What Is A Behavioral Interview

Who Uses Case Interviews And Why

Who Uses Case Interviews

Case interviews are used by management consulting firms to assess the problem-solving and analytical abilities of a candidate before hiring. The formats of these interviews differ depending on the firm that you are interviewing with. There are candidate-led case interviews and interviewer-led case interviews.

Candidate-Led Case Interviews

During candidate-led case interviews an interviewer requires the candidate to direct the discussion of the case. Your task as a candidate will be to develop and evaluate your hypothesis while answering the pertinent questions.

BCG, Bain, LEK, Deloitte, and PwC conduct their case interviews using the candidate-led style. They opt for this format because they want to see the applicants leadership skills and get a feel for what a real client/consultant conversation would be like if this person were hired.

Interviewer-Led Case Interviews

Interviewer-led case interviews have a pre-structured format. The interviewer presents you with a problem and then asks you a set of pre-determined questions. The same method of approach applies in both formats, but unlike the interviewer-led cases where you solve the case from beginning to end, in the candidate-led, you will jump around to different points of the case.

Why Consulting Firms Use Case Interviews

Simulating On-the-Job Experience

Proving Yourself as a Consultant

Why You Need To Use The Star Method To Craft Your Behavioral Answers

Now that you know the importance of having your success stories planned out, you now need to understand how to use them in your interview answers.

The best way to organize your behavioral answers is to use the STAR method .

The STAR interview method gives you a simple framework to use when crafting your answers.

Heres what STAR stands for:

1. Situation: Open with a brief description of the Situation and context of the success story . 2. Task: Explain the Task you had to complete highlighting any specific challenges or constraint . 3. Action: Describe the specific Actions that you took to complete the task. These should highlight desirable traits without needing to state them 4. Result: Close with the result of your efforts. Include figures to quantify the result if possible.

Preparing For A Behavioral Interview

Since many job interviews are behavioral, it’s best to be prepared for any interview with appropriate examples. To do that, determine what competencies the employer is seeking by thoroughly reading the job description and researching the company. If you’re working with a recruiter, talk to them about what to expect.

Here are some of the competencies you should be prepared to discuss during your behavioral interview:

• Enthusiasm
• Technical skills specific to the job
• Problem-solving

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Behavioral Interview Questions To Prepare For

Behavioral interview questions are often asked in job interviews to gauge how successful you are at problem-solving. These questions can provide the interviewer with insight into your personality, skills and abilities. Because each behavioral interview question requires you to share a specific story that highlights your strengths and skills, thoughtful preparation can help you feel confident and prepared.

In this article, we offer some tips for preparing and responding to questions by topic and also offer 10 sample questions and examples to help you form your own answers.

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How Have You Handled Disagreements With Coworkers

This topic is related to another communication problem, but the aim here is to clarify a situation in which you reached a consensus. After all, individuals who work in teams often bring diverse points of view to the table, and team performance is dependent on workers’ ability to discuss these disagreements and reach compromises.

Example:At my previous job, I contacted a possible new customer via email. I had no idea that one of the other sales associates on the team had already spoken with this person. My coworker was initially angry, but I clarified that the device had not alerted me that this interaction had occurred. They had forgotten to record the activity, so I had no idea. We both decided it was just an honest mistake.

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How To Make The Best Impression

Before you head out to your interview, review these tips and strategies for behavioral interview success. Be sure youve got the appropriate interview attire ready to wear, have questions of your own ready to ask the interviewer, and are prepared to follow up after the interview with a thank-you note.

What Accomplishment Are You Most Proud Of And Why

Make a list of specific achievements you have accomplished and then narrow it down to relevant examples for your desired role. Dont be afraid to share an example that gives the interviewer insight into who you are outside of work. Consider providing examples from previous jobs, promotions, academics, sports, philanthropy and goals obtained through passion and hard work. If you choose to explain a personal accomplishment, tie it back to how it can be applied in that particular company.

Sample response:

S: At my last company, I noticed there was no formal development program to help my peers that were promoted to a supervisor role for the first time.

T: I spoke to my manager about starting a leadership boot camp, and he told me to challenge my thinking and come up with a strategy to implement it.

A: After collaborating with my leader and business partners, I was able to formulate a curriculum for a leadership development track, teaching my peers fundamental leadership skills and how to manage their teams efficiently.

R: I was able to successfully bring the program to life, allowing me to channel my passion for leadership while serving the community. Given the opportunity as your firms organizational development manager, I would love to carry the invaluable skills I learned to help future leaders at your organization.

