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Demystifying the Behavioral Job Interview Technique

By: Carole Martin, America's #1 Interview Coach


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Over the years, all sorts of techniques have been used in the quest to find the perfect employee. Of all of these, "behavioral interviewing" techniques have stood the test of time, and are now considered the best way to weed-out the merely qualified candidates and find the perfect candidate.

But what is Behavioral Interviewing?

It's a technique employers use to determine whether you are a good fit for the job by asking questions that pertain 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."

How long has this technique been used?

No, it's been around since the 70's when industrial psychologists developed a way of "accurately" predicting whether a person would succeed in a job. They concluded if candidates were asked questions that requested examples of past behavior it would be an indicator of their future behavior - good or bad.

You may ask what the difference is between behavioral questions and other ones. The defining characteristic of a behavioral question is its specificity. For example, if asked to "Tell about a time when you solved a problem," the key words are "a time." This calls for a specific example.

A traditional or "what if" question allows you to use your imagination to come up with an answer. If asked, "What would you do if you had a problem to solve?" The word "if," indicates that the interviewer wants to hear how you think through a problem, without necessarily relying on a past experience as an example.

Is it possible to prepare for behavioral interviews?

While preparation is important for every interview, it is essential to prepare for the behavioral interview. You must have examples or stories for anything you have claimed on your resume or that you say during the interview.

For example, if you claimed you were "very organized" on your resume, the interviewer might ask you to tell them about a time when you organized a project or event. This gives you a great opportunity prove your claim by relating a story about a successful project that required you to be organized.

The technique

There are several methods and acronyms that work well for story telling or listening, but the main point you will want to remember is that any story has three key elements:

All you need to remember is Beginning, Middle, and End. In the Beginning, outline a particular challenge you faced in a previous position. Then, in the Middle, talk about the methods you used to address the problem. Finally in the End, talk about how the problem was solved and how that made things better.

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

If you arrive 10 minutes late you will spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out what you missed. This is the beginning of the story and should be about 10-20% of your story. In the interview, if you do not "frame" your story the interviewer will be confused from the beginning.

The middle of the movie is the "plot" which should be a good 60-70% of your story. This is where the action is. And as the "star" of the movie, you should make sure that you are "on screen" most of the time. Some people tend to use the words "we" and "us" too much and it is difficult to see the "star." The word "I' lets the interviewer know it's about you. If you do use the word "we" in the story, make sure the listener, in this case the interviewer, is aware of who "we" is. For example, "My partner and I," or "I worked with a team of four people."

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?"

In order to have a successful story - it should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

How can you become a good storyteller?

Stories should be interesting and full of action. This is the pitfall for most people - the story lacks detail. Give the interviewer something to remember about you. A savvy interviewer will be able to hear skills from the stories and judge your behavior from your past actions, but you must 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 your story will be. The biggest fault are examples/stories where there is no "action" or detail.

Succeeding in the behavioral interview will take time and preparation, but it will allow you to tell the success stories your interviewer needs to hear with confidence. Your examples will allow the interviewer to get a clear picture of who you are and if you're the right person for the job!

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Carole Martin, America's #1 Interview Coach and contributor for Monster.com is a celebrated author, trainer, and mentor. Carole provides interviewing tips and strategies like no one else. Get a copy of her FREE 9-part "Interview Success Tips" by visiting Carole on the web at The Interview Coach (www.interviewcoach.com) Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service



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