Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Facing a behavioral interview?

Facing Behavioral Interviewing? Read On

Author:

RL Stevens

'The most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation.' That\'s the conclusion industrial psychologists came to when developing the behavioral style of interviewing. Many companies use this technique in varying degrees. Instead of asking:

- Tell me about yourself.

- What are your strengths and weaknesses?

- Why are you interested in working for us?

Behavioral interviewing emphasizes past performance and behaviors. Not preparing for this style of interview can take you out of the running. A word to the wise: simply practicing the list of common interview questions isn\'t enough.

Why should your prepare for a behavioral interview?

- Candidates who prepare for behavioral interviews also do better in traditional interviews.

- Using behavioral answers works well with inexperienced, traditional interviewers.

- Companies that invest the time and energy to develop behavioral interviews attract top candidates.

How do I prepare for a behavioral interview? Employers have analyzed exactly what skills they require for the position. These skill sets might include decision-making and problem solving, leadership, motivation, communication, interpersonal skills, planning and organization, critical thinking, team building and the ability to influence others. Job seekers also must go through this same detailed analysis process. To do that, you should consider questions such as:

- What are the necessary skills to do this job? Do I possess them?

- What makes a successful candidate? How can I translate my previous successes to this position?

- What would make an unsuccessful candidate? What criteria could eliminate a candidate?

- Why is this position available? Promotion, left the company, expansion?

- What is the most difficult part of this job? Have I handled similar situations and what stories do I have to express my success?

Once you have landed the interview, make your answers and examples detailed and specific. You should have developed three stories that illustrate accomplishments and successes in your past performance, remembering the interviewer will be focused on the assertion that 'past performance in a similar setting is the best predictor of future performance.'

The best way to accomplish this is to use the 3C Technique:

1. Circumstance (What was the problem?)

2. Conduct (How did you fix it or how did you get others to fix it?)

3. Conclusion (What was the result?)

For example, you might recount a time when communication within your work group had broken down (circumstance). Organizing lunch meetings designed to open the discussion of issues was a creative step toward resolving the problem. It inspired a more congenial atmosphere and resulted in a better flow of communication. Using this technique can present your accomplishments in a way that sends a powerful message to the employer.

While you can\'t control what is asked, you can control what you say. Listen carefully to each question. If you are unsure, ask for clarification. When you respond, be sure to recall your accomplishments in detail. Avoid lengthy rambling and tangents. Practice your behavioral stories using so they sound natural, not rehearsed. No one knows your accomplishments better than you do. Be confident about sharing them, enthusiastic about the results and proud to be able to bring these kinds of successes to a potential employer.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-improvement-articles/facing-behavioral-interviewing-read-on-3150489.html

About the Author
Provided by R.L. Stevens & Associates, Inc. - a full-service career firm. For more information, contact us at 1-800-721-9491, info@rlstevens.com or visit us online at http://www.interviewing.com

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Behavioral Interviews- Outside the box interviews

Situational and Behavioral Questions
By Ken Sundheim


You want to play in the big leagues and interview with the best companies? Nobody is going to ask you about your past internships. It doesn't mean much to them. These companies need to know how you think. They need to know your thought process and how you would handle certain situations.

Thus, they give situational and behavioral questions. Below, you will find some questions to these tough and sometimes shocking interviewing tactics. Remember, there is no correct or wrong answer to these questions and you will not know how the interview went until they tell you after wards. Be prepared to use your head and think before you answer.

It is very imperative that you keep upbeat and remain excited about the position.

Situational Interview Questions:
Situational interview questions aim to see your thought process when it comes to solving problems that will occur in everyday or work situations. The jobs that pay a lot want a lot of talent in return. Again, there are no correct or wrong answers regarding these questions. They are not your typical "Yes" or "No" questions.

Below, you will find some sample questions and sample answers. During an interview, always be prepared for these types of inquiries.

Q: Let's say that a professor didn't like you and was going to fail you. You had one week to straighten things out. Since you could not convince the professor and you knew he had a strong case to fail you, how would you go about passing this class?

Q: Let's say that somebody took everything you had and left you on the street with $3,000. You could not go to family or friends; you could only use the money as a resource. What would you do?

Q: You win the lottery, what would you do next?

Q: You get a call from a client who yells at you and will not listen to your responses. Your boss threatens to fire you if you can't keep them on by the end of Monday. It is Friday, what do you do?

