BEHAVIOR-BASED INTERVIEWS

Understanding How to Excel in the Interview

Office of Career Services

BEHAVIOR-BASED INTERVIEWS
Behavioral interviewing is a relatively new mode of job
interviewing.
g Employers
p y such as AT&T and Accenture (the (
former Andersen Consulting) have been using behavioral
interviewing for about 15 years and because increasing
numbers of employers are using behavior
behavior-based
based methods to
screen job candidates, understanding how to excel in this
interview environment is becoming a crucial job-hunting skill.
Behavioral interviewing
interviewing, in fact
fact, is said to be 55 percent
predictive of future on-the-job behavior, while traditional
interviewing is only 10 percent predictive.
 BEHAVIOR-BASED
BEHAVIOR BASED INTERVIEWS
What is it?
Behavioral interviewing is a technique used by employers in which the
questions asked assist the employer in making predictions about a potential
employee's future success based on actual past behaviors, instead of based
on responses to hypothetical questions.

In behavior-based interviews, you are asked to give specific examples of

when yyou demonstrated pparticular behaviors or skills.

General answers about behavior are not what the employer is looking for.
You must describe in detail a particular event, project, or experience and
how you dealt with the situation, and what the outcome was.
 BEHAVIOR VS. TRADITIONAL
Behavioral-based interviewing is touted as providing a more objective
set of facts to make employment decisions while traditional interview
questions ask general questions such as "Tell me about yourself."

In a traditional job-interview,
job interview you can usually get away with telling the
interviewer what he or she wants to hear, even if you are fudging a bit
on the truth. Even if you are asked situational questions that start out
"How
How would you handle XYZ situation?
situation?" you have minimal accountability
accountability.
How does the interviewer know, after all, if you would really react in a
given situation the way you say you would?
 BEHAVIOR VS. TRADITIONAL
In a behavioral interview, however, it's much more difficult to give
responses
p that are untrue to your
y character. When youy start to tell a
behavioral story, the behavioral interviewer typically will pick it apart
to try to get at the specific behavior(s). The interviewer will probe
further for more depth or detail such as "What
What were you thinking at
that point?" or "Tell me more about your meeting with that person," or
"Lead me through your decision process." If you've told a story that's
anything but totally honest,
honest your response will not hold up through the
barrage of probing questions.
 BEHAVIOR-BASED INTERVIEWS
Employers use the behavioral interview technique to evaluate a
candidate's experiences
p and behaviors so theyy can determine the
applicant's potential for success.

The interviewer identifies job

job-related
related experiences, behaviors,
knowledge, skills and abilities that the company has decided are
desirable in a particular position to include the following:

Critical thinking Being a self-starter

Willingness to learn Willingness to travel
Self-confidence Teamwork
Professionalism
 BEHAVIOR-BASED
BEHAVIOR BASED INTERVIEWS
When responding to behavior-based questions use the following:

The "S.T.A.R." technique is a good approach; describe the

Situation you were in or the Task you needed to accomplish;
describe the Action you took
took, and the Results.
Results

Be specific, not general or vague.

Don't describe how you would behave. Describe how you did
actually behave. If you later decided you should have behaved
diff
differently,
tl explain
l i this.
thi ThThe employer
l will
ill see that
th t you learned
l d
something from the experience.
 S.T.A.R. TECHNIQUE
Here is an example of the S.T.A.R. Technique
Situation (S) or Task (T):
Advertising revenue was falling off for my college newspaper, The Voice, and
large numbers of long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.

Action (A):
I designed a new promotional packet to go with the rate sheet and compared
the benefits of The Voices circulation with other ad media in the area. I also
set-up a special training session for the account executives with a School of
Business professor who discussed competitive selling strategies.

Result (R):
W signed
We i d contracts
t t with
ith 15 former
f advertisers
d ti for
f bi-weekly
bi kl ads
d and
d five
fi
for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by 20 percent
[quantities are always good] over the same period last year.
 EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS
Describe a time when you Describe the most creative
were faced with problems or work-related project you have
stresses at work that tested completed.
your coping skills. What did
Give me an example of a
you do?
problem you faced on the job,
job
and tell me how you solved it.
Give an example of a time
when you had to be relatively Tell me about a situation in the
quick in coming to a decision. past year in which you had to
deal with a very upset customer
Give me an example of an or co-worker.
i
important
t t goall you hhad
d tto sett
and tell me about your Give me an example of when
progress in reaching that goal. you had to show good
leadership.
leadership
 PREPARING FOR BEHAVIOR INTERVIEWS
Identify six to eight examples best of the outcome.
from your past experience Vary your examples; don't take
where yyou demonstrated them all from just one area of
behaviors and skills that your life.
employers typically seek. Think Use fairly recent examples. As
in terms of examples that will a college student, examples
exploit
l it your top
t selling
lli points.
i t f
from hi
highh school
h l may b be too
Half of your examples should long ago. Some interviewers
be totally positive, such as will specifically asks for
accomplishments or meeting examples
p of behaviors
goals. demonstrated within the last
The other half should be year.
situations that started out Try to describe examples in
negatively but either ended story form and/or S.T.A.R.
S TA R
positively or you made the

Review your resume right before the interview. Seeing your achievements will jog your memory.
Because each interviewer is different, there are many types of
i t i
interviews. SSome iinterviewers
t i are skilled
kill d att iinterviewing;
t i i
others are not. Some are talkative; others let you do most of
the talking. Most interviews, however, will range from open-
ended,
d d iin which
hi h the
h iinterviewer
i asks
k questions
i and d llets you d
do
most of the talking, to the highly structured, in which the
interviewer asks many specific questions following a planned
format. Many interviews will fall between these extremes; you
should be prepared for any style.
Th following
The f ll i are ffour basic
b i stages
t that
th t can occur
in a typical interview:
TYPICAL STAGES OF THE INTERVIEW
1. Introductory stage: The interviewer will establish rapport and create a relaxed,
though businesslike, atmosphere. This is where the interviewer gets the very
important first impression of you.

2. Review of your background and interests: This usually takes the form of "what,"
"why," "where," and "when" types of questions. Focus on what you are like, and
what you have accomplished, your academic and work background, and your
goals. One of the interviewer's objectives is to see if your qualifications match
your declared work interests. Give concise but thorough responses to
questions.

3. Matching begins: Assuming you have the necessary qualifications, the

inter ie er will
interviewer ill begin the process of determining whether
hether the emplo
employer's
er's job
opening(s) match your interests and qualifications. If there seems to be a match,
the interviewer will probably explain job details to see how interested you are in
the position.

4. Conclusion: In this stage, the interviewer should explain what the next steps
are in the hiring process. Be sure you understand them. Promptly provide any
additional information requested. There should be ample opportunity for you at
this p
point to ask any
yqquestions yyou have.
 CONTACT THE OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICES
to schedule an appointment for a mock interview, discuss career
options,
ti or gett assistance
it in
i writing
iti your cover letter
l tt and
d resume,
and other career-related matters.

Monday-Friday
9:00am 5:30pm
SBE, Suite 230
672 1205
672-1205
www.uncfsu.edu/CareerServ/

*References:
References:
Hansen, Katharine, Behavioral Interviewing Strategies for Job-Seekers, www.quintcareers.com/behavioral_interviewing.html

Interviewing for Jobs and Internships, www.cclc.umn.edu/handouts/Behavior_Based_Interviewing.pdf