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What Is A Behavioral

So, your killer CV and cover letter have gotten you through to the interview stages. Youve beaten hundreds, possibly thousands of applicants already. Success is almost in reach. Only a few questions stand between you and that coveted job. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, and that is why youre here. Dont fear, though! Well walk you through the preparation process and give you actionable techniques for answering behavioral interview questions.

Behavioral-based interviews are widely thought of as the most challenging of all interview types. The questions they entail can seem personal, deceptively open-ended, and sometimes outright confusing. Want to understand the purpose behind behavioral interviews? Learn a proven method to construct ideal answers? Get top tips on how to prepare? If you answered yes to all of these questions, read on.

Tell Me About A Goal You Set And Reached And How You Achieved It

For this question, the interviewer wants to see how you plan to achieve a goal. A good answer is one where you were given a goal, created a plan and followed the necessary steps to achieve it. A great answer is one where you set your own goal, especially a large goal, and took the necessary steps to reach it.

Example:“In my last role, I managed all social media content. One quarter, I set a stretch goal to increase conversions to our website by 75%. I broke it down into weekly goals and researched what other brands were experimenting with. I noticed they were using videos and seeing great engagement from their customers, so I asked my boss if we could do a low-budget test. She agreed, so I produced a video cheaply in-house that drove double the engagement we normally saw on our social channels during the first week. With the new strategy, I not only met my stretch goal, but I also exceeded it by 5% increasing total conversions by 80% over the quarter.

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What Behavioral Interview Questions Are Like

Hiring managers use behavioral interviews because they want to go beyond the obvious answer. When pressed for details and specifics, candidates can’t help but reveal their habits, ways of thinking, and past responses to stressful situations.

Will you get a warning that your interview is going to actually be a behavioral interview? No. But you can be on the lookout for a few question openers that will indicate if you’re in a behavioral interview. Here’s what they might sound like:

• Tell me about a time

• How have you dealt with

• Give me an example of

• Explain a past situation where

What do those questions have in common? They take you back to a specific situation in the past and ask you to recall your real-life responses, action steps, and results. A behavioral interview can be intimidating, but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to showcase your experience, skills, and strengths. You just have to know what to expect and come prepared.

Behavioral Interview Questions And Sample Answers

Here are some common behavioral interview questions you may be asked during a job interview. Review the responses and consider how you would answer the questions, so you’ll be prepared to give a strong answer.

As you can see from the sample responses, it’s important to be ready with specific examples and anecdotes.

While you don’t need to memorize answers, have a sense of what experiences you would share and how to describe them to the interviewer. You’ll want your examples to be both clear and succinct.

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How A Behavioral Interview Works

Before meeting with a candidate, the interviewer will determine what competencies are required to perform the job. Next, they develop a series of behavioral questions that will allow them to find out if a candidate has those skills.

Many behavioral interview questions ask about soft skills, which are skills that are difficult to quantify. They include problem-solving, critical thinking, interpersonal skills, and listening, writing, and speaking skills. The basic premise of the behavioral interview is that past performance is a good predictor of future performance.

Most behavioral interview questions start with “Tell me about a time when…” or “Give me an example of when…” For example, if conflict resolution is a required competency, the question may be, “Tell me about a time two people you had to work with weren’t getting along and how you responded.”

If you have work experience, give an example involving two current or former coworkers. If this is an interview for your first job, it will be challenging to discuss a past job-related experience. Instead, select an experience that occurred during a group project for a class, while participating in team sports, or while you were doing volunteer work. As long as you clearly state the problem, demonstrate the steps you took to resolve it, and discuss the results, it doesn’t matter what experience you draw from as long as it’s appropriate to discuss in a work environment.

Using The Star Method In Interviewing

Have you heard of the STAR method of interviewing? Some people mistake it for its own type of interviewing.

But really, its part of behavioral interviewing. DDI brought the STAR method to market in the 1970s. So, what is the STAR method? The STAR method helps you capture complete information about how someone has performed on the job.

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More Examples Of Behavioral Interview Questions

• Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a conflict with a coworker?
• Tell me about a time that you made a mistake at work. How did you resolve your error?
• Tell me about your greatest professional achievement to date.
• Give me an example of when you took on a leadership role at work.
• Give me an example of how you persuaded someone to go with your plan/idea.