Q: You walk into an interview and the interviewer shakes your hand and says, "You have 1 week to convince me that you are right for the job. You cannot call me or email me." What do you do?

Behavioral Interview Questions:

Q: Give an example of a time when you had to persuade others? What did you do?

Q: How would you go about working if you were required to conform to a policy with which you did not agree?

Q: When it comes to dealing with conflict how do you handle it? Give me an example.

Q: Let's say your boss had to quit and his or her work that they left was crucial to the organization. You would not equipped to do all of the work yourself, nor are you qualified. What would you do?

Q: What do you consider to be a cut-throat environment? How would you act to keep your job in this type of situation?

Recruitment Agencies Chicago Marketing Recruiters

Marketing Recruiters Houston Headhunters Sales

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Sundheim

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Behavioral Interview questions: Communications

Communications is consdidered to be one of the top transferrable skills for any job seeker. No wonder behavioral interview quesitons many focus on communciations. As always, the best approach is to answer these with situational and contextual information. Here are some examples.


Tell me about a time when you had to present a proposal to a person in authority and were able to do this successfully.
Answer: When I worked for ABC inudstries, I was convinced we should seek outsourcing to devleop our instrucitonal systems supports. I wrote a detaile proposal which was accepted by the company

TeTell me about a situation where you had to be persuasive and sell your idea to someone else.
Describe for me a situation where you persuaded team members to do things your way. What was the effect?
Tell me about a time when you were tolerant of an opinion that was different from yours.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Microsoft interview questions

Many of these questions, as you can see, cannot be answered without thinking carefully or critically. As with the regular behviorial interview questions, your best strategy to answer these requires that you give anecdotal information. Think of a Situation, of Tasks, Actions, and Results. There's the STAR method again!

What types of projects (academic or otherwise) have inspired you in the past?
What are some self-directed missions that may have influenced your career direction?
Did you have a moment of epiphany when you KNEW what you wanted to be when you grew up?
How does Microsoft fit into your vision?
What are some things that excite and motivate you?
What are some examples of poorly/well-designed software? What makes the software this way and how would you change it?

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Behavioral interview questions for Social service specialist or Child Welfare Case worker

Each profession has its own set of competencies and situation specific skills and experience that will make an applicant successful. The social services profession is no exception. Here are some possible scenarios that could occur in an interview question. Try to imagine the worst challenges of the job. To answer the question, think of your own real life experience, or the best hypothetical answer of what you would do in that situation.


Confrontation will be a strong part of your challenges. How would you manage to maintain a professional demeanor under suggested circumstances.

In this line of work you will have to inquire about delicate subjects with parents. How would you be interesting or inventive when querying inquiring about private family matters of finance, sex, communications between parents and children.

In this job you may have to uncover problems that are readily evident or aren't as obvious to someone who is close to a situation. How might you probe or investigate potential hiddent problems such as an uncle too interested in his young niece, or an introverted son with a greater than normal interest in watching people.

Some questions could follow a "What if..." format in several different situations, single mother, single dad, foster parent, dysfunctional nuclear family.

The only ways to answer these are to use the STAR method (speaking from experience, or to answer the questions, hypothetically, as best you can.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Sample Behavioral interview questions from monster

I found these behavioral questions on Monster.com today. How would you answer these interview questions? Be authentic of course, and use the STAR Method, (Situation, Task, Action, Result).


• Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?
• What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?
• What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it?
• Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
• What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days of this job?
• If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for?
• What is your greatest achievement outside of work?
• If I were your supervisor and asked you to do something that you disagreed with, what would you do?
• What's the most difficult decision you've made in the last two years?
• Tell me one thing about yourself you wouldn't want me to know.
• If you found out your company was doing something against the law, like fraud, what would you do?
• Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.
• What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?

Monday, December 6, 2010

More Behavioral Interview questions

Behavioral Interviewing Questions

By: Charles Bentson King


Behavioral interviewing is the most effective way to hire a qualified employee. It takes gut feelings, stereotypes and biases out of the process and allows you to look at candidates in more scientific terms. The process is called behavioral because it uses behaviors presented in the past to predict future behaviors. The process sounds easy but it takes practice and persistence. You need to know the exact behaviors that are critical for the job you are interviewing for and then you need to prepare questions that will illicit the responses you need to analyze the candidates behaviors. When you ask behavioral interviewing questions it is imperative that you probe and allow the candidate time and silence to answer the questions.

1. Give me an example of a time you where you had a particularly difficult customer and how you handled the situation.

2. Describe for me a situation where you didn't agree with a company policy and learned to work within the confines of that policy.

3. Give me an example of a time when you were given instructions by your manager that you didn't agree with and how you handled the situation.

4. Tell me about a time when you had conflict with a co-worker and how you were able to resolve that conflict.

5. Give me an example of a time when you provided extraordinary service and please be specific with the steps you took to achieve this result.

6. Describe for me a time when you didn't understand how to complete a task and what you did to finish the work.

7. Tell me about a time that you had to use creativity to solve a problem at work.

8. Tell me about a time when you were not feeling well or in a bad mood and had to motivate yourself at work.

9. Describe for me a time that you had a co-worker with a bad attitude and how you handled that situation.

10. Give me an example of a time you made a mistake when working with a customer and how you handled the situation.

Remember to research the behaviors needed for the position you are interviewing for and prepare your questions carefully. Also, use silence and probe further so you can get the information needed to make an informed hiring decision. Behavioral interviewing will take the gut feelings, stereotypes and biases that we all have out of the equation and you will make better hiring decisions.

About the Author

Charlie Bentson King is a writer and producer of training videos for TrainingABC. TrainingABC is a distributor of behavioral interviewing video programs such as More Than a Gut Feeling.

(ArticlesBase SC #2188770)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Behavioral Interviewing Questions

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Answering Behavioral interview questions-video

This video on behavioral interview questions gives a good capsule summary of what behavioral interviewing is all about, and examples of nasty and uncomfortable questions


Saturday, December 4, 2010

Behavioral Interviewing-the employer's perspective


Here is an article written for employers and how to conduct a behavioral interview


by Jennifer Selland



Behavioral interviewing is a relatively new mode of job interviewing. Employers such as AT&T and Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) have been using behavioral interviewing for 15 years, and because increasing numbers of employers are using behavior-based methods to screen job candidates, understanding how to excel in this interview environment is becoming a crucial job-hunting skill.

What is Behavior-Based Interviewing? Behavior-based interviewing focuses on your past experiences, behaviors, attitudes, personal skills and capacities that are job-related. It is based on the belief that past behavior and performance predicts future behavior and performance. You may use work experience, outsides activities, hobbies, volunteer work, school projects, family life as examples of your past behavior. However we suggest to focus on job related performance as much as possible.

Behavioral Interviewing Questions. This is the key to matching behavioral interviewing questions with specific soft sills or competencies. Below is a short list of 22 competencies with their definitions, suggestions for effective interviewing hints and a sample question for each.

Conflict Management: Addressing and resolving conflict constructively.

•Listen for proactive identification and resolution of concerns and issues.
•Sample question: "Describe the most difficult conflict you've ever had to manage."

Employee Development/Coaching: Facilitating and supporting the professional growth of others.

•Listen for a belief in the potential of others and promoting of learning and development.
•Sample question: "Describe your personal experience with a mentor or coach."

Interpersonal Skills: Effectively communicating, building rapport and relating well to all kinds of people.

•Listen for self-awareness, understanding and an ability to communicate effectively with others regardless of differences.
•Sample question: "Describe the most difficult working relationship you've had with an individual."

Teamwork: Working effectively and productively with other.

•Listen for a strong commitment and contributions to team members working towards a specific goal.
•Sample question: "Give me an example of one of the most significant contributions you made as a member of a high performing team."

Self-Management: Demonstrating self-control and an ability to manage time and priorities.

•Listen for composure, assertiveness and emotional stability.
•Sample question: "Give me an example of when you were able to meet the personal and professional demands in your life, yet still maintained a healthy balance."

Empathy: Identifying with and caring about others.

•Listen for genuine caring, compassion and initiative in assisting others without expectations of rewards.
•Sample question: "Give me an example of when you identified with someone else's difficulties at work." Planning/Organizing: Utilizing logical, systematic and orderly procedures to meet objectives.

•Listen for logical, organized and systematic approaches
.
•Sample question: " Describe the most complex assignment or project you've worked on."

. Customer Service: Anticipating, meeting and/or exceeding customer needs, wants and expectations.

•Listen for extraordinary efforts in responding to customer needs and wants to insure satisfaction.
•Sample question: " Give me an example of when you went out of your way for a customer."

. Written Communication: Writing clearly, succinctly and understandably.

Look for clear and understandable knowledge or written communication.
Sample question: "Give me an example of something you wrote for work that was effective in achieving a communication goal."

Presenting: Speaking effectively to small and large groups.

