|
How to prepare for the dreaded behavioural interview:
Employers know how important it is to focus on attracting and selecting quality people, and as they want their hiring investment to stay with them for years it is important they select the person who has the appropriate skills for the position and ultimately that best ‘fits’ their organisation. To ensure they are able to gather as much information to enable the best hiring decision as possible, employers can often incorporate more behavioural-based interview questions into the selection process as this approach has been proven to be an extremely effective method in the hiring process.
Behavioural interviewing is based on the premise that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. Behavioural interview questions ask for specific examples and experiences from a candidate's past, so that an interviewer can determine whether or not he/she has demonstrated the required soft skill competencies by the examples provided.
In order to confirm whether the candidate has the necessary soft skills to perform well in the role, the interviewer will select interview questions that relate specifically to the soft skills required for the position. For example, if it was important that the candidate was results focused and goal oriented, to see whether he/she had that ability the following behavioural question may be asked: “Tell me about a time where you had to achieve an outcome that stretched you out of your comfort zone?”
To respond appropriately to a behavioural question it is important to incorporate the following key elements into your answer. The Challenge (or situation) you were in; the Action or steps you took to overcome the challenge; and the Result/outcome the organisation experienced through your involvement. The way you answer these types of questions will provide a clear indication of whether or not you have the necessary soft skill/competency and how well you will "fit" into an organisation.
The following examples have been provided (including a number of things you should be including in your response) to assist you in preparing for behavioural questions.
- Demonstrating the soft skill: Goal Orientation
- Give an example of one of the most significant goals you have achieved
- What were the obstacles?
- How did you overcome them?
- What was the outcome for the company?
- Demonstrating the soft skill: Employee Development/Coaching
- Be prepared to provide your belief in and understanding of the potential of others. Also share your desire to learn and continue your professional development.
- Give an example of when your mentoring or coaching helped someone.
- Describe a situation when you delegated an assignment you knew would be a stretch for another person and how you supported them in their learning and development process.
- What impact and outcome did your employee development and coaching deliver for the organisation?
- Demonstrating the soft skill: Self-Management
- Be prepared to display your composure, assertiveness and emotional stability.
- Describe a situation when you had to exercise a significant amount of self-control.
- Describe a situation when you demonstrated initiative and took action without waiting for direction.
- How did this contribute to the company’s overall success? What results did your ability to self-manage have for the company?
- Demonstrating the soft skill: Teamwork
- Be prepared to display your strong commitment and contributions to team members working towards a specific goal.
- Give an example of one of the most significant contributions you made as a member of a high performing team.
- Provide your opinion on what made your team a high performing team?
- How did this impact on the company’s performance?
- Demonstrating the soft skill: Interpersonal Skills/Conflict Management
- Be prepared to display your self-awareness, understanding and an ability to communicate effectively with others regardless of differences.
- Describe the most difficult working relationship you've had with an individual.
- What specific actions did you take to improve the relationship?
- What was the outcome?
The following is an example of how not to respond to a behavioural interview question which was shared by one of my recruitment colleagues after she had forwarded a manager to interview with an organisation she was recruiting for.
The interviewer asked the manager to:
“Describe how you handle problem customers?” to which he replied: “I don’t have any problem customers.” When asked the question again, he responded with the same answer, and unfortunately did not make it through to second-round interviews. What went wrong?
When my colleague later debriefed with the manager she asked him why he had answered the interview question in this manner.
He told her that when any of his customers had a concern, he had in place a number of procedures and strategies that were implemented in order to address and rectify arising situations. Allowing the customer to voice their concern and demonstrate a willingness to listen and respond appropriately avoided the situation from escalating into a full-scale problem. Hence – a happy customer.
Telling the interviewer the system he had put into place, and even providing an example of how this system had allowed him to effectively deal with a customer’s concern, would have successfully demonstrated his ability to effectively deal with a customer complaint - and would have been a far better response than “I don’t have any problem customers.”
The following examples have been provided (including a number of things you should be including in your response) to assist you in preparing for behavioural questions.
Remember, when responding to a behavioural interview question your response should succinctly include information about (a) the challenge or context surrounding the situation you were in, (b) the specific actions you took to address the situation or challenge, and finally (c) the outcome/result for the organisation.
Continued success in your interviewing! Alternatively if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at Annemarie@annemariecross.com
To your success!
Annemarie
|
A personal note from Annemarie...
Not
subscribed yet?
