Behavioral technology
A new interviewing approach
June 20, 2000
Web posted at: 12:57 p.m. EDT (1657 GMT)
Behavioral interviewing techniques have created a new style of questioning that you must be prepared to handle if you're in the job market.
This style of interviewing is designed to get you to give very specific examples of positive and negative work situations. The interviewer uses the approach to determine your skills and exactly how you've performed in the past. Questions often start out with "Give me an example" or "Tell me about a time" or "Describe a situation."
The interviewer is asking you to provide details about your abilities and past performance, so he or she can rate each response to predict your future performance with another company. These situational questions are thought-provoking and can catch you off-guard. The interviewer will likely take notes on each answer and continue the line of questioning, seeking more and more specific details to assess skills.
So it's no wonder that job candidates often find these types of questions pretty hard to handle. The key is to practice answering them by giving concise, detailed examples.
Be sure you select examples from your on-the-job life that clearly sell your skills. Remember, the goal here is to demonstrate that you can meet the needs of that employer. Be concise, telling the whole story in 60 seconds or less.
You're unlikely to know in advance who will use this format, so be prepared. Typically, human resources personnel and recruiters are the ones to use this style. More and more college students are being asked these questions, but so are managers, senior executives, professionals and staffers.
Sandra, a human resource manager at a Fortune 500 company, explained it this way: "We are so worried about lawsuits, we now instruct our managers and HR people to only ask work-related questions that ask for specific examples. Every interviewee gets asked the same questions, designed to evaluate their skills to perform that specific job based on the past performance examples they give us."
There are four key components to successfully answering interview questions of this kind:
Prepare in advance to describe situations in which you were competent, successful and able to solve problems even if things initially went wrong.
Give short, concise, specific answers that never exceed 60 seconds.
Demonstrate ability to perform the job you're applying for, based on having done it in the past.
Exhibit the ability to learn new things easily.
Answers to even the toughest questions will be easier to handle when you've thought about them and jotted down answers before the interview starts. You should be prepared to answer such questions as:
"Could you explain in detail your experience with computer software programs?"
"Describe to me your typical work day."
"Give me an example of some job tasks you really disliked doing." (This can be tricky. Talk about something that initially challenged you, but you developed the skills and new solutions for getting the task done.)
"Describe to me your management style dealing with staffers (or co-workers)."
"Give me an example of a time you've dealt with a difficult customer (or co-worker). Use this as a chance to shine.
In each case, you must give a specific example of how you've operated in the past. Employers want assurance you'll be able to do the job. Offering explanations that include examples of how you solved a problem, saved money or added to the bottom line are very influential.
While not all skills or accomplishments can be quantified, many can, so practice sharing them. It's wise to have prepared specific examples to point out any positive results you've achieved whether it's reorganizing the filing system or trimming production costs through some process change. Or it might be a simple story about taking a different personal approach with that difficult employee.
Examples can also include the results of volunteer jobs and outside activities. These are skills you have acquired and will use on the job, so don't underestimate them.
Make sure your answers include stories that show how willing you are to take on new tasks as needed. Your willingness to learn and be a value-added asset, keeping the company's needs in the forefront, will make you a very appealing candidate to the employer.
Robin Ryan is a Seattle career counselor, national speaker and author of "60 Seconds and You're Hired," "Winning Resumes," "Winning Cover Letters" and "24 Hours To Your Next Job, Raise or Promotion." She has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "NBC Nightly News." Her columns are read in magazines and newspapers and online.
Copyright © 2000 WomenCONNECT.com Corp. All Rights Reserved.
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