Behavioral Interview Questions: The What And The How

A behavioural interview is used by potential employers to evaluate job prospects based on their previous behaviour in a work setting. In this article, we review all you’ll need to know about behavioural interview questions. That is, what they are, how to answer them, and a few sample questions and answers to give you the nudge you need.

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What Is A Behavioral Interview How To Prepare And Sample Questions

What is a behavioral interview? Candidates for employment often ask what the difference is between a regular job interview and a behavioral interview. What should you do to get ready if the employer is going to ask you behavioral based interview questions?

In many ways, a behavioral interview resembles other types of job interviews. There isn’t a difference in the actual format of the job interview. You will still meet with an interviewer and respond to interview questions. The difference is in the type of interview questions that they will ask you.

Review information on the difference between behavioral and traditional job interviews, examples of questions, and how to handle a behavioral interview.

Behavioral Interview Questions For Salespeople Or People Who Are Being Hired To Focus On New Business

• Cite 3 common problems that your customers have. Also, do tell me how do you solve those?
• Has there been any particularly difficult sales call that you had to make in the past few years?
• Have you created any new sales approach using your own mettle and research skills?
• What impact did it have on the organization and your own growth?
• Is there any particular organization sales that you remember being conducted solely because of your skills?
• Have you ever been in a situation when you managed to sell your high-priced product when the customer was clearly inclined towards buying a low-priced one from the competitor?
• Have you ever dealt with angry customers?
• Was there any sales process where you thought silence would be better than words?

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Whats The Point Of Behavioural Interview Questions

Is it a new form of torture? Are these questions asked to trip you up?

The purpose of behavioural interview questions is to understand who you are, how you think, and how you approach real world dilemmas. Your answers to these behavioural questions can help the interviewer gauge how you may complement the current team.

While the goal of the interviewer is to learn more about you, your goal is to position yourself in the best possible light. Each of your answers should highlight one of the following themes:

• Self-awareness
• Self-reliance
• A willingness to help another individual

That said, you should also keep your answers as realistic as possible. Itâs a delicate balance between pride and humility. Itâs a lot easier to keep that balance when you stay focused on one of the above themes.

Give Me An Example Of How You Set Goals

This question is designed to show the interviewer how well you plan and set goals. A great answer is one where you discuss an ambitious goal you set for yourself and how you came up with a plan for success.

Example:“Within a few weeks of beginning my job as a server at a restaurant, I knew I wanted to work in the foodservice industry as a chef. I decided I would learn all I could in my current position until an opening became available in the kitchen, even for less pay. I wanted the experience of working in a restaurant kitchen environment. I also started saving up money at that time to go to the culinary academy. I knew that by the time I finished school, I would have been working in the kitchen for a number of years and would be highly competitive as a candidate for chef roles.”

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How To Answer Behavioral Interview Questions

When you answer behavioral interview questions, your success stories should include the following three things:

• the situation
• the action you took
• the result

Here is an example of a behavioral interview question and answer if you were interviewing for a sales position:

“What would you do if you had a customer who wasn’t interested in buying the product?”

• The situation: I had a customer who did not want to hear about the features of my merchandise because of a prior interaction with my company.
• The action: I listened to her story and made sure I heard her complaint. I then explained how I would have handled the situation differently and how I can offer her better service. I showed her some facts that changed her mind about dealing with the company again.
• The result: She not only bought the merchandise, but also complimented how I handled her account. She is now one of my best customers.

While it may seem like the main achievement here is the sale itself, the answer also speaks to the self-awareness and emotional maturity of the candidate. This person was able to recognize the issue, listen to the disgruntled customer, acknowledge the shortcomings of her previous experience, and explain how the situation would be rectified should the customer choose to purchase the product this time around.

Behavior Interview Tips: A Final Word

“The number one thing that job candidates need to have in their back pocket for a behavioral interview is a set of stories that demonstrates their abilities,” Hock says. “I recommend that my clients have three key stories they want to tell, and find a way to get them in.”

These stories should reflect your behavior in at least three different areas. For instance, you might use examples that show times you initiated an event, resolved a conflict and played an important role in the success of a team that could answer many types of behavioral interview questions.

No matter what type of story you’re telling, you should first and foremost display the type of confidence that could make you stand out. “Have faith in yourself, remain calm and confident, and realize that really does need someone with your skills to help make their team and company better,” says career expert Gregory Serrien.

Jacob Bayer, CEO of Luminext Incorporated, sums it up: “My advice for all: find what makes your services unique and then find those who value your uniqueness.”

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