Demystifying the Behavioral Job Interview Technique | Career

By CaroleMartin,America's#1InterviewCoach
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Of all the interviewing techniques utilized over the years to improve on the hiring of new employees, Behavioral Interviewing has stood the test of time. More and more often, Behavioral Interviewing is seen as the best way to separate the good candidate from the perfect candidate.

What exactly is this technique called Behavioral Interviewing?

It's a method of determining whether you are a good fit for a job by asking questions related to your past behavior.

Anyone can say they are a "great problem solver," or a "hard worker." But what the interviewer needs is a concrete example of this, proof really, that the person they are interviewing has done what they say they can do.

As an example, a behavioral question might be: "Tell me about a success you had that stemmed from working hard or going beyond your assigned duties."

Is this technique new?

Not at all. Behavioral Interviewing techniques started to be used in the 70's by industrial psychologists as a way of predicting if a person would succeed in a job. They concluded that if candidates were asked questions that demanded specific examples of past behavior it could be a clear indicator of future behavior - whether good or bad.

What is the difference between a behavioral question and other questions? A behavioral question will be very specific. For example when asked, "Tell me about a time when you solved a problem," the key words are "a time." This calls for a "specific" example.

"What if" questions encourage you to use your imagination to come up with an answer. In, "What would you do if you had a problem to solve?" the word "if," should be a clue that the interviewer wants to hear about your thought process - the path you take when thinking through a problem. Here, an example of a past experience is not required.

Is it possible to prepare for behavioral interviews?

Yes. Good preparation is key for the behavioral interview. Spend some time before your interview coming up with examples from your past work that you can use to back up the skills or experiences you claim on your resume or that may arise in the interview.

Let's look at an example. Say you claimed to be "very organized" on your resume or in your personal statement, the interviewer might then ask you, "Tell me about a time when you organized a project." This is your opening to tell them about a project you organized, including the challenges you faced and how you dealt with them and ultimately succeeded. Doing this gives the interviewer solid evidence of your organizational skills. It's not longer your opinion that you're organized, it's proven!

Behavioral Interviewing Technique

While there are many methods that inform good story telling, the main thing to remember is that every story has three crucial elements:

A beginning - "There was a time." A middle - "The action steps I took were" An Ending - "The problem was solved and.."

On way to think about story telling is to thinking about going to a movie.

If you miss the first 10 minutes you often spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out what's going on. Why? Because this is beginning of the story, it's about 10-20% of the whole, and it's where the situation that will play out for the rest of the film is set up. In the interview, if you do not "frame" or "set up" your story the interviewer may be confused from the outset.

The middle of the movie is the main plot and it should be a good 60-70% of the story. This is where the action happens. Remember that you're the star of the story you're telling, so you should make sure that you're "on screen" most of the time. Avoid using words like "we" or"us" too much. Use "I". Remember, this is about you. If you need to use "we" in the story, make sure the interviewer is aware of who the "we" is, your partner, team, etc.

Returning to the movie analogy. If you left the theater 10 minutes before the movie was over, you wouldn't know the outcome. An ending is essential to your story. Without one, don't be surprised if the interviewer asks "And what was the result?"

Keep in mind, Beginning, Middle, and End. Every good story has each.

How can you become a good storyteller?

To be interesting and memorable, stories should full of action and detail. This is the problem for most people - their stories lacks detail. Detail gives the interviewer something concrete to remember about you. A good interviewer will assess your skills from the stories and judge your behavior from your past actions, but to make the strongest impression, let them hear the steps you took to solve the problem. The more details and skills you can work into your story, the more convincing it will be.

Preparing your stories before the interview will take time and preparation, but it will take the mystique out of behavioral interviewing. It will also allow you to tell the success stories you want your interviewer to hear. Through your examples the interviewer will begin to get a clear picture of who you are and whether you have done what you claim to have done. Whether you are the right person for the job!

About the Author

Carole Martin is America's top interview coach as well as a renowned author,mentor,and frequent contributor to Monster.com. Carole can give you interviewing tips like no one else can. Get a copy of her FREE 9-part "Interview Success Tips" by visiting Carole on the web at The Interview Coach (http://www.interviewcoach.com)

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