Some of the most challenging interview questions are found
in behavioral interviews. These interviews are designed to
test your abilities in three ways:
1. Determining how well you work under pressure
2. Finding out how well you work with others
3. Establishing whether you can resolve conflicts
Behavioral interviews can be disastrous if you don't know
how to prepare for them. And you really do need to be
prepared.
Sample Interview Questions
For many employers it is critical that their staff be able
to think clearly, act quickly and stay calm in a
fast-moving, ever changing work environment. Employers
want to know how much stress you can take before you crack.
An employee with low tolerance for stress may increase the
workload for others while destroying team spirit among
colleagues-a one-two punch that employers definitely want
to avoid.
To test your stress-coping skills you may get a question
like:
"Tell me about the most stressful situation you've
encountered in your current position."
Additionally, employers want to hire people who are
cooperative, easy to work with and willing to respect
leadership. An organization that runs like a team is a
more productive, efficient workplace. Increased employee
synergy also leads to low employee turnover.
To find out how well you work with others you might be
asked:
"Tell me about a time when you strongly disagreed with your
team?" "Tell me about a time when you thought your boss was
wrong? How did you handle it?"
Finally, employers want staff members who can resolve
conflicts to gain win-win results for all parties. When
employees cannot resolve difficulties with internal or
external customers, the result is stifled operational
growth and depleted sales. The company's bottom-line
objectives are at stake, so employers really want to be
sure they've made the right hiring choice.
To discover your conflict-resolution skills you might be
asked:
"Tell me about a time when you had difficulty resolving a
customer conflict?"
Once you understand the motivation behind such questions,
you can begin mapping out a strategy for interview
preparation. How to Prepare for a Behavioral Interview
There are three steps to preparing for a behavioral
interview:
1. Notice that behavioral questions ask you about specific
events, so take inventory of the stressful or difficult
situations you've encountered at work. Think back to times
when you didn't agree with your boss, or when your peers
drove you crazy, or when customers made unrealistic demands.
2. If the workplace doesn't provide much to choose from,
expand your thought process to include other circumstances
where you work or must cooperate with others, like
community activities, neighborhood associations, or church
functions. For instance, planning a school fundraiser,
participating on a neighborhood committee or participating
on a professional association board. Any of these
situations are ripe with opportunities for conflict and
cooperation, where something must be accomplished for the
betterment of the group.
3. Once you've thought of several situations, plan how you
will present them in a positive light. For situations you
didn't handle well (like your boss yelled at you and you
ran off crying) present them in terms of what you learned,
like this:
"Yes, I learned an important lesson about following
directions and asking questions for clarification when. . .
"
For situations that did turn out well, present them based
on what was accomplished, like this:
"Yes, I had to deal with a really angry customer just last
week. But when I calmly asked a few questions I was able
to get to the heart of her issue. I was able to fix the
problem, and she was happy with us again."
With the right interview preparation, you can turn
nightmare behavioral questions into opportunities to sell
yourself. You'll be seen as an employee who is able to
stay calm under pressure, work well with others to promote
corporate goals, and retain key customers, contributing to
revenue growth. In other words, the type of person all
employers would want to hire.
----------------------------------------------------
Deborah Walker, Interview Coach, offers an individualized
approach to interview strategies. Her background as former
executive recruiter and veteran career management coach
provides an insider's perspective on the toughest interview
challenges. Visit Deb on the web at
http://www.alphaadvantage.com/
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