Behavioral interviews are becoming more and more popular in this highly competitive job market. The main reason that employers like the behavioral interview is that it can predict the future actions of candidates quite accurately. What do we mean by this?

Traditional interview questions – the ones you may be more used to – typically call for highly objective answers and can be based on misperceptions. For instance, how you answer the question, "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" is based on your own perception of yourself. Since the employer does not yet know you, he or she cannot judge the accuracy of your answers. However, interview behavior questions & answers provide the interviewer with much greater insight into how your mind works. As the name implies, behavioral questions focus on just that: your actual behavior – and not your perceptions. In this type of interview, the interviewer has targeted several specific behaviors and attitudes that the job requires, and has designed interview behavior questions & answers that will shed light on whether you might be a good fit for the position.

Interview behavior questions & answers examples

Here are some typical interview behavioral questions:

• Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without sufficient information. How did the situation work out?
• Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone who did not like you. How did you deal with the situation? What was the outcome?
• Describe a decision you made that was unpopular. Why did you make the decision? How did you sell your decision? What was the outcome?
• If you are given an assignment that you don't know how to handle, what would you do?
• What would you do if a customer complains about you to your boss?
• Tell me about a time when someone's interruptions were in danger of causing you to miss a deadline. What did you do?

Notice how much more specific and detailed this type of question is than traditional, straightforward interview questions. The idea behind the success of interview behavior questions & answers is that a person's past performance is a good indicator of his or her future performance.

Navigating interview behavior questions & answers

While answering this type of question may seem more difficult than traditional questions, actually, with a little practice, you may find that the answers come more naturally since you're simply recalling your past experiences. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind for answering behavioral questions in a way that will help your interviewer the most:

• Always relate the question to a specific instance in your career.
• Describe the tasks that were related to the instance. What was the expected outcome?
• Describe your actions in relation to the task or instance. What did you do? Why did you decide to do it?
• Always describe the actual outcome of your actions, even if it wasn't favorable. What did you learn from the experience? What might you do differently if faced with a similar situation?

In answering interview behavioral questions this thoroughly, you show that you understand what the interviewer is looking for and that you're willing to offer up the information to help them make the best decision.

Additional tips for handling interview behavior questions & answers

• Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. Just answer the question as honestly as you can, while focusing on describing your actions during the situation.
• Don't feel attacked by the interviewer's follow up questions, which may feel very probing. The interviewer is simply trying to understand how and why you've acted in situations he or she believes related to the job, and is not personally attacking you.
• Relax and take a deep breath before answering. It's ok to take a few minutes to think of your answer.
• If you're describing a stressful situation, avoid the temptation to get upset all over again. Detach yourself from the emotions of the situation, and describe the details as factually as possible.
• Smile! Speak smoothly and confidently.

With some practice and preparation, you'll find that you can handle the more difficult interview behavior questions & answers successfully and with confidence.

The “stumper” is any question that stops you in your tracks, and can threaten to derail your interview. Even though you can’t prepare for the content of the stumper, with the proper interview techniques you can prepare for encountering a stumper in the first place.

Here are some tips to help you do that. 

Interview Techniques for when you don’t understand the question

 Ask the interviewer to elaborate on the question, or give an example of what he or she means. More information may help you understand what end result the interviewer is looking for, and is much better than plunging ahead with an answer that doesn’t truly fit. Your interviewer will appreciate you taking the question seriously enough to give an answer that helps them. 

Interview Techniques for when your mind simply goes blank

This is normal – it happens. Silence during an interview is not only ok, it’s also one of the most effective interview techniques. (Refer to the article:"Awkward Pauses": Good or Bad during an Interview?  ) It’s acceptable to ask for a moment to think. It’s also alright to ask to come back to that question at the end of the interview to give yourself a chance to think about it in the back of your mind. Make a note, and be sure to address the question later. 

Interview Techniques for questions from left field

 Sometimes an interviewer will ask you a question that seems to have nothing to do with the job at hand. Just because may you don’t see how the question relates, don’t skim over it lightly. He or she may be curious about the breadth of your knowledge outside of their industry, or may simply want to see how your mind works. Answer the question as thoroughly as possible.

Interview Techniques for inappropriate questions

Interview techniques work both ways, and interviewers are not always up to par with theirs. If your potential employer asks you a question about your age or family situation, try to give an answer that creatively promotes your skills without directly answering the question. For instance, you can play down questions about age by saying something like:  “Even though I’m fairly young, the experience I gained at xxx would be beneficial…” or “I’ve lived enough years to gain valuable experience in xxx…”  Most interviewers will pick up your queue and back down. If the question is even more sensitive (such as regarding your sexual preferences or religion), it’s acceptable to politely say that you’d rather not share that private information, and gently guide the interview back to the skills you can bring to the job.

 Encountering the dreaded stumper is not the end of your chances to win the job. Use these interview techniques to climb gracefully over this obstacle and continue with your interview on its original path. Visit this link to understand more about this tactic: How to Answer Difficult Questions in Job Interview 

Add this fear to the already stressful interview situation, and it can
seem pretty overwhelming. While I don’t necessarily recommend the old
trick of imagining the panel of professionals in front of you naked in
order to put yourself at ease, I do have some tips for gearing your
communication skills toward dealing with a larger audience than you may
be accustomed to.

Tweaking Your Communication Skills for a Larger Audience

• Make eye contact

You already know that
maintaining eye contact is one of the most effective communication
skills, but now you have to maintain eye contact with multiple sets of
eyes. So that you don’t end up looking around like a scared rabbit, try
keeping your eyes first on the person asking each question, and then
direct your answer them all. Look at each person casually as you
answer, changing your gaze no more than about once every 10-15 seconds.
(Practice this the next time you’re talking with a group of friends,
and notice how easily it can be done.)

• Listen

We all know the communication skills mantra:
we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. While interviews are meant
for presenting yourself to potential employers, be sure to really hear
what each person is asking, and allow time for your answers to sink in.
If you notice someone looking confused or unsatisfied with an answer
you give, it’s ok to ask them if they’d like for you to elaborate.

• Practice

Ask some friends to help you prepare. Have
them sit in front of you in a semi-circle, give each a copy of your
resume, and have them ask you questions. Practice your eye contact, and
including each person in your answers. Ask for feedback on how you’re
coming across, and make adjustments until you’re able to appear relaxed
and confident.

Beyond Communication Skills –

• Prepare Yourself

The person who schedules your
interview may not volunteer the fact that you’ll be interviewing with
more than one person. It’s ok to ask exactly who you’ll be interviewing
with so you can prepare yourself mentally. (Added bonus: knowing and
memorizing their names up front will help during the interview, since
the first few minutes of introductions are usually a blur!)

• Adapt your answers

During the interview, try to
think about the questions you are asked from the perspective of each
person in the room – or at least from one other angle than the obvious.
These people probably represent different departments and/or management
levels. For this reason, expect follow-up questions and strive to
understand what angle they’re looking for and help them learn what they
want to know.

However, don’t be thrown off or insulted if some people in the room
never say a word. They could be there simply to observe and not ask
questions. Include these people in your eye contact and answers anyway.

Interviews are already stressful situations, and compounding them
with the added dimension of a panel can certainly be intimidating, but
think of this as your opportunity to show how you can perform under
pressure. After all, you must be considered a viable candidate to
warrant all this attention and time. Let that thought give you that
extra boost of confidence you need to let your natural communication
skills shine through.

Really? 

Actually, there are very few good excuses for being late to a job interview, and Mary’s just don’t cut it. If she is lucky, Mary’s potential employer will give her a chance and interviewer her despite her tardiness. However, even if the interview continues, most employers will view this negligence as an indicator of her time management skills – and this is not a good representation!

Here are some time management tips to help you make sure that you don’t make the same mistake Mary did.

Scout it Out

Make absolutely sure that you know exactly where the interview is to
take place. Online driving direction tools such as MapQuest are
helpful, but remember that sometimes they can be wrong. The best policy
is to do a “dry run” and drive to the building yourself ahead of time.
If it’s a crowded downtown area, scout the best parking opportunities.
If possible, make the trip around the scheduled time of your interview
so you can take into account how traffic might affect your drive time.

Allow Plenty of Time

I’m not talking about leaving 15 minutes earlier than you think you
should. I’m talking about at least an hour. Especially if you tend to
live by Murphy’s Law, bad things can and will happen, and time
management experts agree that the trick is to plan for them.

Get to the interview site at least 30 minutes early, and an hour is
better. Pay for parking as close to the building as possible, if
necessary, instead of circling around the area looking for a free or
cheaper space. Then find a coffee shop or someplace else to sit quietly
and relax. Spend some time reviewing your resume and your prepared
questions to get your mind ready for the interview. (Click here for
more information about preparing for an interview.)

Then, check in with the receptionist at the office at least ten
minutes prior to your scheduled time. This will give you a few minutes
to sit quietly, take a few deep breaths, and allow your heart rate to
slow down. You’ll also have a few minutes to get the “lay of the land”,
and maybe even scope out a few of your fellow applicants.

