Behavioral interview questions are uncomfortable. I've preached that over again on this blog. The more comfortable you get answering them, the better you'll be able to handle the unexpected.
How would you answer this question: Tell me about an objective in your last position that you failed to meet, and why.
No one wants to admit to failure. Pick one that was not essential to your job. Use your STAR (situation, task, action, result).
It is good to add what you learned from this example, and what you would differently the next time, to ensure that you did meet the objective or quickly resolve the problem.
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Showing posts with label behavioral interviewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label behavioral interviewing. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Sample answer to a behavioral interview question - Part 2
Blog readers like samples. That much I've learned in a year of blogging. So here for your edification is another sample answer to a behavioral interview questions.
This one comes from real life. I had been interviewed for a teaching job by a group sitting around a board table. One interviewer asked: "Tell us about a time where something went wrong in the classroom and what you did about it".
Well that threw me a loop. Like most people, I have a scripted set of answers that extol my strong and most saleable skills. But, "something going wrong? So, I thought about it. The Interviewer continued..."we've all had it happen.." So that encourage me. And here is the answer I gave.
Situation: I told the interviewers about my first teaching assignment where I had a group of office administrative students, with whom I was struggling in class.
Task: I had to creat lessons to meet course requirements in grammar and writing, (but obviously there was something I wasn't getting).
Action: After reflecting on the situation, I realized I hadn't carefully assessed this group of learning, and used approaches that didn't resonate with their learning style.
Result: I changed the the lesson plan to less "lecturing" and more hands-on tasks. It worked better.
What won my interviewers over was that I had learned from the experience and that I did find an approach that worked. So, if you did mess up ( and we all do), be sure to convey how you learn from your experiences. We are all works in progress.
This one comes from real life. I had been interviewed for a teaching job by a group sitting around a board table. One interviewer asked: "Tell us about a time where something went wrong in the classroom and what you did about it".
Well that threw me a loop. Like most people, I have a scripted set of answers that extol my strong and most saleable skills. But, "something going wrong? So, I thought about it. The Interviewer continued..."we've all had it happen.." So that encourage me. And here is the answer I gave.
Situation: I told the interviewers about my first teaching assignment where I had a group of office administrative students, with whom I was struggling in class.
Task: I had to creat lessons to meet course requirements in grammar and writing, (but obviously there was something I wasn't getting).
Action: After reflecting on the situation, I realized I hadn't carefully assessed this group of learning, and used approaches that didn't resonate with their learning style.
Result: I changed the the lesson plan to less "lecturing" and more hands-on tasks. It worked better.
What won my interviewers over was that I had learned from the experience and that I did find an approach that worked. So, if you did mess up ( and we all do), be sure to convey how you learn from your experiences. We are all works in progress.
Monday, December 6, 2010
More Behavioral Interview questions
Behavioral Interviewing Questions
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
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