. In a supervisory or group leader role, have you ever had to discipline or counsel an employee or group member? What was the nature of the discipline? What steps did you take? How did that make you feel? How did you prepare yourself?

JOB MOTIVATION:

 Give examples of your experiences at school or in a job that were satisfying. Give examples of your experiences that were dissatisfying.

INITIATIVE:

 Describe some projects or ideas (not necessarily your own) that were implemented, or carried out successfully primarily because of your efforts.

Courtesy of cb prjapati

Sample behavioral Interview questions

Adaptability:

Tell me of a a time when you adapted to  fellow workers style or ideas to complete project project.

Analytical Skills/Problem Solving
 Think of a situation that required problem solving skills.  Use the STAR Method.
 


Communication:
How do you deal with conflict? Give an example. Give an example of a situation when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even if that individual did not personally like you How did you handle the situation?

Creativity:

Tell about a problem that solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome?




Goal Setting:
Tell a time when you set a goal and were able to achieve it. What do you consider your greatest achievement so far and why? Tell us  about a goal that you did not reach. How did you feel about it?
What would you do differently? 

Categories of behavioral interview questions

There are different categories of behavioral interivew questions that interviewers can ask. Each category represent a key transferable skill that an employer wants you to explain through anecdotes how you demonstrated it.  Some areas they are interested in:

Adaptability
Ambition
Analytical thinking
Building relationships
Communication
Conflict resolution
Customer focus
Decision making
Delegation
Detail orientation
Employee development
Creative thinking/problem solving
Flexibility
Initiative
Interpersonal skills
Innovation
Integrity
Leadership
Listening
Motivating others
Motivation
Negotiation
Organization
Performance Management
Personal effectiveness
Persuasion
Planning
Presentation
Project management
Relating well


In my future posts I will start detailing different behavioral interview questions and their answers.