Interview Tips : Behavioural interview questions

Getting ready for a behavioural interview

Behavioural interview questions are now quite commonly used by an increasing number of interviewers - particularly within the public sector..

Call Brian 0430 972 578

If you've been out of the interview game for a while, then you might perhaps not have had much experience in dealing with them. In the old days, interviewers tended to ask more "hypothetical" type questions ....... These were questions that basically checked if you knew how to handle a situation "in theory". - or in other words you appeared to show an understanding of how a particular situation should be dealt with.

However a problem that employers were finding in the past with these types of interview questions, was that even though some people may have responded correctly in the interview and they successfully displayed a knowledge of how a situation should be handled - when they were appointed to the role, those same people were not actually applying their knowledge. In other words, their actions on the job didn't match their words

• What is a behavioural question?

Behavioural questions were designed to correct this problem and were found to be a better predictor of workplace performance. The premise of the behavioural interview is that your past workplace behaviour will be an indication of your future workplace performance.. So if you're preparing yourself for an interview, one important interview tip is to get yourself ready to face some behavioural questions. The following short video clip offers you a nice short explanation of the nature of behavioural questions and how they are being used by employers.. See what you think ......

An experienced interview coach should be able to help build your confidence in practicing how to handle behavioural interview questions - as well as provide you with feedback to ensure that you are presenting yourself positively.. But you can do some interview training yourself,  with sample behavioural questions that can be asked by an interviewer

Some anxiety associated with interviews is only natural. However if you find yourself feeling overly anxious about your interview, then you might need to put things into a bit more perspective - and work at ways of developing your mental toughness 


• A method for providing a behavioural example

A common method for answering a behavioural question is to use STAR as a way of structuring your response. The following short video clip explains how to use this framework to maximum effect  and offers some tips to help you tell your story  ....

© Copyright 2013. Brian Carroll is the founder of Performance Development - He is an interview coach with more than 20 years experience, and is also a qualified psychologist. Call him on 0430 972 578