Behavioural Interview Concept The Guidelines to Successful Interview

What is Behavioural Interview?

Behavioural Interviewing is a modern interview approach that many organizations are using in their hiring proces. The basic premise behind behavioural interviewing is this:

"The most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in a similar situation."

It focuses on experiences, behaviours, knowledge, skills and abilities that are job related. Traditional interviewing quetions ask you general questions such as "Tell me about yourself." The process of bhavioural interviewing is much more probing and works very differently. Employers predetermine which skills are necessary for the job for which they are looking and then ask very pointed questions to determine if the candidate possesses those competencies.

How Prepared Are You?

Prep #1 - Expectation and Anticipation

1. Are you capable of doing the job?
2. Are you motivated to do the job and do it well?
3. Are you the person with whom they will like working? Will you make a good addition to the team?

Prep #2 - Competencies and Characteristics Commonly Sought by Employers

For each role or position within an organization, a job description usually exists. This job description provides a guideline which is used for evaluation. It is also used to screen candidates when a position needs to be filled. Generally, each position is define by the knowledge, skills, abilities and other attributes determined to be necessary for the tasks associated to be done successfully. There are two basic levels of competencies:

Apart from that, the character of an individual also plays a vital role and often sought for the suitability of potential candidates with the corporate culture. In Behavioural Interview, the general qualities that are frequently inquired are:

• Professionalism and integrity
• Teamwork
• Self-confidence and Independence
• Positive Mindset and attitude
• Continuous Learning
• Result Oriented
• Agility and Reslient
• Critical thinking

Prep #3 - Common Interview Scenarios

Typically, the interviewer will pick apart the story to try to get at the specific behaviours they would like to explore further. They refer to this as "drilling the ground." The interviewer will sometimes ask you open ended questions to allow you to choose which examples you wish to use. When a part of your story relates to a skill or experience the interviewer wishes to explore further, he/she will then ask you very specific follow-up questions regarding your behaviour. These can include "What were you thinking at that point?" or "What was your reactions at that time?"

Prep #4 - Interview Questions Format and Answer Strategies

Often an interviwer asks you to respond to questions about your experience in relation to the selection criteria. Ensure that you structure your response to interview questions. The following guidelines may help anf works with most of the questions:

Rephrasing the question in relation to why it is important, use this time also to compose your story or illustration.

Body:

Situation or Task

Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalized description of what you have done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from an organizational experience, or any relevant event.

Action You Took

Describe the action you took and be sure to keep the focus on you. Even if you are discussing a group project or effort, describe what you did - not the efforts of the team. Don't tell what you might do, tell what you did.

Result You Achieved

What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn or use?

Use the following guidelines to prepare your interview responses

Provide Example of Past Achievement or Behaviours:

• Identify six to eight examples from your past experience where you demonstrated top behaviours and skills that employers typically seek. Think in terms of examples that will exploit your top selling points.
• Half your examples should be totally positive, such as accomplishments or meeting goals.
• The other half should be situations that started out negatively but either ended positively or you made the best of the outcome. Also, in necessary you need to explain the negative results (from unfavourable situation/tasks) sincerely, with root of causes and the best responses made, do not come to hypothetical/theoretical and dishonest answers.
• Vary your examples, don't take them all from just one area of your life.
• Use fairly recent examples, give examples of behaviours dmonstrated within the last 2 year.

Conclusion:

Many interviewers end with a request to the applicant as to whether they have anything they wish to add or whether there is anything the panel may have missed. This is an opportunity for you to end on a positive note. You may think that everything has been covered. