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What Are The Top 10 Behavioral Questions In An Interview

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Behavioral Job Interview Questions About Communication Skills

TOP 10 BEHAVIORAL Interview Questions with Answers!

Question #1 – How do you handle a disagreement with your colleagues? Give me an example of when you successfully persuaded someone to see things your way at work.

Situation: When I was working as a recruiter at Company X, I noticed that one of the candidates who had sent in their application was perfect for the role. Though he didnt have a university diploma and his resume wasnt too polished, reading his cover letter, it was obvious he knew the industry and had delivered clear results.

Task: I thought it was worth giving him a shot, but my supervisor didnt see it that way. She skimmed through the resume and told me not to waste time, and just discard the candidate.

Action: I was, however, still pretty confident in the candidate, so I talked to the supervisor over lunch. I took a bit of an indirect approach, though. Instead of trying to directly pitch the candidate, I asked her to clarify the job description a bit more. We went a bit in-depth on what, exactly, we were looking for in the candidate, and once we were done discussing it, I told her that we happened to have a candidate that possessed all the relevant experience, but his resume was a bit weak.

Results: Convinced, the supervisor decided to give the candidates application a more in-depth look and realized that they were, in fact, very qualified. She thanked me for bringing it up and agreed with me that the candidate was worth calling in for an interview.

Tell Me About A Time When You Made An Unpopular Decision That Had To Be Executed By Your Team

Did you need to work hard to get buy-in or to motivate the team? Did people threaten to quit? What did you learn from the experience?

For example:

I was working on a project last year that fell behind schedule. My boss asked me to mandate to the team that they work overtime until the project was completed.

I knew this would be a very touchy request as the team had been working hard already and not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Plus, the schedule slippage was not their fault, but actually our vendors.

Before I shared the request with the team, I built a project plan on how we could share the load of the overtime hours. I also created a strategy on how to partner closer with our vendor along the way to ensure no more schedule slippages.

When I presented the request to the team, I included how we were going to get out of this stage as quickly as possible. Just as importantly, I shared how the company views our team as dedicated to the cause and willing to do whatever it takes.

I also made sure they knew we were not being blamed for the project delay, but instead, the company valued our contributions. I made a point to mention how the plan would affect the companys bottom line, too.

Through this experience, I learned the importance of developing a detailed recovery plan, identifying and managing the key variables. Positively communicating that plan kept team morale high and made the project completion possible.

Interview Questions About Adaptability

77. Can you tell me how you handled your transition between different jobs or positions in the past?

78. Can you describe a time when changes happened that you couldnt control? How did you react?

79. Can you describe a time when you experienced rapid change? How did you handle the situation?

80. Can you tell me about a time when you changed the course of a project? How did you relay the changes to your team? Is there anything you wish you would have done differently?

81. Can you talk about a time when you had to adapt to a co-workers work style to finish a task? What did you do?

82. Can you think of a time when you werent comfortable with a change? What did you do?

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Top Behavioral Based Interview Questions And Answers

If youre not prepared for a behavioral job interview, the questions you’re asked can seem unnecessarily indirect or abstract.

Since behavioral interview questions can be enormously useful for helping employers determine who to hire, theyre also among the most common interview questions youll encounter. Preparing answers to behavioral based interview questions is essential for anyone who hopes to ace their next job interview.

Top 5 Interview Tips When Answering Behavioral Questions

see once: Top 10 interview questions and how to answer them

These are not questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. behavioral interview questions are open-ended, so you can take them in a direction that presents you in the best light.

Behavioral interview questions are asked not only to see how well you perform tasks, but also to see the strengths you demonstrated to overcome obstacles, deliver quality results, and interact effectively with people.

Tell your stories to answer these questions. Provide examples of real work situations where you were successful where you had a challenge and you overcame that challenge:

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What Consulting Behavioral Questions Assess

Consulting behavioral interview questions assess three different things.

Future performance or success: Behavioral questions use past behavior to determine future performance or success. Since the candidate draws upon previous experiences and actions they have taken, interviewers can get a sense of how the candidate would perform on the job.

Communication skills: Behavioral questions assess how well candidates can communicate. Does the candidate explain their experiences clearly and articulately? Does the candidate keep their stories concise?

Personality and cultural fit: Fit questions can reveal a candidates personality and cultural fit with the firm. In answering behavioral questions, candidates show characteristics, such as being confident, humble, friendly, or collaborative. Candidates can also reveal the values and morals that they believe in.

