Getting yourself mentally ready for a behavioral interview can be overwhelming. If you don’t know what questions the interviewer will ask, how can you ever feel confident that you are ready?
Behavioral-style interviews typically follow a similar format, even if you don’t know an interviewer’s exact questions. You can take specific steps to prepare for it, and hopefully walk out with your dream job.
Behavioral interviews provide insight into how a candidate has previously behaved in a particular situation. It’s not a perfect way of assessing past performance, but it does seem to do better than standard interview questions such as the good old “what is your greatest strength/weakness.”
– Tell me about a time a customer got upset with you.
– Describe a significant mistake you made and what you did to correct it.
– Tell me about a time when you were right, and others were wrong.
– Describe a time when you had to adapt to significant changes at work.
Step 1: Gather Your Stories
Finding practice questions online and then running through several examples isn’t a terrible approach. But it’s a reactive approach instead of a proactive one.
The key to mastering the behavioral interview is, in a word, stories. Well-organized and compelling stories are the key to nailing your behavioral interview.