Behavioral Interview Tips

Behavioral interviewing has become a quintessential part of job interviews. Behavioral interview involves strategic questioning that pin points a candidate's behavioral patterns. To ascertain if you are the right candidate, employers ask you to narrate a past incident, which demonstrates your skills in handling that particular situation. Behavioral interview acts as a tool to predict a candidate's future performance in the organization.

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Many candidates find behavioral interview an intimidating session. Keep in mind these few tips to help you go through the interview easily.

To prepare for a behavioral interview, you need to read your job profile very carefully. Try to determine what qualities would be required for that particular job and prepare accordingly.
Make a list of questions that could be asked based upon the job description. Prepare a rough outline of the answer you would like to present to the interviewer. Do not rehearse your answers.
Remember that behavioral interview is always based on your previous experience. Employers will want to know about a particular situation while you were working and how you influenced its outcome. It is best to answer such questions with minimal stress. Rather you should underscore the area where your approach resolved the problem or helped in improving the situation.
Maintain a flow while you speak. First, start with the concerned problem. Then, lead them to the action taken and finally the result. At the end, justify your approach and role.
The interviewers may deliberate and try to investigate further. Calmly explain the intricate details like what caused the situation and why did you think your approach was the right way to solve the problem at hand.
If you are a first time job seeker, speak about an incident during your school or college project. The employers are basically looking for your abilities to take on a challenge and the manner in which you reacted to a dilemma.
Try to answer every question as honestly as possible in order to avoid being caught during counter questioning.
Interviewers may lead you towards aggressive questions. The best way to tackle such questions is to stay calm and analyze it objectively. Present your point of view with conviction and confidence. Avoid getting intimidated and defensive, under any circumstances.
The questions may not always be in your favor. When asked about an incident, which you could not handle in a favorable manner, lay down the details and explain the causes and the outcome. Also, make it a point to show the situation in a different perspective.
It is not possible to recollect incidents at the moment you are facing the interviewer. Hence, an important tip would be to prepare yourself in advance and preview your behavioral interview session.

Most companies include behavioral interviews in their selection process. So, it is important that a candidate follows these tips to do well in them and eventually get selected for the job.