Behavioral interview questions get to the heart of a candidate's past performance as a way to gauge whether or not he is a perfect fit for the position. These questions help employers determine how a candidate handles real-life work situations. Be prepared for behavioral interview questions by understanding some of the most common types.
1. Describe a Time When You Had to Complete a Difficult Task
What do you do when presented with a tough job you don't want to complete? Do you try to delegate the responsibility to someone else, or do you handle the task as best as you can? The point of this behavioral interview question is to find out about your work ethic and potential commitment to the job.
2. What Do You Like Most About Your Current Position and Why?
Mention what energizes you the most about your job, and convey that excitement to the hiring manger. Describe exactly what makes you show up to the office every day and explain why you enjoy your line of work.
3. How Do You Motivate Yourself When You Felt Defeated?
This behavioral interview question gets to the heart of how you handle challenges. Do you pick yourself back up, maintain a positive attitude and ask for feedback from your boss? What actions do you take to ensure you don't face the same situation again? In your response, let your future boss know that you are always trying to improve.
4. What Are Your Greatest Strengths?
The answer to this question helps determine your fit in the company culture. At what role would you excel within a company? Do you prefer to work with people or by yourself? You have a lot of great skills, but sometimes, you need a balance of working with people and thriving on your own. Tell your hiring manager how you mitigate situations when you feel less than your best to reassure your new teammates that you always give your best at the office.
What to Expect From a Behavioral Interview
Be prepared for a behavioral interview by going over a few techniques that help put you in the right frame of mind. These questions are open-ended, so a simple yes or no answer will not suffice. Give detailed responses, but do not talk for too long, because interviewers have to move on to the next question.
Learn the STAR method for responding to behavioral questions. This stands for situation, task, action and results. Tell your interviewer the situation you found yourself in, talk about the tasks you were doing at the time, talk about what action you took to correct a problem, and then describe the results or outcome.
A behavioral interview helps your future boss gauge your soft skills. When you master answering these types of questions, you boost your confidence and come across as an intelligent, rational and professional candidate.
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