Its a well known fact that looking at a candidates past behaviour is the best way to predict their future

performance. So dont waste any more precious interview time asking hypothetical questions. Behavioural interview questions will let you understand in detail how a candidate has acted in specific situations. What specific behaviours are you looking for in your future star performers? What traits will they be able to demonstrate during an interview in order to convince you that they have the ability to succeed in as opposed to just get the job in question?

If you are looking to employ someone who will help improve customer satisfaction, you would ask questions around client focus or customer orientation. If your next employee will be purely focused on winning new business, then you might want to ask a combination of questions around initiative, negotiation and resilience. If you are looking to hire someone who will be responsible for managing a team of people, adaptability, leadership, decision making, and interpersonal skills would be on your list of behaviours to assess.

Once you have identified the core behaviours that you would like your candidates to be able to demonstrate, you can then select your specific questions from the list below. Remember to assess all candidates against the same behavioural criteria.

ABILITY TO HANDLE STRESS 1: What has been the most stressful situation you have ever found yourself in at work? How did you handle it? 2: What have you done in the past to prevent a situation from becoming too stressful for you or your colleagues to handle?

ADAPTABILITY 3: Tell me about a situation in which you have had to adjust to changes over which you had no control. How did you handle it? 4: Tell me about a time when you had to adjust to a colleagues working style in order to complete a project or achieve your objectives. 5: How was your transition from high school to university? Did you face any particular problems? How did you handle them?

ANALYTICAL SKILLS / PROBLEM SOLVING 6: Describe the project or situation that best demonstrates your analytical abilities. What was your role? 7: Tell me about a time when you had to analyze information and make a recommendation. What kind of thought process did you go through? Was the recommendation accepted? If not, why? 8: Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem. What did you do? What was the outcome? What do you wish you had done differently? 9: What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision? Why?

ATTENTION TO DETAIL 10: What process do you use to check that you have the right details from a customer? 11: Give me an example of a time you discovered an error that been overlooked by a colleague. What did you do? What was the outcome? 12: Tell me about a time that you were confused by a customers request. What steps did you take to clarify things?

CLIENT FOCUS / CUSTOMER ORIENTATION 13: When have you had to deal with an irate customer? What did you do? How did the situation end up? 14: Tell me about a time you have inherited a customer. What steps did you take to establish rapport with them? What did you do to gain their trust? 15: How have you handled a situation in the past where your client has changed the brief or changed the goalposts? 16: Give an example of a time you went well out of your way to ensure a customer received the best possible service from you and organisation. What was their reaction? 17: When have you ever gone out on a limb to defend a customer? What happened?

COMMUNICATION

18: Tell me about a recent successful experience in making a speech or presentation? 19: When have you had to present to a group of people with little or no preparation? What obstacles did you face? How did you handle them? 20: Have you ever had to sell an idea to your co-workers? How did you do it? 21: Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa). 22: What obstacles or difficulties have you ever faced in communicating your ideas to a manager? 23: Tell me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across. 24: When have you chosen to communicate a particular message in person as opposed to via email even though the email channel would have been a lot faster? CREATIVITY 25: When was the last time you thought outside the box and how did you do it? Why? 26: Tell me about a problem that youve solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome? Were you happy or satisfied with it? 27: Give me an example of when someone brought you a new idea that was odd or unusual. What did you do? 28: When have you brought an innovative idea into your team? How was it received?

DECISION MAKING 29: Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed. How did you handle it? 30: Give me an example of a time when you had to be quick in coming to a decision. What obstacles did you face? 31: What is the most difficult decision youve ever had to make at work? How did you arrive at your decision? What was the result? 32: Give me an example of a business decision you made that you ultimately regretted. What happened?

GOAL SETTING 33: Give me an example of an important career goal which you set yourself and tell me how you reached it. What obstacles did you encounter? How did you overcome the obstacles? 34: Tell me about a professional goal that you set that you did not reach. How did it make you feel? 35: How have you gone about setting short-term goals and long-term goals for yourself or your team? What steps did you take along the way to keep yourself accountable?

INITIATIVE 36: Describe a project or idea (not necessarily your own) that was implemented primarily because of your efforts. What was your role? What was the outcome? 37: Describe a situation in which you recognized a potential problem as an opportunity. What did you do? What was the result? What, if anything, do you wish you had done differently? 38: Tell me about a project you initiated. What did you do? Why? What was the outcome? Were you happy with the result? 39: Tell me about a time when your initiative caused a change to occur. 40: What has been the best idea you have come up with during your professional career?

