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Preparing For The Behavioral Interview |
By:
Carole Martin, America's #1 Interview Coach |
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Preparing for the Behavioral Interview
Carole Martin, America's #1 Interview Coach
Over the years many techniques and strategies has been tried to improve on the hiring of new employees. Some have been more successful that others but "behavioral interviewing" techniques seem to have stood the test of time. They are being used more often as the best way to weed-out the truly qualified candidate from the "best sales person" in the interview.
But what is Behavioral Interviewing?
Behavioral Interviewing is a technique in which employers ask questions about your past behavior in order to determine if you are a good fit for the job they are trying to fill.
Anyone can say they are a "great problem solver," or a "hard worker." But what the interviewer needs is a concrete example of this, proof really, that the person they are interviewing has done what they say they can do.
As an example, a behavioral question might be: "Tell me about a success you had that stemmed from working hard or going beyond your assigned duties."
How long has this technique been used?
Industrial psychologists developed it in the 70's as a way of predicting whether a person would succeed in a job. They concluded that if interviewers asked their subjects questions about past behavior they could get a good an indication of their future behavior - good or bad.
A key trait of a behavioral question is that it is highly specific. You may be asked to "Tell me about a time when you succeeded in a group," the key words are "a time." This calls for the candidate to tell a specific story about this quality rather than to talk in general terms about their qualities.
"What if" questions encourage you to use your imagination to come up with an answer. In, "What would you do if you had a problem to solve?" the word "if," should be a clue that the interviewer wants to hear about your thought process - the path you take when thinking through a problem. Here, an example of a past experience is not required.
How can I prepare for a behavioral interview?
While preparation is important for every interview, it is essential to prepare for the behavioral interview. You must have examples or stories for anything you have claimed on your resume or that you say during the interview.
Let's look at an example. Say you claimed to be "very organized" on your resume or in your personal statement, the interviewer might then ask you, "Tell me about a time when you organized a project." This is your opening to tell them about a project you organized, including the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them and ultimately succeeded. Doing this gives the interviewer solid evidence of your organizational skills. It's not longer your opinion that you're organized, it's proven!
The technique
There are several methods and acronyms that work well for story telling or listening, but the main point you will want to remember is that any story has three key elements:
Luckily you learned all about them in grade school. There's a Beginning. "There was a time when I faced the following challenge...." A Middle - "These are the steps I took to solve it..." and an End - "The problem was solved and.."
Imagine going to a movie.
If you arrive 10 minutes late you will spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out what you missed. This is the beginning of the story and should be about 10-20% of your story. In the interview, if you do not "frame" your story the interviewer will be confused from the beginning.
The middle of the movie should be a good 60-70% of the story. It's where our hero, you, overcomes the challenge that was set up in the beginning. Don't be shy here. You're the star of this movie. Be careful of using words like "we" and "us" too much. That just makes it difficult to see the star. Keeping the story focused on you by using "I" statements. If you must use the word "we" in the story, make sure your listener, is aware of who "we" is. For example, "My partner and I," or "I worked with a team of four people."
Now, if you were to leave 10 minutes before the movie was over, you would never know what happened in the end, and would probably be pretty unsatisfied. A strong ending is vital to your story. If you leave it out, the interviewer may ask, "So what was the result?" That's a clue you have left off the ending.
Remember, every successful story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
What are there secrets of telling a good story?
The pitfall for most people is that their story lacks detail. A savvy interviewer will be able pick out your skills from the stories and judge your behavior from your past actions, but you also want them to see the steps you took to solve the problem. The more details you can work into your story, the more skills the interviewer will see and the more convincing your story will be.
Preparing your stories before the interview will take time and preparation, but it will take the mystique out of behavioral interviewing. It will also allow you to tell the success stories you want your interviewer to hear. Through your examples the interviewer will begin to get a clear picture of who you are and whether you have done what you claim to have done. Whether you are the right person for the job!
About the Author:
Carole Martin is America's top interview coach as well as a renowned author,mentor,and frequent contributor to Monster.com. Carole can give you interviewing tips like no one else can. Get a copy of her FREE 9-part "Interview Success Tips" by visiting Carole on the web at The Interview Coach http://www.interviewcoach.com/
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article77813.html |
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