Behavioral Interviews are one of the most commonly used interview types because past behavior can be a great indicator to an employer of a candidate’s potential for future success. These are questions where an interviewer will ask you to share a time you demonstrated a particular skill and you provide a specific instance to paint the full picture of how you developed the skill and how it could potentially help you contribute to their organization.
While you can never completely predict the questions you will be asked, there are several steps you can take to strategically anticipate some that may be covered over the course of the interview:
- It always comes back to the job description! Take some time to parse through the role posting and highlight the top skills included. You can almost guarantee that at least a handful of these skills will show up in the behavioral questions in some shape or form. After all, what better way to assess if a candidate matches the listed qualifications than to inquire about specific examples in which they developed those skills?
- After you have identified the skills, take some time to research some samples on the format in which it might be assessed. For example, if you noted that “communication” was cited multiple times in the job description, start with a simple search for “interview questions for communication skills.” You will likely find multiple websites that will provide sample communication skill-based questions.
- You can also utilize Career Center resources to help brainstorm potential questions. Big Interview has several helpful resources including a Question Library where you can search for sample questions by competency and a Mock Interview feature where you can record yourself answering competency and industry-based questions.
- A number of public websites offer interview sample questions. MockQuestions.com offers common behavioral questions that can be sorted by industry. Search for the top behavioral questions in your industry. Finally, use sites like Glassdoor and Indeed.com to see what anonymous sources share about their interview experiences and questions they encountered. Bonus: These sites also include company reviews to help you assess if the company is a good cultural fit.
After you have collected your list of potential questions, nail down the experiences you would want to highlight and begin to craft your story. This will ensure that even though you do not know the exact questions that will be posed, you are prepared to answer based on the research you have done prior to the interview!