INTEGRITY/HONESTY 41: Discuss a time when your integrity was challenged. How did you handle it? 42: Tell me about a time when you experienced a loss for doing what is right. How did you react? 43: Tell me about a business situation when you felt honesty was inappropriate. Why? What did you do? 44: Give a specific example of a policy you conformed to with which you did not agree. Why?

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

45: Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. How/why was this person difficult? How did you handle it? How did the relationship progress? 46: Describe a situation where you found yourself dealing with someone who didnt like you. How did you handle it? 47: Describe a recent unpopular decision you made. How was it received? How did you handle it? 48: What, in your opinion, are the key ingredients in guiding and maintaining successful business relationships? Give me examples of how you have made these work for you. 49: Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa). How did you handle the situation? 50: Tell me about a time when you had to work on a team with someone you did not get along with. What happened? 51: Describe a situation where you had a conflict with another individual, and how you dealt with it. What was the outcome? How did you feel about it?

LEADERSHIP 52: Tell me about a team project when you had to take charge of the project? What did you do? What was the result? 53: Describe a leadership role of yours outside of work. Why did you commit your time to it? How did you feel about it? 54: What is the toughest group that you have ever had to lead? What were the obstacles? How did you handle the situation? 55: What has been your greatest leadership achievement in a professional environment? Talk through the steps you took to reach it. 56: What have been the greatest obstacles you have faced in building/growing a team? 57: Describe a time when you have not only been responsible for leading a team of people but for also doing the same job as your team members? How did you juggle/balance your time?

PLANNING AND ORGANISATION / TIME MANAGEMENT

58: Describe a situation that required you to do a number of things at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result? 59: How do you prioritize projects and tasks when scheduling your time? Give me some examples. 60: Tell me about a project that you planned. How did your organize and schedule the tasks? Tell me about your action plan. 61: When has a project or event you organised not gone according to plan? What happened? Why? How did you feel?

SALES / NEGOTIATION 62: Tell me about your previous success in building a customer base from a standing start. What steps did you take? 63: What is your greatest sales-related achievement to date? What steps led to the final outcome? 64: Describe a time when you convinced a resistant customer to utilize your services. 65: What was the most stressful professional negotiation you have been involved in? How did you handle it?

TEAMWORK 66: Describe a situation where others you were working with on a project disagreed with your ideas. What did you do? 67: Tell me about a time when you worked with a colleague who was not doing their share of the work. How did you handle it? 68: Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the result? 69: Tell me about a time when you had to work on a team that did not get along. What happened? What role did you take? What was the result? 70: What was the biggest mistake you have made when delegating work as part of a team project? 71: Tell me about a time when you had settle a dispute between team members. How did you go about identifying the issues? What was the result? 72: What have you found to be the difficult part of being a member, not leader, of a team? How did you handle this?

TENACITY / RESILIENCE 73: Tell me about a particular work-related setback you have faced. How did you deal with it? 74: When have you ever found yourself in a competitive situation professionally? How did you handle it? 75: When have you seen your tenacity or resilience really pay off in a professional setting? What was the outcome?

Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers

Common Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers Behavioral interviews are growing in popularity. Corporations like behavioral interviews because they give them a glimpse of how the applicant will handle the issues they will face in the position. Interviewers like behavioral interviews because it gives them a glimpse of the applicants personality and character. Behavioral interview questions are some of the hardest questions to answer. You must think back to your work experience and come up with specific times you exhibited the behavior. Then you must describe how you handled the situation, and that answer must be one that impresses your interviewer. Preparation is Vital for Behavioral Interviews Without preparation, these job interviews are prone to mistakes. Recall can be difficult when put on the spot, especially during an interview. If you do not remember specific examples of when you encountered these situations, you may struggle. Common mistakes at behavioral interviews include:

Overusing um or pausing frequently. Telling stories unrelated to the question. Trying to make up a story that is false. Casting yourself in a negative light. Reflecting poorly on your professional relationships.

