Skills for Interviewing

Behavioral Style Interviews

Behavior-Based Interviewing is a style of interviewing used by many employers. It is based on the premise that the best way to predict the future performance of a candidate is to learn how that candidate reacted or performed in similar situations in the past.

Perhaps the best way to prepare for the BBI is to familiarize yourself with the types of questions you may be asked. Read the position description and/or the qualifications required for the position and make a list of the skills and/or requirements the employer is wanting. Study each skill and think how you could give evidence that you have that skill. What situation(s) have you been in where you used that skill? Describe that situation, the action you took and the results of your action. Your responses must be very detailed and focused. Repeat this process for each skill in the position description.

Below are some questions commonly asked in the behavior-based interview:

Customer Service

• Tell me about a time when you felt rewarded for your delivery of customer service.
• Tell me about a time when you were dealing with a customer who was unhappy or dissatisfied with a product or service, etc. Describe the situation and your role in responding to the circumstances. What was the outcome?
• Tell me about a time when you had to assist more than one customer simultaneously.

Teamwork

• Give me an example of a time when you worked as a member of a successful team. What were the characteristics of individual team members, and what contributed to the success of this team?
• Tell me about a time when you disagreed with a supervisor or coworker on how to implement a task. What did you do, and what was the end result?

Personal Accountability

• Give me an example of a time when you were given a significant amount of responsibility to get something done. What was the outcome?
• Describe a time when you were not satisfied with your work performance. What did you do about it?

Motivation

• Describe a goal that you established for yourself. How did you go about achieving it?
• Give me an example of when you had to push really hard to get something done. What was the result?

Creativity

• Provide an example of a time when you had to incorporate creativity into the problem-solving process to get results.

Ability to Learn

• What techniques have you learned as a student or as an employee to be a more effective worker? How did you learn these techniques?

Communication/Relationship Building

• Describe a situation in which you were successful in arriving at a compromise or facilitated the dialogue so that others could reach a compromise.
• Provide an example of a time when you went out of your way to assist a coworker or a customer.

Flexibility/Adaptability

• Describe a situation where you were suddenly asked to change your priorities. How did you handle it?
• Tell me about a time when you experienced a difficult transition at work or in school. How did you respond or adjust to the situation?