Over the years many techniques and strategies has been tried to improve on the hiring of new employees. Some have been more successful that others but “behavioral interviewing” techniques seem to have stood the test of time. They are being used more often as the best way to weed-out the truly qualified candidate from the “best sales person” in the interview.

But the question remains: what exactly is Behavioral Interviewing?

Behavioral Interviewing is a technique in which employers ask questions about your past behavior in order to determine if you are a good fit for the job they are trying to fill.

All interviewers know that it’s easy for candidates to say they are “great problem solvers,” or “hard workers.” What an interviewer needs to do is separate fact from fiction. They do this by asking candidates for concrete examples of times they solved a particularly difficult problem, or worked especially hard.

As an example, a behavioral question might be: “Tell me about a success you had that stemmed from working hard or going beyond your assigned duties.”

Is this a new technique?

No, it’s been around since the 70’s when industrial psychologists developed a way of “accurately” predicting whether a person would succeed in a job. They concluded if candidates were asked questions that requested examples of past behavior it would be an indicator of their future behavior - good or bad.

What is the difference between a behavioral question and other questions? A behavioral question will be very specific. For example when asked, “Tell me about a time when you solved a problem,” the key words are “a time.” This calls for a “specific” example.

When traditional or “what if” questions are asked you can use your imagination to come up with an answer. For example, “What would you do if you had a problem to solve?” The word “if,” is the clue word that the interviewer wants to hear your thought process - how you think through a problem. This question does not require a past experience example.

How can I prepare for a behavioral interview?

Preparation is important for every interview, and is essential for the behavioral interview. The key is to have examples or stories ready that illustrate any skill or experience you have claimed on your resume or that may reasonably come up in the interview.

An example would be if you claimed you were “very organized” on your resume or in your “Tell me about yourself” statement, the interviewer might ask you, “Tell me about a time when you organized a project.” It is now your task to let the interviewer know that you are a very organized person and have had success when organizing a project or event.

The technique to succeed

While there are many methods that inform good story telling, the main thing to remember is that every story has three crucial elements:

All you need to remember is Beginning, Middle, and End. In the Beginning, outline a particular challenge you faced in a previous position. Then, in the Middle, talk about the methods you used to address the problem. Finally in the End, talk about how the problem was solved and how that made things better.

Imagine going to a movie.

Arriving 10 minutes late to a movie can cause you spend the rest of the time trying to figure out what it is you missed. This is because it’s in the beginning of the story, the first 10-20 %, that the whole movie is set up or “framed” for the audience. In the interview, if you don’t “frame” your story the interviewer will be just as confused.

The middle of the movie is the main plot and it should be a good 60-70% of the story. This is where the action happens. Remember that you’re the star of the story you’re telling, so you should make sure that you’re “on screen” most of the time. Avoid using words like “we” or”us” too much. Use “I”. Remember, this is about you. If you need to use “we” in the story, make sure the interviewer is aware of who the “we” is, your partner, team, etc.

Now, if you were to leave 10 minutes before the movie was over, you would never know what happened in the end, and would probably be pretty unsatisfied. A strong ending is vital to your story. If you leave it out, the interviewer may ask, “So what was the result?” That’s a clue you have left off the ending.

Keep in mind, Beginning, Middle, and End. Every good story has each.

What are there secrets of telling a good story?

To be interesting and memorable, stories should full of action and detail. This is the problem for most people - their stories lacks detail. Detail gives the interviewer something concrete to remember about you. A good interviewer will assess your skills from the stories and judge your behavior from your past actions, but to make the strongest impression, let them hear the steps you took to solve the problem. The more details and skills you can work into your story, the more convincing it will be.

Succeeding in the behavioral interview will take time and preparation, but it will allow you to tell the success stories your interviewer needs to hear with confidence. Your examples will allow the interviewer to get a clear picture of who you are and if you’re the right person for the job!