​

What is a behavioural interview?

 

A behavioural interview is where the interviewer will ask you to give them specific examples, scenarios or query how you might react to certain circumstances.

​

The question will often start with;

• Give us an example of a …

• Tell us about a time when … or

• How would you …

 

The interviewer is looking for your proven experience by asking about real-life examples.  It is very easy to provide textbook answers in an interview or list competencies as your strengths, but the behavioural interview technique looks for your stories to show you really do have those skills.

​

You should always go to an interview armed with stories from your past that you are willing to use as these examples.

When answering the question think about the STAR technique.

This uses Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) as the basis of the story.

So lets see this in action!

 

If you were asked the following;

Q - Tell me about a time you were involved in a conflict.

When you answer this question, they are not looking for the theory behind it, they want to know about your experience – if you don’t have a work related example then pull one from another part of your life.

​

Here’s an example answer using the STAR method;

​

Situation:

When I was at University, I had two friends that didn’t get on well.  I often felt stuck in the middle and while I enjoyed both of their company, it did create some stress for me.

​

 Task:

I decided I needed to intervene to help them be kinder to each other and find middle gound.

 

Action:

I decided to speak to them separately initially, then asked them to come together where I broached the subject.  I explained how I felt being the third wheel in their issues. 

 

Result:

The discussions allowed them to confront the reasons they struggled with each other and after a lot of talking and hugging, they decided to work on the friendship and accept their differences.  This helped the environment and allowed us to enjoy time together again.

 

Another example:

​

Q - Tell me about a time when you successfully explained how to do something to someone that didn’t have the knowledge?

In this example they are looking for when this has happened so think about an example from sports, school, work or your personal life. 

 

Situation: I was involved in a project in my previous job where we had to look at ways to improve the company.   I had worked on a very good system that no-one else had knowledge of but was something I could see that we needed to become more efficient.

 

Task:  I had to explain to a few key colleagues what the system was, how it was used and some shortcuts to be efficient when using it.  The colleagues I spent time with on this were the key decision makers.

 

Action: I had prepared some notes and provided those in case they had questions afterwards.  They also asked questions as we went so it was easy to go through anything they weren’t sure of on the spot.  I told them also to contact me after if they had questions about it and a few did this.  I really wanted them to see the benefit of using the system so it was easier doing this in person.

 

Results: The team were very happy with the information I provided, and everyone wanted to see the system used widely across the company.  I helped with training and implementation, and they still use it to this day.