These are always at risk during these types of interviews if you do not prepare. It is hard to remember your experiences quickly if you have not thought of them in years but if you practice sample behavioral interview questions the time you spend will allow you to refresh your memory and answer the questions confidently. What to Do if You Have No Answer Behavioral questions assume you have experienced the situation the question refers to. You may not have an experience to provide. It is important that you do not try to make one up. Your interviewer will have enough experience evaluating applicants that they will easily be able to catch you in a lie. Instead, explain to the employer that you have not experienced the situation and describe what you would do if the issue occurred. What to Do if the Answer is Not Flattering Sometimes you will have an answer that does not reflect well on your candidacy. It may be a good idea to feign amnesia and act as though you have not had the experience before. It may also be useful to tell the interviewer what you would have done differently. An answer for a difficult question may be Well, at the time I did this, but soon after I realized that the ideal way to handle it would be that. Minimize the

negatives and put more focus on how you would have handled the situation. Good answers will show the employer that you are willing to learn from your mistakes. Sample Behavioral Interview Questions Q: Describe a Situation Where You Disagreed With a Supervisor. A: Standard interview tips and techniques still apply. Do not speak negatively about any supervisors, coworkers or former jobs. It is acceptable to share a specific situation that occurred with a former boss, but do not go into detail about the disagreement. Focus instead on what you did to help the supervisor see your point of view. You may be asked a follow up question, such as Did they ultimately see your point of view? Be honest. Did they follow your advice or didnt they? The answer is not as important as the presentation. Do not sound bitter in your response if they did not. They did see my point of view. They chose a different path, but they understood my concerns and beliefs in the end. Q: Describe a Time Where You Needed to Present Complex Information in a Simplified Way. A: This question is common for customer service, sales, marketing, management and IT jobs. Provide specific, job related examples. Did you create any documents? Did you practice its presentation? Did you run it by another employee? Remember to discuss all of the methods you used to simplify the information. Q: Describe a Time You Had to Adapt Your Style. A: Questions about your ability to change your mind will be very common during behavioral interviews. The employer is going to be testing your decision making skills. They also are seeing if you are rigid in your beliefs. Share a time during your past employment where you needed to change your mind or adjust a process. No employer wants someone that is rigid in their beliefs. Q: Describe a Time Where You Were Wrong. A: Companies do not want to hire someone that is always right. They want to hire someone that makes mistakes and learns from these mistakes. Questions about mistakes or errors in judgment are common. Come up with a few mistakes you can discuss if requested. Always make sure that you are able to follow up with what you learned from the experience and how it has affected your current decision making strategies. Q: Describe a Time Where You Had to Delegate Tasks. A: Questions about managing others are not limited to management jobs. Businesses want to see examples of leadership in their employees. There are a variety of behavioral interview questions that are designed to see how well you handle a leadership role. The best way to answer this is to highlight why you delegated each task to its recipient. I focused on the staff members strength. I delegated the tougher IT tasks to Todd because he was more experienced. Jeff had an eye for accuracy, so I had him run data

check. I handled the overall QA since I had the most experience with the details of the project. Q: Describe a Time Where You Were Unsure of the Next Steps. A: Many jobs require a motivated self-starter that will seek out tasks and ensure they are on the right track. Employers are not looking for someone that gets confused and does not look for help. Many questions will focus on your own personal responsibility and how you handled issues that arose while you were working alone. Q: Describe a Time Where You Were Blamed for a Mistake You Did Not Make. A: Personality plays a role in behavioral interviews. Employers want to see that you are well balanced person that knows how to handle themselves. These types of questions are designed to see how you handled situations that can be very personally stressful. Try to share examples that reflect positively on all parties involved. Once I was blamed for not double checking marketing data, which drastically impacted one of our campaigns. Though I was not the staff member in charge of the data collection and analysis, I knew it would be unproductive to try to pass blame, so I simply asked what steps I could take to help resolve the problem. Afterward I spoke with the staff member in charge of checking data and let them know of the error so that both of us could ensure it would not be repeated. Behavioral Questions Differ from Job to Job The questions are simply examples of behavioral interview questions. Behavioral interviews differ for every type of job. Employers are looking for specific experiences that relate directly to the position you are interviewing for. Questions may be reworded for each job. For example:

Describe a time when you made a serious coding mistake. How did you handle it? Describe a time when you lost a sales prospect. How did you handle it? Describe a time when you ran an unsuccessful marketing campaign. How did you handle it?

Questions may be broad or specific. Be prepared for all types of behavioral questions and have answers ready. Bring Out Your Personality Drop Keywords Behavioral interviews are designed to help employers get to know you as a person. Showcase your personality. Be energetic and a perfect example of a model employee. Also, do not forget to mention the qualities that made you an ideal candidate by mentioning your skills, experiences and qualifications at every opportunity.

Situation or Task: What is the situation or problem that you are solving?

Action: What actions did you take to make the situation better? What decisions did you make to resolve the problem? Result: What were the results of your actions? How did you benefit your company or organization? What did you learn that will help you in the future? Did you save time? Did you make money for the company?