BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWING

Tell me about a time when you used your creativity to solve a problem? Describe a project you have completed as a member of a team? These are the types of questions or requests you may hear from an employer during a behavioral interview.

Behavioral interviewing is:

• Based on the premise that your past behavior predicts your future performance.
  • Even if you don't have a lot of work experience, companies expect you to be able to relate any past experience to the job for which you are interviewing.
  • Whether from high school, internships, summer jobs, campus activities, academic experiences, or volunteer work.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW

First of all, know that the basic rules for traditional interviews also apply to behavioral interviews. Promptness, a professional image, a firm handshake, good eye contact, and enthusiasm all contribute to a successful interview.

In addition, you can expect:

• a structured interview with set questions, as opposed to a "conversational" style.
• an interviewer who is evaluating you against a profile of desired behaviors determined necessary for success in that specific position.
• specific requests for examples of actual behavior in past situations
• follow-up questions that probe for more details and attempt to evaluate consistency.
• questions with multiple parts (e.g., "Tell me about a project you had to complete under deadline, the obstacles that arose, and how you managed your time.").
• your interviewer to be taking notes.
• frustration if you haven't prepared, increased self-confidence if you have!

TYPES OF BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Behavioral interview questions can take many forms. In general, though, the questions fall into three categories: Open-Ended questions, Why questions, Closed-Ended questions and Follow-up questions.

Open-Ended Questions

Generate performance data. These are very obviously behavioral questions because the interviewer specifically requests examples of your past behavior.

• Describe a time when you best demonstrated your analytical thinking skills.
• Give me an example of an important goal that you set for yourself in the past and your success in reaching it.
• Tell me about a project you initiated, the challenges you faced, and how you overcame them.

Why Questions

Can be used to reveal preferences, rationale for decision making, or to determine your level of motivation.

• Why are you interested in our organization?
• Why did you attend Northwestern University?
• Why did you decide to major in this program?
• Why did you leave your last job?

Closed-Ended Questions

Most commonly used to confirm or verify information and can be answered with either a short phrase, or a single word, 'yes' or 'no'.

• Are you able to use Excel or Access?
• Have you lead a team through a project to completion?
• Are you interested in being a manager in the future?

Follow-up Questions

Interviewers use follow-up questions to probe for details that prove consistency in your story.
For example, in response to you mentioning that you recently worked in a team to develop a robot for an engineering competition, the employer might ask:

• What was your role, and how did you feel about that role?
• What was the result of your work?
• What would you do differently if you had the opportunity?

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