Preparing for the BehavioralBased Interview

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Preparing for the Behavioral-Based
Interview
Prepared by Steve LabateGE Energy Human Resources
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• What is a Behavioral Interview?
•  
• Approach commonly used by employers in the
  selection process
• Employer attempt to determine what you actually
  accomplished in the past
• Behavior an action or reaction in a given
  situation with a known result
• Premise - past behavior may be a predictor of
  future performance
• For example, if you were innovative in your past
  employment, the likelihood of your being
  innovative with the next job is pretty good
•  
• Through a series of questions, the employer seeks
  to find out what it is you actually did
  (accomplished, built, designed, published,
  managed, supervised, created, increased,
  decreased, etc.) in the past.

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• Why the Behavioral Interview?
• Behavioral interviewing is designed to minimize
  personal impressions that can affect the hiring
  decision
• By focusing on the interviewee's actions and
  behaviors, rather than subjective impressions,
  interviewers can make more accurate hiring
  decisions.
• Research indicates it provides a 55 percent
  predictive of future on-the-job behavior, while
  traditional interviewing is only 10 percent
  predictive.
• Questions more likely to show the true applicant
  - much more difficult to give responses that are
  untrue to your character.

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• How Does the Behavioral Interview Work?
• Interviewer identifies job-related experiences
  behaviors, knowledge, skills and abilities that
  the company has decided are desirable
• Use of open-ended questions and statements
  elicits detailed responses from the interviewee
• Tell me about a time when..
• Share with me an instance in which you.
• As you answer the question, the interviewer will
  probe to get at your specific behaviors
• What were you thinking at that point?
• Tell me more about your meeting.
• If youve told a story thats less than honest,
  your response will not hold up through the
  battery of probing questions.

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• Preparing for the Behavioral Interview
• Put the time in dont wing it
• Break the job down into component parts
• Inventory and document your past for key
  experiences
• Interviewers not interested in your ability to
  memorize company literature
• Remember the purpose of the behavioral interview.
  It is easy to get upset with employer probing but
  if you remember why the employer is asking the
  question, you will be more relaxed in providing
  your response
• Practice via role play

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• Know the Job Description
• Recognize behavioral questions are designed by
  analyzing the skills and personality traits
  needed to perform the job.
• Acquire a thorough understanding of the skills
  and personality traits required for this job
• Document several examples from your past that
  demonstrate how you would answer questions that
  show that you have what it takes to meet the
  requirements of this position.
• Prepare several examples so that you are prepared
  to respond to any question that is asked of you.

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• During the Interview
• Remember that every question is aimed at
  determining how you have dealt with various
  problem-solving situations.
• When you provide your answers, remember the
  qualities that the employer is looking for and
  the requirements and expectations of the
  position.
• In your problem-solving examples, demonstrate
  that you have these qualities and can perform the
  requirements and meet the expectations of this
  position
• Tie your response back to the skills and traits
  needed in the job to ensure the interviewer makes
  the connection

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• More on Anticipating Possible Questions
• Recall recent situations that show favorable
  behaviors or actions, especially involving work
  experience, leadership, teamwork, initiative,
  planning and customer service.
• Prepare short accomplishment stories which tie in
  the skills required for the position each story
  should contain
• A beginning, with a defined problem
• A middle, containing the specific action you took
• An end, providing the interviewer with
  quantifiable and/or qualifiable results you
  achieved in utilizing the specific skills in
  question.
• Be sure the outcome or result reflects positively
  on you.
• Don't embellish or omit any part of the story. In
  probing, the interviewer will find out if your
  story is factual.
• Be specific. Don't generalize about several
  events give a detailed accounting of one event
  at a time.

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• Tips for Success
• Update your resume so that it is
  behavior-oriented
• Highlight job accomplishments
• Prepare for In-depth Questioning
• Study the job
• Examine and become familiar with the
  responsibilities and skills required for this
  position
• Read between the lines - each position requires
  more skills than most job descriptions cover
• Talk to incumbents
• Do your research on the company
• Get a feel for the culture
• Know the companys current and future objectives
• Work-in your best examples even if only loosely
  connected to question
• Turn Negatives into Positives (see next page)
• Be honest - Never make something up
• Show Reflection - If you cannot think of an
  example when the question is asked, its fine to
  take a few moments to think before speaking
• Skip and Come Back - You can always ask the
  interviewer to let you think over the question
  and come back to it later in the interview after
  you have had some time to reflect on the question
• Take your notes into the interview no need to
  memorize everything

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• Respond to Negative Questions Positively
• Quite often interviewers will ask negative
  questions that can only be responded to by giving
  negative answers
• Be sure to include the positive aspects of the
  situation
• For example, Give me an example of a time when
  you felt like you failed.
• A good response might be, Although the turn-out
  at the event was not as high as I had planned
  for, I learned that I needed to use more media
  channels to promote events, and the next event I
  planned was a huge success.
• These types of responses demonstrate that you can
  acknowledge your failures, but you learn from
  them in order to improve your performances in the
  future 

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• Wrapping Up
• Behavioral interviews can be quite disconcerting
  experiences if youre unprepared
• But with preparation, theyre quite easy
• Remember one key point
• You have the advantage as you get to choose what
  experiences to talk about!
• Good luck