•Listen for awareness, accuracy and composure.
•Sample question: " Describe a situation when you had to give a presentation to a group of people you have never met."

Persuasion: Convincing others to change the way they think, believe or behave.

•Listen for persistence, determination and a "never-give-up" attitude in efforts to meet goals.
•Sample question: "Describe a situation where you were able to convince others to your way of thinking."

Goal Orientation: Energetically focusing efforts on meeting a goal, mission or objective.

•Listen for the ability to maintain their direction in spite of obstacles in their path.
•Sample question: "Give me an example of the most significant professional goal you have met."

Flexibility: Agility in adapting to change.

•Listen for a positive attitude towards lots of activity, multi-tasking and change, in general.
•Sample question: "Give me an example of when you were forced to change priorities or direction."

Continuous Learning: Taking initiative in learning and implementing new concepts, technologies and/or methods.

•Listen for a positive attitude towards self-improvement, learning and the application of knowledge.
•Sample question: "How do you keep current on what's going on in your field?"

Personal Effectiveness: Demonstrating initiative, self-confidence, resiliency and a willingness to take responsibility for personal actions.

•Listen for a strong sense of self, personal responsibility, courage and resilience.
•Sample question: "What do you think has enabled you to meet your goals?"

. Problem Solving: Anticipating, analyzing, diagnosing and resolving problems.

•Listen for an analytical and disciplined approach to solving problems.
•Sample question: "Describe a situation when you anticipated a problem."

Negotiation: Facilitating agreements between two or more parties.

•Listen for seasoned expertise in negotiating "win-win" agreements.
•Sample question: "Give me an example of when you were able to facilitate a "win-win" agreement between two or more adversarial parties."

Management: Achieving extraordinary results through effective management of resources, systems and processes.

•Listen for shrewd business sense, understanding of operational issues and an ability to improve the bottom line.
•Sample question: "Describe the largest budget you've ever developed and had responsibility for managing."

. Leadership: Achieving extraordinary business results through people.

•Listen for an ability to obtain the trust, commitment and motivation of others to achieve goals and objectives.
•Sample question: "If you have held a leadership position in the past, draw the organizational chart above and below your position to illustrate the scope of your leadership responsibilities."

. Decision Making: Utilizing effective processes to make decisions.

•Listen for an ability to make timely decisions under difficult circumstances.
•Sample question: "Give me an example of when you had to make a quick decision when the risk of making an error was high."

Futuristic Thinking: Imagining, envisioning, projecting and/or predicting what has not yet been realized.

•Listen for optimism, predictions and a commitment to future possibilities.
•Sample question: "Describe a situation when you were correct in seeing a future trend that others didn't."

Creativity/Innovation: Adapting traditional or devising new approaches, concepts, methods, models, designs, processes, technologies, and/or systems.

•Listen for "out-of-the-box" thinking and unusual approaches.
•Sample question: " Describe a work situation when you adapted a concept, design, process or system to meet a need."

Be sure to probe for as many details and specifics as possible such as names, dates and other verifiable information. Skilled interviewers will also ask candidates for their thoughts or feelings about a situation to gain further insight.

How Can I Prepare for A Behavioral Interview?
•Be familiar with the type of positions for which you're applying.
•Reflect on your own background. What skills do you have that relate to the job you are applying for?
•Think of examples from your past experience where you demonstrated those skills. How can you give an example about your use of particular skills or knowledge?
•Be prepared to provide examples of when results didn't turn out as you planned. What did you do then? In hindsight, what would you do differently?
•Identify two or three of your strengths and determine how you will convey these assets during the interview.
•Once you land your desired position, keep a personal achievement diary to help document demonstrated performance.

How Do I Prepare For a Behavioral Interview If I Am The Interviewer or Company Hiring?

•If the job could talk; what would it say? About:
oThe behaviors of the person who will always be able to deliver superior performance?
oThe attitudes of the people doing the job?
oThe attributes or soft skills needed for superior performance?

•Job Benchmarking with a system such as Trimetrix, reveals why, how and what an individual can contribute to a job.

•It identifies a complete hierarchy of competencies or personal skills. It allows you to clarify any position issues. It prioritizes and validates the competencies required.

This can be done for any:
oLeadership/Management Exempt position
oProfessional Exempt position
oHourly non-exempt position

•Anytime you need an unbiased opinion about whether someone is right or wrong for the job, the computer will analyze the input of up to ten respondents to identify the importance of the 23 soft skills competencies.

