Use Behavioural Interviewing Techniques to Take Charge of Your Interviews

You are not alone if you dislike job interviews. Many job seekers are uncomfortable with the uncertainty of the interview situation.  The good news is that you can take charge of every interview, by using a common interview technique to your advantage.

I’m referring to the technique of behavioral interviewing, which simply means that interviewers ask very specific questions about real situations. The theory is that your past behavior is the best predictor of how you will behave in the future, so employers probe your background for clues.

Let’s imagine that XYZ company is looking for a Marketing VP who can generate a lot of buzz with a small budget.  In order to understand your experience in this area, an behavioral interviewer will ask:

“Tell me about a time when you had to promote a product with very little cash.”

or :

“Describe a time when you created a lot of excitement about a new launch using non-traditional marketing techniques.”

Behavioral interviewing has become quite common over the last 15 years and, you may well have experienced it yourself, either as an interviewer, or an interviewee.  Provided you are prepared (and we’ll talk about this in a moment) a behavioral interview gives you an excellent opportunity to talk in detail about your experiences and accomplishments.

Unfortunately, many interviews still follow the old format – the questions may be arbitrary, sometimes based on the content of your resume, sometimes on the preoccupations of the interviewer.  They may also be very general in nature.  For example, if the XYZ company isn’t using behavioral interviewing, they may ask VP candidates a question such as: “How much experience do you have working with a small budget?”  This question doesn’t invite the same detailed response as the request for a specific example – but who needs an invite?  The secret to wowing them at every interview is simply this:  act as though your were asked a behavioral question, even when you were not.

Imagine two different candidates for this fictional marketing position. When asked “How much experience do you have working with a small budget?”, Candidate A replies, “I’ve had to do that a lot actually – most of the companies I worked for were small to mid-size, so there was never a lot of opportunity to spend money. I’m very good in those situations and I always find a way to make things happen.”

Candidate B, however, gives a ‘behavioral’ answer:  “I’ve had to do that a lot actually. Let me give you a recent example... you know the film “Dark Night?” I created the campaign around that movie with a $10,000 budget.  It came to my attention because it was the only film all our staff were excited about, although it was a low-budget, independent production.  I decided to create a really cool web site themed around the film, and then we planted seeds of interest on forums and in chat rooms ... the whole thing took off within weeks and the movie eventually grossed millions. We never did run a single TV advertisement.” 

By answering in such a concrete and specific way, Candidate B brings himself to life – and ensures that he will be much more memorable than his competition.

You can use this technique for any question that is vague or general in nature:

Q: “How much do you know about?....”
A: “I’m very familiar – just recently I ....”

Q: “How often have you had to ....?”
A: “That’s something I’ve done frequently ... actually, I remember when ...”

The technique also works when an interviewer asks a hypothetical question:

Q: “What would you do if .....?
A: “Well, I faced a similar situation just last year. What happened was ... ”

PREPARATION IS KEY

To prepare effective stories you must first focus on the employer’s needs and then develop examples that demonstrate your ability to meet those needs.

The employer’s needs

Research the company before you go for the interview – identify their key business issues (Are they growing rapidly?  Are they in a crowded marketplace? Are they planning new product launches?) Get into the minds of the company’s executives and ask yourself: Given their business issues, what will they want to know about me?

Developing Your Examples

Use the C-A-R (challenge-action-result) formula to develop stories that demonstrate your ability to meet the needs of the employer.  If you know from your research that ABC Corporation needs a sales executive who can forge new strategic partnerships, develop stories about your experiences in that area.  Describe the initial challenge (e.g. need to enter a new market), the actions you took (researched the market, identified targets, met C-level decision-makers) and the results (built partnerships worth $15 million in revenues within 12 months). 

If your interviewers have been trained in behavioral interviewing, you’ll be exceptionally well-prepared.  But if not, you’ll be able to separate yourself from all the other candidates by telling compelling, interesting and targeted stories that demonstrate your ability to add value.

This article was also published in Career Hub's "Insider's Guide to Interviewing" which is one of a series of free eBooks available for download here.

Comments

[Margo Graziano]

Louise, great article. I just sold my recruiting firm after 23 years in the biz and your article is right on when it comes to getting the candidate ready for an interview. Kudos to you. I have a video, "Acing The Interview" on my old company's web site alliancehrnetwork.com -candidates have said it made huge differences for them in preparing for interviews.

[QuestingElf]

Unfortunately, some of the storytelling in behavioral interviews can be faked.

Additionally, if that really is true, that your past actions dictate your future actions, why would anybody ever bother taking self-improvement classes? Am I the same person at 34 that I was at 18?

Behavioral interviews do give you the chance to rewrite history, though. You can slant the parts that were good and delete the bad. It is impossible to verify everything that's stated during an interview. It has been noted that jobs many times go to those who sound better, not those who actually are.