Communicate

Despite this preparation, if you do find yourself running late for
some reason, call the office as soon as you realize it and give an
accurate estimate of your time of arrival. It may be that your
interviewer’s schedule won’t allow enough time for a sufficient
interview, and to continue with the plan would be a waste of both of
your time. If this is the case, politely ask to reschedule the meeting.
If you’re lucky, this will work. If not, chalk it up to experience and
use better time management to be on time for your next interview!

Remember, your potential employer is a busy person, and to
disrespect his or her time is rude and will not bode well in your
chances of winning the job. Use these simple time management tips to
ensure that you arrive on time and put your best foot forward.

“Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a boss or co-worker.
How did you handle the situation?”
“What kinds of things make it difficult for your to do your job?”
“Why are you leaving your current job?”

In asking this type of question, interviewers are trying to find out
how you deal with difficult situations and whether you are able to
solve problems constructively. Also, they want to learn about your
personality, and how you react to negative situations.

Here are some presentation skills and tips for projecting a positive attitude even when answering the most difficult questions:

Use Positive Body Language

It’s hard to project positivity when you’re slumped in your chair,
not smiling, or listless. Sit up straight, smile pleasantly, and look
alert and enthusiastic. These small actions are some of the most basic
presentation skills that go a long way in helping you put your best
foot forward.

Choose Stories that Have a Good Ending

It’s okay to take a moment to formulate your best answer. Think
through where your example will end before you begin the story, so you
don’t talk yourself into a negative outcome. (For more information
about pauses and silences during an interview, click here .)

Balance the Bad with Some Good

In every example you give, be sure to include some redeeming
quality. For instance, in explaining how a lack of information impeded
your progress during an important project in your last job, you can
mention that as a result you learned about a little-known website that
was very helpful and that you were able to share it with your
co-workers.

Be a Problem-Solver

Don’t just talk about the problem. Demonstrate your problem-solving
skills by explaining how you turned the negative situation into a
positive one.

Never, Never, Never Bad-mouth Anyone!

No matter how you feel personally about the story you’re telling, or no
matter how much the other person was a fault, it is a big mistake to
say anything negative about another person. This can make you sound
like you may be likely to badmouth people in your new job. Even worse,
your potential employer may wonder if you might speak this way about
him or her if you leave this job. The best policy is to just present
the facts objectively, and then use your presentation skills to apply
your positive spin.

Another favorite question interviewers like to as is, “When you’re in a bad mood, how does it show?” 
Your first inclination may be to answer that you’re more quiet than
normal, or you keep to yourself. However, this tells the interviewer
that you may be prone to letting your personal life interfere with your
work. The answer to this question should be, “It doesn’t!” (And then, when you get hired, be sure you follow through with this answer!)

Interviewers do not expect you to be perfect, or to never encounter
difficulties. However, they do want to know that you react to and deal
with adversity in a constructive way. So use these simple presentation
skills to put a positive spin on negative situations, and you’ll excel
at answering these difficult interview questions.

In our fast-paced society, with a constant stream of information, talk,
and even just “white noise” flowing around us at all times, we are
trained to feel the need to fill the empty spaces. And when these
pauses happen, especially during a job interview, most people’s first
thought is that something has gone dreadfully wrong with their
communication skills.

But this is not always the case. Pauses and silences are not
necessarily a breach in the communication skills of either the
interviewer or the interviewee. Instead, they are a necessary part of
processing information effectively, and can even be an indication that
the interview is going well!

Here are some examples of “healthy pauses” and how they can be used successfully during an interview.

• If the interviewer asks you a difficult question, it is
  perfectly fine to ask for a few moments to think about your answer.
  Most likely, the interviewer will be impressed that you are taking the
  time to carefully formulate your best response.
• If the
  interviewer is taking notes, give him or her time to write between each
  question. The fact that the interviewer is writing down your answers
  and their impressions means that they want to remember them – and
  that’s a good thing.
• Sometimes the interviewer may need a
  moment to think about your answer to a question. He or she may be
  considering an idea that hadn’t occurred to them until something you
  said triggers it, and may come up with a follow-up question or two that
  will help reveal something unique and useful about you in relation to
  the job at hand that would not come out if you nervously “fill the
  spaces”.

Some additional tips for using pauses and silence:

• Practice being comfortable during pauses. Learning to use
  silence effectively is as important to cultivating effective
  communication skills as what you say.
• Use this time to look
  around the room and find ways to “make a connection” with your
  potential employer (click here for more information on this technique).
• Don’t
  be alarmed if the interviewer does not respond to your questions. Most
  interviewers are trained to remain neutral, and do not want to give an
  indication of how the interview is going at this time.
• If
  the interviewer pauses after an answer and is not taking notes, it
  could be a signal that your answer was not quite what he or she was
  looking for. It’s ok to ask if you misunderstood the question, or
  whether he or she would like you to elaborate.

