Alvernia College - Career Services

Interviewing Guide

BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWS

An increasingly popular way for employers to determine whether you’re the right fit is the use of the behavioral interview. This type of interview focuses on your past behavior in actual work or conflict situation. It operates from the assumption that
past behavior predicts your future behavior.

Today, more than ever, each hiring decision is critical. Behavioral interviewing is designed to minimize personal impressions that might cloud the hiring decision. By focusing on the applicant’s actions and behaviors, rather than subjective impressions that can sometimes be misleading, interviewers can make more accurate hiring decisions.

Typical Behavioral Interview Questions

Tell me about a recent project you had to plan. What went well? What might you have done better?
Tell be about a specific time when you eliminated or avoided a potential problem before it happened?
What is the most difficult situation you have faced? How did you handle it?
Tell me when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
Tell me about a time when you were criticized. What was the issue involved, who made the criticism and how did you handle it?
Tell me about a time when you had to approach several different people for support or cooperation. How did you approach them?
Give me an example of how you exercised leadership in a recent situation. What did you do to gain the team or groups’ cooperation?
Describe a time on the job when you were faced with problems or stresses that tested your coping skills.
Tell me about a recent team you worked with/on. How may you have handled someone who was not as cooperative as needed?
How would you motivate someone who is not motivated?
At your job, how did you know if your internal/external customers were satisfied?
Tell me about a time you had to conform to a policy with which you didn’t agree.
Even though we may do everything possible to satisfy a customer, it seems that some will complain about how they were treated. Tell me about the last customer who complained about the service you provided.

Follow up questions will test for consistency and determine if you exhibited to desired behavior in that situation:

Can you give me an example?
What did you do or say?
What were you thinking?
How did you feel?
What was your role?
What was the result?

Preparing for Behavioral Interviews

To prepare for this type of interview, consider the following strategy. Think about brief accounts from your past that highlight skills for which the company will be looking. Think S.T.A.R:

the situation or task you had to perform
the action you took
the results of your actions