In addition to the standard interview questions, employers are likely to ask “behavioral questions” designed to elicit from the interviewee specific examples of skills necessary for the job. To prepare for this type of question, be sure to get a job description that includes the qualifications and responsibilities of the position. Then be ready to answer questions remembering that you want to “STAR” during the interview.
If you can’t think of a job situation to use as an example, use classroom exercises or extracurricular activities.
The following are examples of questions of this type:
Situation—Describe the situation
Task(s)—Describe the task(s) involved
Action(s)—Describe the action(s) you took
Result(s)—What was the result of your action?
- Describe a time on any job that you’ve held in which you were faced with problems or stresses which tested your coping skills. What did you do?
- Give an example of a time in which you had to keep from speaking or not finish a task because you did not have enough information to come to a good decision.
- Give an example of a time in which you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
- Tell me about a time in which you had to use your spoken communication skills in order to get a point across that was important to you.
- Can you tell me about a job experience in which you had to speak up in order to be sure that other people knew what you thought or felt?
- Give me an example of a specific occasion in which you conformed to a policy with which you did not agree.
- Describe a situation in which you felt it necessary to be very attentive and vigilant to your environment.
- Give an example of a time in which you had to use your fact-finding skills to gain information for solving a problem; then tell me how you analyzed the information to come to a decision.
- Give me an example of an important goal that you had set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
- Describe the most significant written document/report/presentation that you had to complete.
- Give me an example of a time when you were able to communicate successfully with another person, even when that individual may not have personally liked you.
- Give me an example of a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty to get a job done.
- Describe a situation in which you were able to effectively “read” another person and guide your actions by your understanding of his/her individual needs or values.
- Describe a time in which you felt it was necessary to modify or change our actions in order to respond to the needs of another person.