As awkward as pauses and silences may feel to us naturally, they are
actually a vital part of effective communication skills. Try to retrain
your reaction to them, and use pauses to your advantage in your next
interview.

Another advantage of this interview technique is that it can help the
interviewer understand more about you personally, and how you interact
with people. If your job is people-facing, this can be an important
determining factor. Also, aside from your qualification and experience,
another important consideration for your interviewer is how you will
likely fit in with other people in the office.

Even if you are not particularly good at making small talk, this is
still a skill that you can learn. Here are some tips for using this
effective interview technique to weave in conversation that will help
you connect on a personal level with your potential employer.

• Look for Clues

Look around the
interviewer’s office for any personal effects that might open the door
to a connection. For example, if you see a photograph of a very large
family gathering, you comment on it and mention that you, too come from
a large family (if you do). Find something in the room that you can
personally connect with, and then make a casual and sincere comment
about it.

• Listen for Cues

The skill of listening is
just as important an interview technique as presenting yourself well.
If your interviewer seems uncomfortable talking about personal
information, follow his or her lead. You do not want your attempt to
feel forced or fake. However, if a conversation does develop, do not
take the reigns: let the interviewer remain in control of the
interview.

• Cost your Line

Once you have developed a
personal connection with your interviewer, use it as “bait” you cast
out with your line. For example, if you’ve discovered that you both
have read a certain book, offer to send an interesting review you found
recently. And here’s an extra-special tip: you can use this interview
technique if you haven’t actually read a review! Thanks to the
internet, you can always do some quick research and find one later.
Think creatively, and find some chance to follow up after the interview
is over

• Follow up

To
continue the fishing analogy, don’t forget to “reel in” the bait you
left, and actually follow through on the offer you made. The purpose of
leaving the bait was so that you would have a valid excuse for
contacting your interviewer again, which further cements you in his or
her mind. Send the materials you promised

You never know – even if you are ultimately not chosen for the
position, making this connection may still be valuable to you if
additional positions become available with the company. And making
yourself stand out in the interviewers mind may help them remember to
recommend you to other hiring parties within their company or even
external contacts in his or her network.

So give this little-known interview technique a try in your next
interview. Making a personal connection with your interviewer may just
be the thing that tips the scales in your favor over other candidates
with the same skills and experience. I think you’ll find that it
increases your chance of winning a job position that is an excellent
fit for you.

Your first inclination may be to ask how you did, and whether you will be hired. However, it probably isn’t advisable to ask these questions directly during the interview. Instead, consider this phase of the interview as a chance to display your presentation skill by asking intelligent questions that show your interest in the position.

Here are some questioning techniques that will help you indirectly glean some information on your performance during the interview, as well as give you a chance to show off your presentation skill while learning information to help you determine if the company is a good fit.

Do Your Homework First

Prior to your interview, be sure to do your research. Being prepared is
of vital importance in displaying your presentation skill to your
potential employer when the time comes.

Look for as much information as you can find about the company from
their website and any articles you may find by performing a Google
search on the company name. Look for information such as company
direction and expansion, and begin to think about how this information
might affect you and the position you are interviewing for.

Write Your Questions Down

Interviewers usually have a written list of questions for you, so
why not do this same? Consider this opportunity as your chance to
interview the company.  The key to developing and displaying your
presentation skill to your potential employer is in letting them know
how much thought you’ve put into preparing for this interview.

Ask the Questions

When the interviewer gives you the floor, actually pull out your
prepared list of questions. This tells the interviewer how serious you
are about obtaining the position, and helps bolster your presentation
skill by showing the interviewer your ability to think ahead and
prepare for situations.
As the interviewer answers the questions, take notes to show that
you’re listening and are interested in remembering the answers. Ask
follow-up questions as appropriate.

“How Did I Do?”

While it’s generally unacceptable to ask how you did in an
interview, I do encourage asking what the next steps are and the
timeline for them.  The answer may help you figure out their reaction
to you.  If the interviewer takes the time to explain how many people
are left to interview and the remaining steps in the hiring process,
they are probably interested.  However, if he or she simply tells you
that you will hear from them, the outcome may not be as promising.

As for the “how did I do” question: if you are not awarded the job,
it is acceptable to directly but respectfully ask for feedback on how
the interview went. Consider sending a note similar to this:

Thanks again for the opportunity to interview for XX position in
your company. Since I was not arded the position, I would greatly
appreciate your feedback and any suggestions for improvement you might
have for me. This information will be of great value to me as I
continue my job search.

Who knows? Maybe this extra step will help keep you in contact with
(and in the mind of) the interviewer for future positions within the
company.