Behavioral interviews are those interviews in which interviewees are asked about experiences, behaviors, knowledge, skills and abilities that are job related. The interviewer is looking for a set of specific attributes (knowledge, skills, and abilities) and asks the interviewee to demonstrate that he or she possesses these attributes. It is based on the belief that past behavior and performance can predict future behavior and performance.
How To Prepare For A Behavioral Interview
Determine what knowledge, skills, and abilities the employer is looking for from the job description, by talking to your recruiter or by researching the company.
Come up with examples of how you've demonstrated those attributes on past jobs. You should be prepared with at least one example or past experience (preferably more) for every knowledge, skill, and ability that you have determined the interviewer will ask you about.
The best way to accomplish this is to use the three-step STAR process which can be summarized as:
1. Situation - Describe the situation that you faced.
2. Task - Describe the task at hand that needed to be performed.
3. Action - Describe the action that you took.
4. Result or outcome - Describe the result of the action that you took.
You might be asked a negatively phrased question such as: "Tell me about a time when you made a mistake," or "Tell me about a time when you could not get along with a co-worker." In your answer, you should make it very clear that you recognize your past weakness and that you have somehow, turned it into a strong point or overcome it.
Practise, practise and practise some more! Once you have completed the above, you need to practise for the interview. This is the most critical step and where a number of candidates fail. If a candidate's performance comes across as rehearsed, unnatural or fake, it will do nothing to convince the interviewer of the candidate's worthiness.
Here is where Graduate Tutor fits in to help you. GraduateTutor.com’s expert behavioral interview coaches can help you build your profile. Our behavioral interview coaches can then assist you in practicing for the behavioral interviews by interviewing you, recording your interviews and giving you instant feedback that enables you to improve your performance.
