Over the last few years, we’ve "tackled" some of the most difficult interview questions a hiring manager can throw at you (Top 50 Interview Questions and Weird Interview Questions). One area we haven’t tackled is behavioral interview questions. Behavioral interview questions specifically focus on the employer trying to predict how you’ll react to common workplace situations.
The 10 questions below are examples of what you may hear during a real job interview. Included with each question is a description of what the interviewer is looking for and an example of a bad answer to their question:
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Question 1: Describe a time at a previous job when you had many projects or assignments due at the same time. What steps did you take to get them all done?
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for: Planning, organization and time management.
Bad Answer: My procrastination often leads to issues just like this one. The method I usually use to tackle multiple items at once is to call in sick until I have it all done.
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Question 2: Tell me about a time you were able to successfully deal with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for: Teamwork, collaboration
Bad Answer: First of all, everyone likes me. But consider this hypothetical situation. Let's assume you hate me and I hate you. Would you consider this process a success if you offered me a job and I accepted it? If so, which part of that would be a success? Team cohesion isn’t all rainbows and flowers. Sometimes you need to pop zits.
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Question 3: Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for: Interpersonal skills
Bad Answer: Funny you should ask this question. Just last night, my wife said she was tired and had a headache when we got into bed. It took some pillow talk, and maybe even a little whining and pouting on my part, but she eventually saw things my way. I can be very persuasive.
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Question 4: Describe a time when you set your sights too high (or too low).
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for: Honesty, integrity
Bad Answer: I think we've all been there, am I right (proposition for high five)? On the low side, I'd be lying if I didn't tell you there were times I went to the dark, dingy bar and looked for the most depressing girl in the back corner. As far as setting my sights too high, I ordered two burritos at Chipotle once. It was an arrogant move on my part, but I learned a lot from that experience.
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Question 5: What tricks or techniques have you learned to make school or a job easier, or to make yourself more effective?
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for: Initiative
Bad Answer: This is a tough one because I have so many ways I've made jobs and school easier. I pride myself on making things easy. Where should I begin? When I was a senior in high school, I realized that you could put forth half the effort and still get a B+. That B+ attitude has made things much easier for me during my career. A B+ attitude was really a precursor to effective slacking. It led to things like knowing how to sneak out of work early, finding ways to sleep at the office, and mastering web surfing among other things.
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Question 6:What do you consider to be your greatest achievement so far and why?
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for:Goal setting
Bad Answer: Without a doubt, finding the secret bomb spots on Zelda without the use of Nintendo Power is my single greatest achievement of all time.
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Question 7:Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year.
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for:Decision making
Bad Answer: I had a terrible situation early this year in which I pulled up to a Wendy's drive thru only to discover they had changed their french fries to some sea salt bulls**t. Before I knew it, the drive thru employee was asking me what I'd like to order and if I’d like a frosty. I made an executive decision to quickly speed away to the nearest McDonalds. But after I ordered a frosty.
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Question 8:Tell me about a problem that you’ve solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome? Were you happy or satisfied with it?
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for:Creativity
Bad Answer: My toilet clogged up not too long ago and we were without plunger. We had guests at the house so there wasn't time to go buy a plunger. I went out to my garage and grabbed a hockey stick and jammed that sucker right in through the john-hole. Unclogged the sucker in a matter of seconds. I then sold that same hockey stick to a second hand store. Suckers.
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Question 9:What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for:Communication
Bad Answer: Avoidance is always the best way to deal with conflict. By avoiding conflict, it is impossible to have conflict. For example, I had a manager schedule an urgent meeting on my calendar and the subject was "Follow up on late tasks". I knew this was probably going to get quite heated, so I avoided the meeting and applied for this job.
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Question 10: Tell me about a time where you had to conform to a policy for which you did not agree.
Behaviors the interviewer is looking for:Flexibility
Bad Answer:There are so many to chose from, where should I begin?
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For more information about behavioral interview questions and all interview questions, visit JobInterviewQuestions.org. They seem to have a plethora of information.
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