Behavioral Job Interview
Sample Questions For a behavioral screening:
- What type of opportunity/position are you looking
for? Describe your ideal job.
- What are you looking for in this position?
- What is your ideal work environment?
- How would your current teacher/co-worker describe
your work?
- What are your top three priorities or motivators?
- What areas in your career are you interested in
further developing?
- Tell me about a time when you had to create
something new, or look at something from a different
perspective.
- Where do you see yourself next year? Next five
years?
- Can you give me an example of a time when you worked
in a team?
- How do you incorporate diversity into your
professional practices?
- Tell me about the toughest customer (internal or
external) you had to win over and how you did it.
- Describe examples of how you acquired experience in
X and how you have used this experience?
- Identify two accomplishments that you are most proud
of.
- Why should I hire you?
- What else would you like me to know about you?
More Sample Behavioral Interview Questions:
- Tell me about a time when your work or an idea of
yours was criticized.
- Describe a difficult problem that you've had to deal
with and how you resolved it.
- Describe a situation in which you were required to
work under pressure and how you reacted.
- Describe a time that you showed initiative.
- Tell me about a time when you put your foot in your
mouth.
- Describe a situation when you found yourself
challenged. How did it work out?
- Give an example of how you contributed toward a team
project in school or work.
- What is your typical way of dealing with conflict?
Give me an example.
- Tell me about a difficult decision you’ve made in
the last year.
- Give me an example of a time when you went beyond
the call of duty in order to get the job done.
- How do you determine what gets priority in
scheduling your time?
- Tell me about a time when you had to coordinate the
work of others.
- Give me a specific example of a time when you used
good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
- Tell me about a time when you used your written
communication skills to convey an important message.
- Describe a significant or creative project that you
completed.
- Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to an
uncomfortable situation.
- Describe for me a time when you failed at something
and how you responded.
- Think about a time when you felt overwhelmed or
stressed out. How did you handle it?
- Describe the most difficult professor or supervisor
you have had and tell me how you dealt with that
individual.
- Tell me about the last time you recognized a problem
in an organization in which you were involved.
Sample Behavioral Interview Answers:
- “Give me an example of an important goal you
had to set and tell me your progress in reaching that
goal.”
As a budget analyst, I was responsible for monitoring
our ever changing budget situation. At one point, my
supervisor told me that while we had three more months
in our fiscal year, our budget was set to run out in two
weeks. I then had to identify the amount necessary to
survive till the end of the fiscal year, as well as set
a higher goal of what the division would like to have. I
then met with the department heads to look over
individual budgets to see where some money could be cut.
Through this meeting we identified an issue with our
supply ordering. Each individual department ordered
supplies separately, which meant we were paying shipping
and handling charges for five different departments.
Each department also tasked their lead administrative
assistant with the supply tasks. Through consolidating
the supply issues throughout the division, we were able
to save a couple thousand dollars. Because of the crunch
time, many in the division were working overtime. I
worked with HR to devise a plan to pull us through the
end of the fiscal year. Instead of employees receiving
pay for overtime, comp time was given, with the
understanding that it would not be taken until after the
start of the next fiscal year. The department heads then
called me back in to discuss the possibility of
combining all the comp leave into an extended holiday
break. Employees are now able to take off the full week
between Christmas and New Years. This change in comp
leave versus overtime has been adopted company wide so
employees can choose to bank their comp time and after
accumulating enough to cover that extra week off, then
they are eligible for overtime.
- “Tell me about a time when you had to use a
persuasive argument to help someone see things your
way.”
I had been interested in obtaining my MBA for a
number of years. After doing research on George Mason
University, I decided that I was going to go for it. The
one prohibitive factor was the cost. The company I was
working for did not have a very liberal tuition
reimbursement program, in fact, it only covered $1500 a
year. I then put together a proposal for my manager,
including a Return-On-Investment analysis, and presented
it to him after my yearly review. I included information
on the program curriculum, cost, time commitment, as
well as the anticipated outcomes. After impressing my
manager with my presentation, I gave the same
presentation to the director of human resources as well
as the vice president of my business unit. In the end,
not only was I able to get the company to pay for my
education, but I was also able to work out a flexible
schedule to accommodate my studying needs. I stayed with
that company for another four years after my MBA until a
merger resulted in my layoff.
- “Describe for me a time when you had to deal
with a difficult person.”
I was moved to a new functional team within my
organization. The team I was moved to had been together
for quite some time, but had not been able to achieve
any of their objectives for a couple of months. I was
moved into the situation because I was a subject matter
expert relating to one aspect of their new objective. As
with most teams, there was a leader. This person
exhibited open hostility to my being added to the team.
She felt that the reason why their objectives had not
been achieved was due to management’s inability to trust
their decisions. After a week or two of being
consistently left out of vital communication, I
requested a meeting with the team leader. She still
exhibited hostility, so I told her I was there to assist
her and the team with achievement, not failure. I then
suggested we work together to identify the teams
previous barriers to success. After identifying the key
issues, I asked the team leader to identify what she
wanted to do to improve the team’s success. Her response
was she would like to have access to subject matter
experts because the team was made up of mostly
generalists. She then recognized that management did
what she wanted, she just didn’t get the chance to ask
for it first. After that initial confrontation, I was
acclimated to the group and we began not just
succeeding, but exceeding all expectations.
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