- Worried about Behavioral Interviews?
- Wonder if you have executive aptitude?
- How will a recruiter know that you are the 'one'?
Recently, I've received a flurry of career coaching requests which all pertain to behavioral interviews and/or executive aptitude. A behavioral interview is intended to access executive aptitude. Even if you don't have an interview lined up, see how savvy you are about answering the top ten questions below. These are the questions which I hear my recruiter partners ask all the time.
How will you know if you are in a behavioral interview? Most of the behavioral questions will begin - "describe a time when, tell me about, give me an example of." These are open-ended questions which require a well-reasoned and detailed answer. Yes or no answers will not suffice. Behavioral inteviews are used to access your rationale for decisions, determine your level of motivation and your social intelligence.
Of note: it is not so much what questions will be asked, but the Psychology behind the questions. When I evaluate interviewees, I am less concerned with the specific examples which candiates provide than with their understanding of the scenario and the psychology of the workplace. My goal is to ascertain emotional intelligence and executive aptitude.
Behavioral Interview Skills.
- Give an example of when you had to gain the cooperation of others. What challenges did you face? What was the outcome?
- Tell me about a time when you had to address an angry custsomer. What was the problem, what was your role and what was the outcome?
- Tell me about a time when you had to take an unpopular stance about a work project or decision? How did you persuade people to your point of view?
- Tell me about a suggestion that you made to improve job process/operations? What was the result?
- Describe how you use creativity at work.
- Tell me about a time when you took a risk in creating a new process or program? What was the result or outcome?
- Tell me about a decision you had to make while under a lot of pressure?
- What are the 3 most important personal qualities for success in this job role?
- What qualities are essential for successful leaders? How have you demonstrated these qualities?
- Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a difference of opinion with a co-worker. How did you demonstrate respect?
***How do you stay up to date in your industry? Tell me about an article you read or event you attended and why it was meaningful for your industry. What industry trends did you observe?
This is my favorite interview question and is often the first question I ask. I am trying to ascertain true passion for an industry, as well as initiative. Is the candidate able to extrapolate to big picture, industry trends. If the candidate is unable to answer this, then they are often just doing the minimum they need to do - to keep their job.
How did you do on the Behavioral Quiz? I'd love to hear about your interview stories and comments about this post.
Additional Reading
Proxemics – The Psychology Of Positioning: Use This For Interview Success
SWOT Analysis for Interview Success
Why Interviews Are Just Like Texas Hold-em Poker!!!
10 Psychological Tips to Ace your Next Interview
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Author: © 2011 - present. All Rights Reserved - Sharon B. Cohen, MA,CPRP, NCDA. Virtual Career Counselor and Career Transition Specialist.
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Hello Sigsoogca,
ReplyDeleteThank you. It is a common misconception that career coaches "place" clients. We cannot request that an employer hire a client any more than a soccer coach can control the outcome of a match. Rather, a career coach's role is to provide testing, education, guidance, individual advising and skills coaching. This provides a distinct competitive advantage for an individual job seeker. However, the job seeker must still compete with all the other job seekers to get an interview and get an offer.