Taking these three things into account, you should focus on demonstrating the following three qualities:

  • Show evidence of impressive, tangible accomplishments
  • Communicate clearly, concisely, and confidently
  • Demonstrate your personality and values

You can show evidence of impressive, tangible accomplishments by quantifying your accomplishments and explaining the impact of your work.

Dont just explain what you did and how you did it. Explain the impact and effect you had on the organization. What was the magnitude of the impact? How many people were affected? How did this impact annual revenues or costs?

Behavioral Interview Questions & Answers: Top Tips & Samples

  • Post author

Interviewers often use behavioral interview questions in job interviews today to learn about how job candidates behave.

The reason employers ask behavioral questions is to understand how the job candidate handles different often difficult situations, demonstrating their soft skills.

Behavioral questions typically start with, Tell me about a time when youorDescribe how you have handled or Give me an example of or even Walk me through

While these questions may feel like a trap when you are asked, thats really not the employers intent .

They are looking for insight into the job candidates behavior beyond the questions traditionally asked .

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What Are Some Good Job Interview Tips

1. Arrive early and engage in friendly communication with other people there in order to get used to connecting with people.2. Set up Google alerts for the industry and company youre interviewing with. This way youll be up to date with any recent news and can bring it up in the interview.3. Turn the interview from an interrogation into a conversation between peers. Ask questions and get some back and forth going between you and the interviewer. This will lower your nerves and you come across as more of a colleague or a peer to the hiring manager.

Tell Me About How You Work Under Pressure

How to Answer BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Using the STAR Method (TOP 10 Behavioral Questions)

The interviewer is using this question to see how well you work under pressure and what strategies you have used in the past to handle the pressure. This question is especially important if you’re interviewing for a high-stress job. A great answer will give a specific example of how you managed a high-pressure situation successfully. It could also include what you would have done differently, looking back.

Example:“I had been working on a large project that my team committed to turning around for the client in 60 days. My manager came to me and said that the client wanted it back in 45 days and that we would need to speed up our work without losing momentum on our other projects. I met with our team and we reviewed the calendar. We eliminated team meetings and shifted lower-priority tasks until the end of the 45-day period to add extra hours to our workweeks. I challenged my team to complete the project in 45 days or left and as a reward promised two days of extra PTO time. Our team got the job done in 42 days.”

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Consulting Behavioral Interview Questions

If youre dealing with the likes of McKinsey or Deloitte, then you know how serious consulting firms can be. Consulting behavioral interview questions, also known as consulting fit questions, are designed to test a candidates expertise in a field. Here are the top behavioral questions:

  • What do you think makes a good consultant in this industry?
  • Describe how you conduct market sizing.
  • Tell me about a time when you had to work with multiple clients at the same time. How did you manage this situation?
  • Tell me about a time when you used data to solve a problem.
  • Describe a time where you offered a piece of consulting advice, and it was a success.
  • Describe a time where you offered a piece of consulting advice, and it was a failure.
  • What do you think it takes to become a great management consultant?
  • Please describe a major struggle one company is facing now and what you would recommend to overcome the problem.
  • Top 10 Interview Questions And Best Answers

    Review these most frequently asked interview questions and sample answers, and then prepare your responses based on your experience, skills, and interests. Remember that its less about providing the right answers and more about demonstrating that youre the best candidate for the job.

    1. Tell Me About Yourself Best Answers

    This is one of the first questions you are likely to be asked. Be prepared to talk about yourself, and why you’re an ideal candidate for the position. The interviewer wants to know why you’re an excellent fit for the job.

    Try to answer questions about yourself without giving too much, or too little, personal information. You can start by sharing some of your personal interests and experiences that don’t relate directly to work, such as a favorite hobby or a brief account of where you grew up, your education, and what motivates you.

    You can even and showcase your personality to make the interview a little more interesting.

    2. Why Are You the Best Person for the Job? Best Answers

    Are you the best candidate for the job? The hiring manager wants to know whether you have all the required qualifications. Be prepared to explain why you’re the applicant who should be hired.

    3. Why Do You Want This Job? Best Answers

    Be specific about what makes you a good fit for this role, and mention aspects of the company and position that appeal to you most.

    4. How Has Your Experience Prepared You for This Role?Best Answers

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    We All Deal With Difficult Customers From Time To Time Tell Me About A Challenging Client

    The employer wants to see that you can keep a calm head when difficult situations arise, so share a narrative that shows your ability to resolve conflicts.

    We had a customer who complained frequently and was becoming hostile toward customer service reps. I did some investigating and discovered that our CS agents were repeating the same templated scripts to him and he felt as though his complaints werent being heard. I helped devise an escalation system so that this endless CS loop wouldnt happen again. Then I contacted the customer personally to apologize and thank him for helping us find and fix a glitch in our process.