•Where can you do this...through the Internet! Have up to ten respondents identify the importance of the 23 soft skills competencies and then see how your candidate matches up.

For more information about the Trimetrix Process or how to benchmark a job, please feel free to call Well-Run Concepts at 877-566-2900, email us at Success@Well-Run.com or visit us on the Web at www.Well-Run.com

The premise behind behavioral interviewing is that the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in similar situations. Behavioral interviewing, in fact, is said to be 55 percent predictive of future on-the-job behavior, while traditional interviewing is only ten percent predictive.

Good luck with the process of Behavioral Interviewing and Well-Run Concepts encourages you to use the Behavioral Interviewing questions provided in this article to get you started.
Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/behavioral-interviewing-41559.html"



Jennifer Selland is the Founder and President of Well-Run Concepts, a Human Resource Consulting Firm based in Ocala Florida, founded in 1997, whose mission is to Help Organizations Define and Develop Top Talent. Jennifer has over 15 years of Human Resource Management and Executive Operational hotel experience

Well-Run Concepts
"Helping Organizations Define and Develop Top Talent."

303 S.E. 17th St. Suite 309-170
Ocala, FL 34471
Toll Free:877-566-2900 Tel:352-624-2684 Fax:352-624-2689
Website: www.well-run.com Email: Jennifer@well-run.com

Friday, December 3, 2010

Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers - Tips and Advice


By Damen Choy

Behavioral interviews are becoming more and more popular in this highly competitive job market. The main reason that employers like the behavioral interview is that it can predict the future actions of candidates quite accurately. What do we mean by this?

Traditional interview questions - the ones you may be more used to - typically call for highly objective answers and can be based on misperceptions. For instance, how you answer the question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" is based on your own perception of yourself. Since the employer does not yet know you, he or she cannot judge the accuracy of your answers.

However, behavioral interview questions provide the interviewer with much greater insight into how your mind works. As the name implies, behavioral questions focus on just that: your actual behavior - and not your perceptions. In this type of interview, the interviewer has targeted several specific behaviors and attitudes that the job requires, and has designed behavioral interview questions that will shed light on whether you might be a good fit for the position.

Behavioral questions examples

Here are some typical interview behavioral questions:

*Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without sufficient information. How did the situation work out?

*Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone who did not like you. How did you deal with the situation? What was the outcome?

*Describe a decision you made that was unpopular. Why did you make the decision? How did you sell your decision? What was the outcome?

*If you are given an assignment that you don't know how to handle, what would you do?

*What would you do if a customer complains about you to your boss?

*Tell me about a time when someone's interruptions were in danger of causing you to miss a deadline. What did you do?

Notice how much more specific and detailed this type of question is than traditional, straightforward interview questions. The idea behind the success of behavioral questions & answers is that a person's past performance is a good indicator of his or her future performance.

Navigating behavioral questions & answers

While answering this type of question may seem more difficult than traditional questions, actually, with a little practice, you may find that the answers come more naturally since you're simply recalling your past experiences. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind for answering behavioral questions in a way that will help your interviewer the most:

*Always relate the question to a specific instance in your career.

*Describe the tasks that were related to the instance. What was the expected outcome?

*Describe your actions in relation to the task or instance. What did you do? Why did you decide to do it?

*Always describe the actual outcome of your actions, even if it wasn't favorable. What did you learn from the experience? What might you do differently if faced with a similar situation?

In answering interview behavioral questions this thoroughly, you show that you understand what the interviewer is looking for and that you're willing to offer up the information to help them make the best decision.


Additional tips

*Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Just answer the question as honestly as you can, while focusing on describing your actions during the situation.

*Don't feel attacked by the interviewer's follow up questions, which may feel very probing. The interviewer is simply trying to understand how and why you've acted in situations he or she believes related to the job, and is not personally attacking you.

*Relax and take a deep breath before answering. It's ok to take a few minutes to think of your answer.

*If you're describing a stressful situation, avoid the temptation to get upset all over again. Detach yourself from the emotions of the situation, and describe the details as factually as possible.

*Smile! Speak smoothly and confidently.

With some practice and preparation, you'll find that you can handle the more difficult behavioral interview questions successfully and with confidence.


Damen Choy Author and Editor http://InstantCareerAdvice.com a career advice website providing free ebooks, articles and software for career advancement, job interviews and resume writing advice. Damen has also written a book about job interview available at Amazon.com. Access the ebook version here at http://www.a-better-job-interview.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damen_Choy