Behavioural interview questions

Behavioural interview questions are probing questions about your background. How and when have you used the skills that they have deemed most important for the job in question? How have you responded to challenges similar to those you would likely face in the new role? Behavioural questions often ask you to get into very specific detail.

Typical behaviour interview questions invite you to talk by giving you an opening like “Tell me about a time….”, “Give me an example of…” or “What would you do if…”.

Things to consider while anwering these questions:-

• Take a cue from the job description
  If you look at the job description for the job you’re applying for, you should be able to predict the themes of the questions you’ll be asked.If you’re applying for a managerial job, the questions will ask things like, “Tell me about a time when you had to give someone feedback on their performance” or “Give me an example of when you used leadership skills,” because using leadership skills and giving performance feedback are two things that managers need to do.If you’re applying for a product manager job the questions will ask you things like “Give me an example of a time when you had to give direction to the engineering team” or “When was the last time you used a product you loved?” because these are either tasks that a product manager does or ideas that a product manager thinks about.
• Use stories to answer behavioural questions
  Behavioural questions aren’t yes or no questions, so you need to spin a story around them – a story about something that happened at work and shows the skills you’re being asked about. Your stories shouldn’t be so long-winded that the interviewer begins to feel it’s bedtime – keep your answers between 1 and 3 minutes.
• Use the STAR technique to structure your stories
  The STAR technique is a common system used to answer behavioral interview questions. It provides a structure for you to remember so that you include the correct data in your answers. These are the 4 steps:
  1. S – Situation – Describe the situation or set the scene. Explain the place you were working for or the task you were given.
  2. T – Task        – Describe the issue or problem you were confronted with.
  3. A – Activity – escribe the action you took to intervene in the situation or solve the problem. This should introduce the key asset you would like to illustrate. This should be the longest part of the answer
  4. R – Results – positive; quantifiable; what you learned; what you would do differently next time. Describe the results your action generated. Explain how you helped solve the problem or improve the company in some way.

  First give the S part (explain the basic situation). Then give the T (what was your job/task in this situation). Then A (show what you did). Last, give the R (outcome).

Popular behavioral interview questions

1. Tell me a challenge you had where the best way forward was not clear cut. How did you decide what to do?
2. Give me an example of something you tried to accomplish but failed.
3. Give me an example of a time when you showed initiative.
4. Give me an example of a time when you motivated others.
5. Tell me about a time when you delegated a project effectively.
6. Tell me about a time when you coached someone.
7. When have you used your fact finding skills to solve a problem?

Few broad categories of questions are :

1. Teamwork
   Most jobs require you to work with other humans. Before hiring you, a manager will want to find out:
   • Are you easy to get along with?
   • Do you collaborate well?
   • Can you communicate effectively with different personalities?
   • Can I handle seeing you in the office every day without strangling you?

For questions like these, you want a story that illustrates your ability to work with others under challenging circumstances. Think team conflict, difficult project constraints, or clashing personalities.

1. • Talk about a time when you had to work closely with someone whose personality was very different from yours.
   • Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did you handle that?
   • Describe a time when you struggled to build a relationship with someone important. How did you eventually overcome that?
   • We all make mistakes we wish we could take back. Tell me about a time you wish you’d handled a situation differently with a colleague.
   • Tell me about a time you needed to get information from someone who wasn’t very responsive. What did you do?
2. Ability to Adapt
   Times of turmoil are finally good for something! Think of a recent work crisis you successfully navigated. Even if your navigation didn’t feel successful at the time, find a lesson or silver lining you took from the situation.
   • Tell me about a time you were under a lot of pressure. What was going on, and how did you get through it?
   • Describe a time when your team or company was undergoing some change. How did that impact you, and how did you adapt?
   • Tell me about the first job you’ve ever had. What did you do to learn the ropes?
   • Give me an example of a time when you had to think on your feet in order to delicately extricate yourself from a difficult or awkward situation.
   • Tell me about a time you failed. How did you deal with the situation?
3. Time Management Skills
   Talk about a time you juggled multiple responsibilities, organized it all (perfectly), and completed everything before the deadline.
   • Tell me about a time you had to be very strategic in order to meet all your top priorities.
   • Describe a long-term project that you managed. How did you keep everything moving along in a timely manner?
   • Sometimes it’s just not possible to get everything on your to-do list done. Tell me about a time your responsibilities got a little overwhelming. What did you do?
   • Tell me about a time you set a goal for yourself. How did you go about ensuring that you would meet your objective?
   • Give me an example of a time you managed numerous responsibilities. How did you handle that?
4. Communication Skills
   You probably won’t have any trouble thinking of a story for communication questions, since it’s not only part of most jobs; it’s part of everyday life. However, the thing to remember here is to also talk about your thought process or preparation.
   • Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully persuade someone to see things your way at work.
   • Describe a time when you were the resident technical expert. What did you do to make sure everyone was able to understand you?
   • Tell me about a time when you had to rely on written communication to get your ideas across to your team.
   • Give me an example of a time when you had to explain something fairly complex to a frustrated client. How did you handle this delicate situation?
   • Tell me about a successful presentation you gave and why you think it was a hit.
5. Motivation and Values
   A lot of seemingly random interview questions are actually attempts to learn more about what motivates you. Your response would ideally address this directly even if the question wasn’t explicit about it.
   • Tell me about your proudest professional accomplishment.
   • Describe a time when you saw some problem and took the initiative to correct it rather than waiting for someone else to do it.
   • Tell me about a time when you worked under close supervision or extremely loose supervision. How did you handle that?
   • Give me an example of a time you were able to be creative with your work. What was exciting or difficult about it?
   • Tell me about a time you were dissatisfied in your work. What could have been done to make it better?
6. Leadership Skills
   In the basic dictionary sense, “leadership” just means leading a group of people or an organization. However, most people see true leadership as something that goes beyond just managing people and projects. Some of the competencies typically considered “leadership skills” are taking initiative, communicating a vision, translating vision into reality, inspiring others, making tough decisions, motivating others, empowering others, developing others. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular behavioral questions about leadership ability:
   • Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership skills.
   • Tell me about a time that you took the lead on a difficult project.
   • When have you delegated effectively?
   • Describe a time when you led by example.
   • Who have you coached or mentored to achieve success?
   • Tell me about a time that you led an important meeting.

You may also like to watch this video.

Reference

• Behavioral Interview Questions
• 30 Behavioral Interview Questions You Should Be Ready to Answer