A Complete Guide to Prepare for Behavioral Interviews

Before we dive right into how to prepare for behavioral interviews, it’s imperative to understand the reasons, ideology, and psyche behind conducting behavioral interviews or what exactly behavioral interviews are.

Behavioral interview questions are surely something you can prepare for in advance, non-technical, and completely focused on you. While some argue that responding to behavioral questions can be difficult, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that you already know the answers. You simply have to select the appropriate stories from past experiences and polish your storytelling skills to be able to present them appealingly.

Using behavioral interviewing as a technique, interviewers can predict your future conduct in a certain situation by analyzing your prior behavior. Behavioral interviews concentrate on candidates’ past experiences to evaluate how they have handled particular circumstances and applied abilities necessary for the job. Your interviewer will place more emphasis on practical questions than on academic ones. After all, no book will tell you what the world will be like in the next ten years.

How to Prepare for Behavioral Interviews

Don’t Go Unprepared

When preparing for a behavioral interview, it would be helpful to research the position and the firm you’ll be interviewing with. It’s better to gain as much knowledge as possible about the position’s most recent or current holder and the types of workers the company often hires. This will assist you in creating a list of competencies, qualities, and abilities.

Assess your skills and competency

You will get the opportunity to demonstrate your talent, prowess, and outcomes through behavioral interview questions. You should consider the competencies the organization seeks as you prepare. Similar characteristics, qualities, and talents, such as effective communication, teamwork, the capacity for concentration, timeliness, flexibility, attention to detail, management and leadership potential, creativity, goal orientation, and responsibility, are sought by the majority of employers. Spend some time ranking the items on your list with the position you are applying for.

Prepare A Summary of All Your Accomplishments

When wondering how to prepare for behavioral interviews, make a list of your prior accomplishments and experiences. You can emphasize the competencies, skills, and characteristics you identify in the point above. We all enjoy a good story, so come up with some good counterarguments and tales. Having said that, you should aim to be concise and focused in your responses.

Focus on Both; Positive and Less Positive Traits

Don’t forget to think of some situations or examples where things were difficult, yet you managed to succeed. Such instances highlight your capacity for professional challenge management and problem-solving. Be prepared to discuss your areas for growth as well. You might be asked how you would handle similar circumstances differently.

STAR Method

Note down the Situation or Task you had to address, the Action(s) you took, and the Results of the situation while thinking of examples. Use as many details as you can, including persons, locations, scale, and scope, and try to quantify everything. If an employer decides to check, give information that references can attest to.

Assess Your Previous Job Performance Evaluation

Look back at previous performance reviews and notes to uncover accomplishments and circumstances that can assist you in coming up with instances for a behavioral interview as you get ready for upcoming job interviews.

Don’t Shy Away from Asking Questions

Keep in mind that job interviews are for you as well! Speak up if you want further explanation on a prompt or have a question you’d want to discuss in-depth with your interviewer. This procedure is there to provide you and your potential employer the chance to decide if you’re a suitable fit for the job!

Make Notes

If you are not working right now, this may not apply to you, but it would still be wise to remember for the future. Keep track of your accomplishments while you work to help you later come up with stories and examples for behavioral interviews. You can use this to complete performance evaluations if that is something you are obligated to do.

Tips on How to Prepare for Behavioral Interviews   

– Be confident

– Don’t forget to go through the job description carefully

– Evaluate the major projects you were involved in

– Maintain Transparency

– Practice your answers

– Don’t Rush

– Keep it short and simple

Why Are Behavioral Interviews Important?

Assists in Gauging the Candidate’s Caliber

You can learn more about the candidate and his qualifications by choosing behavioral interviews. Therefore, choosing one for the work becomes simple because soft skills are just as important for employees as hard skills and schooling.

Makes Decision Making Easier

The proper decision can be made by management with the aid of behavioral interview questions. An employee will be chosen based on his future response and talents rather than on his gut impulses. Therefore, the organization made a great choice by scheduling a behavioral interview.

Save Capital

An employee’s onboarding requires a substantial amount of investment. Therefore, if a hiring decision is poor, the organization could lose a lot of money. A bad choice could impact the business long-term because underperforming staff can adversely influence clientele and lower production.

Behavioral Interview Questions: Examples

The best way to get ready when you are unsure of how to prepare for behavioral interviews is by searching for some exemplary questions. There is no way to foresee the precise set of behavioral interview questions you will answer. The good news is that behavioral questions frequently touch on universal concepts like cooperation, work ethics, conflict resolution, leadership, and problem-solving.

Questions Regarding Team Building

1. Have you ever had to inspire your coworkers to work hard on a project as a team? Share your experience.

2. Give me an example of when you had to collaborate with a challenging team member or coworker. Did you manage to fix the problem? If not, why not?

3. Which team have you been a part of that has had the most success? Why did it succeed so well?

Questions Regarding Work Ethics

1. How often do you find yourself going the extra mile, and if you could share your experience with a particular situation?

2. What is your most notable achievement? Why?

3. Tell me about the task you’ve had to complete at work that was the most uncomfortable or challenging.

Questions Regarding Conflict

1. Please give me an instance when you had to persuade someone to support something they didn’t believe in or agree with.

2. Describe a situation when you dealt with a displeased client or colleague.

3. Take me through a previous battle. What methods did you employ to deal with it?

Questions Regarding Leadership

1. What qualities do you believe are most crucial for a good leader? Give me an instance when you demonstrated such qualities.

2. An individual you have personally mentored? Please describe your experience.

3. Explain a time when you had to make a controversial choice.

Questions Regarding Problem Solving

1. Tell me about an occasion when you made something more effective or improved a procedure.

2. Give me an instance of a moment when you had to overcome a surprise obstacle. What were your tactics?

3. Tell me about the most recent client problem you dealt with.

Wrap up

By now, you must know how to prepare for behavioral interviews. However, you can also signup with Arthur Lawrence’s Talent Acquisition team to apply for vacancies with top tech employers and Fortune 500 companies. Our team of professionals not only facilitates you in curating the perfect resume for the role but also help you prepare for behavioral interviews.

Also Read: 10 Pre Screening Interview Questions Recruiters Must Ask