    Describe A Difficult Work Situation And What You Did To Overcome It

    Pin on Job Interview Questions

    This is one of those pesky behavioral interview questions and is one of the most common. You need to have a success story ready to go for this. Relate a story where you dealt with a problem successfully. The key here is to pick a success story that shows you exhibiting the qualities/skills required at the job and company you are interviewing for.

    • Pick an example that shows you tackling a problem that could arise at the new company youre interviewing for. This shows your value.
    • Be specific and fairly concise.
    • Use the S.T.A.R. Method

    DONT:

    • Dont bash anyone in your success story.
    • Dont ramble.

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    What Was Your Most Difficult Decision In The Past Year

    This question is actually several questions what do you perceive as difficult, what made it difficult and how did you handle it. Its evaluating how you handle the decision making process. Answer in a way that doesnt make you look like the victim in the situation and by no means should you criticize or disparage others.

    Answer: The decision to lay employees is always difficult personally and professionally. We had just lost three major clients and I had no choice but to let go of two employees who managed those accounts.

    It was truly a financial decision based on budget reductions, but I still felt horrible for my employees. I delivered the news to these employees as empathetically as I could and made sure they all fully understood the details of their severance packages. In the end, they all walked away knowing that the decision was purely business-related.

    Interview Questions About Interpersonal Skills

    53. Can you describe a time when you had a conflict with someone at work? What did you do?

    54. Can you describe a time when you dealt with a co-worker you didnt like?

    55. Can you tell me how you communicate with someone who doesnt like you?

    56. Can you tell me about a time when you disagreed with a manager? What did you do?

    57. How have you maintained relationships with your co-workers? What skill do you use?

    58. Was there ever a time that you didnt get along with a customer? What did you do?

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    What Provides You Mental Gratification

    This is a popular behavioral interview question for new graduates. You can anticipate your interviewer asking it because they want to judge your inner peace as a candidate through this question. Your response should include one action or activities that will make you feel light in the brain and will prevent an avalanche of anxious thoughts from bothering you too much. Your response should also demonstrate that you have the ability to find mental satisfaction even in the most trying of circumstances.

    What Not To Say

    The ULTIMATE GUIDE to TOP 10 Job Interview Questions & Answers

    Here are some missteps to avoid:

    • Don’t ramble.You want to give a tight two- or three-part response. Don’t get too into the weeds with the specifics of the challenge that occurred, and share your solution in plain and straightforward language. If you’re looking to keep focused, the STAR technique can help. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Use this framework to talk about these four elements. For this particular question, you’ll likely want to emphasize the actions you took, as well as any positive result that occurr
    • Don’t complain. Yes, interviewers are asking about a problem. But that doesn’t mean they’re looking for you to share a laundrylist of issues and concerns that have come up in your previous roles. Focus on having the bulk of your answer center around the positive and the solution you came up with. At all costs, avoid speaking negatively about companies or specific colleagues.

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    What Words Will You Choose To Define Yourself

    In no way should your response reflect that you are self-centered. Interviewers look for candidates who will benefit the entire team and the firm. You will be able to secure your job if you can convey an act of charity and nice behavior in your response. This is also a valuable lesson for you because you should understand the value of caring for coworkers and juniors. (read more in detail to answer most asked question Tell me about yourself.

    Tell Me About A Time You Had To Build Rapport With A Coworker Or Client Whose Personality Was Different Than Yours

    This behavioral interview question evaluates your interpersonal skills. The interviewer wants to understand what steps you take to bridge differing opinions or work styles.

    Answer: While working on a website redesign project, I had to collaborate with team members from across the country and even in different countries. When we launched the project, the first few minutes of each meeting, I did a mini team building exercise where wed work on solving a light hearted problem together. Once that was completed, each member would deliver their 2 minute update.

    What I found was that the exercises helped establish trust among the team and a shared sense of accountability. This made it easier to deliver tough messages or to ask people to work more quickly.

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    What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment

    This is somewhat similar to the what is your greatest strength? question and can be handled along the same lines. You want to pick an accomplishment that shows you have the qualities that the company puts value in and that are desirable for the position youre interviewing for.

    The fact is you may have several accomplishments you could pick from. Pick one that will have the most impact.

    • Talk about an accomplishment that exhibits how you will be a perfect fit for the company and for the position youre interviewing for.
    • Try and show some genuine passion when youre talking about your accomplishment.

    DONT:

    • Dont fall into the trap of thinking your accomplishment is too small. The fact is, relating a small accomplishment that is inline with what the company values can be more powerful than an unrelated accomplishment.

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