Behavioral Interviewing Questions

Behavioral interviewing involves asking a series of questions to determine how you accomplished something in a previous job or activity. This technique allows the interviewer to assess your skills, knowledge and experience using real world examples to learn if you can perform similarly in the open position. Behavioral interviewing follows the STAR acronym (Specific Situation or Task, Actions and Results). Using the STAR, an interviewer might ask, “Give me an example of an idea you had to improve your organization’s processes or procedures. How did you develop this idea? What was the final result?”

I went over to Indeed.com and looked at an advertisement for an Administrative Assistant. Among the job responsibilities for the listing are:

• Heavy management of Outlook calendars and scheduling appointments for Senior Leadership Team Members & respective departments.
• Organizes team offsite meetings/conferences by arranging facilities, catering, WebEx details and preparing agendas/materials needed.
• Types memos, creates/modifies PowerPoint Presentations, Excel Spreadsheets as needed.

Other than the education and experience, the job also requires the following skills:

• Proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Problem solving—the individual identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner, gathers and analyzes information skillfully and maintains confidentiality.
• Planning/organizing—the individual prioritizes and plans work activities and uses time efficiently.

Let’s look at some behavioral questions that relate to these.

Position Responsibilities:
1. Give me an example of a high visibility meeting or conference that you had to arrange. Take me through the steps you followed to coordinate the facility, logistics and meeting materials. Tell me about the result of these activities?
2. You say that you are proficient in creating PowerPoint presentations. Explain the types of presentations that you created in your previous position. Who was your audience and how did you tailor your presentations to their needs?”

Position Skills
1. The position requires independent problem solving. Describe a situation when you needed to cooperate with others to solve a problem. What steps did you follow? What were the results?
2. Give me an example of a time when you had to work within a tight deadline. Tell me specifically the steps you took and the results of these actions.

It helps to be prepared with STAR examples for all of the job responsibilities and skill sets that are listed in the description. You may not be asked about each of them but it is better to be prepared than not. One of my previous blogs mentioned preparing for the interview by charting the job description and noting your activities and accomplishments that relate to them. Not only will this exercise remind you of your activities and accomplishments, it may also reinforce your self-confidence in the interview. More STAR questions are listed in Job Search for Moms.

Networking and the Penguin

One of my friends forwarded this quick video about a penguin being chased by a pod of killer whales. After looking at it I thought about the job search (I know...) Here's what it said to me.
If you are feeling discouraged and wonder if you are running (swimming) in circles, take a break and network. After catching your breath you can jump back in.

Preparing for the Behavioral Interview

They are called SAR, TAR, STAR and other names but they all mean the same thing. The acronyms stand for a type of behavior interviewing. What is behavioral interviewing? It is a questioning technique used to learn how you will perform on the job based upon your past experience.

SAR stands for Situation, Actions, and Results. TAR means Task, Actions, Results and STAR is Specific Situation or Task, Actions and Results.

To prepare for behavioral interview questions it helps to:

1. Review the position description and highlight the required skills and competencies.

2. Create a four column chart with the following information. Column one should list the skills and competencies required of the open position (easiest part). In column two, write down a Task or Situation that you had either on the job or with an outside activity that specifically relates to these requirements. For example, if the job description states, “Work with outside venues to plan conferences and events”, write down the tasks that you completed that relate to this description. You could write, “Pharmaceutical Sales Meeting in Florida at the Miami Convention Center in 2009.” Write an example or two for each of the required skills or competencies listed.

Column three should be labeled Actions. In this area, write down everything you did to support the task mentioned in the previous column. Using the same example as before, your Actions list can contain information such as working with the Convention Center to secure conference rooms and equipment, making hotel and meal arrangements for 300 pharmaceutical sales representatives, ensuring the materials arrive at least four days prior to the event, arranging for transportation, etc. Your final column should contain measurable accomplishments or Results. As a result of all of your hard work, what happened? Again, using the same example, you would state that 95% of the event participants listed attention to detail as “Excellent” on the evaluation sheet.

This form can serve as a Cheat Sheet for preparing for your interview and you should review and revise it as necessary. What is important about this sheet is that it states the actions and results of your activities. It doesn’t (and should never) answer how you would do something. Rather it answers what you actually did.

The next time we meet, I will share some behavioral interviewing questions that may be asked on an interview. If you complete this worksheet, you will be better able to answer those inevitable questions with certainty and confidence.

Those Common Interviewing Questions and How To Respond

After many years in HR I found that most managers don’t like to interview. We scheduled classes and those who bothered to show up didn’t jump in and want to participate. They were there to hear about the law and make sure they weren’t asking anything that could get them or the company into trouble. I personally think that since many managers are promoted based upon their subject matter expertise, the majority just don’t like to do it.
No matter how hard we stress behavioral interviewing; those questions that focus on how an applicant actually did something, most interviewing managers will return to the more familiar questions such as:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What are your strengths?
3. What are your weaknesses?
4. Why do you want to work here?

Why these questions? Because they are familiar, comfortable and don’t take a lot of effort. How can you use them to your benefit?

Tell me about yourself is a general introductory statement and a good place to insert your elevator speech. Depending on a number of reasons including your age, or if you just graduated your responses will vary. An example can be, “I am thrilled to be with you today to talk about the Editing Manager position. I have over 10 years of experience writing and editing communications in the global pharmaceutical industry at company name(s) and my work has been featured twice in the New York Medical Journal. I look forward to sharing that with you today.”
Make sure to include how your experience relates to the opening wording in the job description.
Tip – Align your wording to their business needs.

