BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWIN G The Employment Preparedness Group Kimberly Barksdale, Emily Kinnard, Deneen Cooper, Kim Underdonk and Joseph Wibbels
Dec 14, 2015
BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWINGThe Employment Preparedness GroupKimberly Barksdale, Emily Kinnard, Deneen Cooper, Kim Underdonk and Joseph Wibbels
Training Objectives Define what a behavioral interview is
Know how to prepare for a behavioral interview
Definition Behavioral interviews are based on the
“logic of prediction” theory that a person's past performance on the job is the best predictor of future performance. When a company uses behavioral interviewing they want to know how you act and react in certain circumstances. They also want you to give specific "real life" examples of how you behaved in situations relevant to the questions.
Why is it used In a behavioral interview, an employer
has decided what knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs) are needed for the job. The questions you will be asked will be geared toward finding out if you have those KSAOs. The interviewer wants to know how you handled a situation, rather than just gathering information about you.
Basic vs. Behavioral Interviews
Basic Interview Questions
Tell me about yourself.
What are your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
Behavioral Interview Questions
Tell me about a time you accomplished a goal successfully.
Tell me about a time that you had to make a difficult decision at work.
Step 2Visit the organization’s website to gain an understanding of what type of candidate the organization is hiring.
Step 3List the knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs) of the ideal candidate for the job.
Step 5 Make up questions that demonstrate you
have each of these attributes. Behavioral questions usually start with phrases like "Describe a time" and "Tell me about a situation" which force the interviewee to talk about specific experiences.
You can also visit glassdoor.com to research questions specific companies have asked for various positions.
Step 6
Develop two or three stories for each KSAO, using experiences from your past to show you have each KSAO. Your responses to behavioral interview questions should seem more natural than memorized.
Step 7 Use the STAR technique to tell these
stories. Describe the Situation you were in or problem you were facing at the start of the story. Describe the Task at hand. Describe the Action you took or took part in as a result. Then describe the Result of your actions. Spend less time on the Situation and more time on Action and Results. This is what the interviewer cares about.
What is the S.T.A.R. Method
Situation- Describe the SPECIFIC situation you were in.
Task- What task or goal were you trying to accomplish?
Action- Specific actions you took to complete the task. Use “I” not “We”.
Result- What was the positive outcome?
Example Situation: I was working at Saddlebrook
Apartments as an Asst. Manager and although we were located close to a University, we were not seeing the benefit of this. Very few students visited our property and traffic was very low.
Task: I was asked to develop a strategy to increase traffic and bring in more students to rent from us.
Example (cont.) Action: After some thought, I decided the
best way to reach college students was to put our flyers on something they loved: pizza boxes. I worked out a deal with one of our local pizza places. We bought 100 gift certificates at a discounted rate. In return, they agreed to put our flyers on all boxes delivered to campus for one month. The notice stated that if they came to tour our property, they would receive a free pizza.
Result: Our traffic increased by 40% over the next 3 months and continued to increase exponentially as our name was now out there and students were talking about us.
Step 8Practice, practice, practice.
Practice answering the behavioral interview questions you invented or found, using the stories you created, so your stories become second nature.
S.T.A.R. Method Activity
After completing your review of this presentation you will be given the opportunity to practice what you’ve learned in a mock interview.
Final Tips for a Successful Interview In behavioral interviews, if you have
limited work experience you should use internship experience, sports participation, community service and hobbies.
When asked behavioral interview questions, you should be prepared to give specific detailed answers.
ReferencesBehavioral interview questions and answers. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.best-job-interview.com/behavioral-interview- questions.html
Brown, K. (n.d.). How to behave in behavioral interviews. Retrieved from http://theundercoverrecruiter.com/how-behave-behavioral-interviews/
Business Performance. (n.d.). Training needs analysis. Retrieved from http://www.businessperform.com
ReferencesCareer Services Center at University of Delaware. (n.d.). Behavioral interviewing. Retrieved from http://www.udel.edu/CSC/pdf/behav_interview.pdf
Career Services at Virginia Tech. (n.d.). Behavioral interviewing. Retrieved from http://www.career.vt.edu/Interviewing/Behavioral.html
Doyle, A. (n.d.). Behavioral interviews. Retrieved from http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/interviews/a/behavioral.htm
ReferencesGreen, A. (2011, September 26). How to answer behavioral interview questions. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved from http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2011/09/26/how-to-answer-behavorial-interview- questions
Hansen, K. (n.d.). Behavioral job interviewing strategies for job-seekers. Retrieved from http://www.quintcareers.com/behavioral_interviewing.html
Heneman III, H.G., Judge, T.A., & Kammeyer-Mueller, J.D. (2012). Staffing organizations (7th ed.). Middletown, WI: Mendota House, Inc.
ReferencesMcKay, D.R. (n.d.). Behavioral interviews: show ‘em what you know. Retrieved from http://careerplanning.about.com/od/jobinterviews/a/beh_int_sht.htm
Radford University. (n.d.). Behavioral interviews: it’s not what you know it’s what you did. Retrieved from http://www.radford.edu/~astanton/interview_help.pdf
Selland, J. (n.d.). Behavioral interviewing. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Behavioral-Interviewing&id=153216