Behavioral interview questions help the hiring managers test the competency of prospective hires based on their approach to challenging situations.
Selecting the most qualified candidate for the job goes way beyond their college degree. We need to access their skills and abilities and insights into their personality. This way, you can predict their response to real-life issues even without your supervision.
Behavioral interview questions allow interviewers to know a candidate better by presenting a situation to him/her and asking what action(s) they will take if in that situation. A behavioral question can also be used to know if a candidate has faced such a situation in the past and how they dealt with it. When asked right, good behavioral questions help assess a candidate’s leadership abilities, attitude, communication skills, and more.
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1. Describe your experience when you had to deal with a problematic colleague.
Why is this question useful?
Example
If the candidate statement focuses on how terrible the problematic employee was, it is a red flag. However, if s/he talks about the steps taken to resolve the conflicts, it shows the candidate knows how to diffuse a situation and foster a healthy relationship.
2. Have you ever been assigned a task you were not familiar with? How did you go about it?
Why is this question useful?
Example
A candidate may say he/she will first seek the help of a colleague or superior before using that idea to create an outside-the-box solution to the problem. This would indicate that the candidate is an innovative thinker who just needs a little assistance to get problems solved.
3. Describe a time you were asked to perform a task that went against your value. What did you do?
Why is this question useful?
4. Tell me something you had to learn very quickly but knew nothing about before.
Why is this question useful?
Example
A candidate response will help you know their learning style. You may want to take a mental note in case the candidate shows signs of mentorship potential that could allow them to pass their knowledge to other employees.
5. Tell me about a time you had multiple assignments with conflicting deadlines, and how you completed each of them.
Why is this question useful?
6. Tell me about a time you lead a team on a challenging project
Why is this question useful?
Example
A candidate may not achieve the set goal of the project, which is not necessarily bad. Instead, make a note of how the candidate motivates the team members after such failure.
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