What are your strengths? Relate your strengths to the open position. If the first few descriptors in the job posting state¸ “Respond to requests for information and communicate with other departments with minimal supervision” and “Work independently with minimal supervision", how would you respond? You could explain your ability to proactively respond to requests for information from department members and customers without any disruption in the workflow. Another response that relates to the position is to mention how you have been recognized by your manager for your ability to work under pressure and without direct supervision.
NOTE: Only state the truth. Review the job description and create real examples of how your accomplishments align to these.

What are your weaknesses? Relate this to a job related weaknesses only. After stating the weakness, immediately explain the steps you took to correct it. If, for example your weakness is disorganization, you might say the following. “After attending a time management class I realized that my disorganization stemmed from poor prioritization. I now prioritize my workload every morning and have learned to stay focused on the goals of the task, especially when solving complex problems.”

Why do you want to work here? If you thoroughly do your homework about a company and learn about their products, services, customer base and work environment, you are prepared to answer this question. (Your LinkedIn research can help you here.) Be prepared to talk about one or two of those items found in your research. Is it their renowned customer service, the way they give back to the community, their cutting edge research and development? You might want to state something you recently read in a news article to support this.

Additional interviewing information can found in Job Search for Moms. I look forward to hearing from you. What types of questions have you come across?

Oprah Winfrey and O Dream Board

I subscribe to Oprah Winfrey's electronic newsletter. Over the past few months it has provided a lot of good articles on understanding yourself and who you are meant to be. Several months ago there was a career assessment from Marcus Buckingham that was spot on.

Today Oprah introduced a new feature called the O Dream Board and readers are asked to plan, set goals and chart a course for success (so similar to Job Search for Moms - why hasn't Oprah called me yet?). Try the quiz entitled, Are You Heading In the Right Direction."

Book Signing - Somerville, NJ Public Library 5/8/10

This Saturday May 8th from 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM I will be at the Somerville Public Library doing a book signing. I'd love for you to drop by. Job Search for Moms is a perfect Mother's Day Gift, especially since it may come with a hand-painted bookmark.

HR Wisdom Blogs - Help for Your Job Search

The following blogs were recently recognized as the top 50 Blogs for HR Wisdom. What do you think? Do you have any to add? Please feel free to add your own.

Interviewing and Your DiSC Style

I wrote this for another job search blogging site and they included it in a contest. I didn't choose the picture that they included with the article; they must have related 'style" to wardrobe.

What do you think? You can vote by leaving a comment. Thanks all.

http://blogging4jobs.com/job-search/personal-style-and-the-interview

Personal Style and the Interview

Many articles have been written about perfecting your resume or honing your interviewing skills. While those are key elements, your interviewing style is rarely mentioned. Understanding style, both yours and that of the interviewer may help you ace an interview. One instrument to measure your style is the DiSC™ Classic.

History
The DiSC behavioral assessment is based upon the research of William Moulton Marston (1928) on how people respond to various environmental effects. Studied and modified over the years, the DiSC is a tool used to assess your behavior and interpersonal skills and those of others.

DiSC Styles
While people are usually a combination of styles, the DiSC states that in certain situations, people usually behave in a consistent manner and fall into one or two of the following quadrants.

D: Dominance
• Results oriented
• Accepts challenges
• Problem Solver
• Questions Status Quo
• Authoritative

i: Influence
• People oriented
• Articulate/optimistic
• Enthusiastic
• Motivational
• Participatory

S: Steadiness
• Skills oriented
• Consistent
• Good listener
• Patient, Considerate
• Promotes harmonious environment

C: Conscientious
• Detail oriented
• Analytical
• Diplomatic
• Systematic

DiSC Style and the Interview Process
Often, our personal style is reflected in our occupations. For example, a scientist may be a high”C”, while a sales representative may be high in “I”. A manager may have high “D” tendencies and a writer may be higher in the “S” arena. Most job postings refer to certain competencies an employee would need to satisfactorily complete a job. Terms such as “detail oriented,” “team player”, “focused”, or "outstanding customer service” can give you an idea of the type of behavior needed for the job.

In an interview, your personal style and that of your interviewer should be taken into account. While it is vital to be prepared with specific examples of your past accomplishments, it is also important to consider how you present yourself to the interviewer. Keeping this in mind, reflect on your style and behaviors and follow the lead of the interviewer. The chart below describes some of the behaviors demonstrated by the four DiSC styles and suggested responses to those questioning styles.

Dominance: Direct, Forceful, Decisive, Quick. Your responses should be direct and succinct.

Influence: Gregarious, Persuasive, Pleasant, Influential. You should be personable and cordial.

Steadiness: Passive, Patient, Team Oriented, Active Listener. Provide task clarification, display sincerity.

Conscientious: Accurate, Factual, Diplomatic, Systematic. If asked, provide detail and process.

The Last Word

It can be overwhelming to consider personal style along with all the other factors surrounding an interview. If this is the case, concentrate only on your style and recognize that you may respond to certain questions or situations based upon that style.

For more information about DiSC styles, please visit any of the websites devoted to the study of DiSC behavior.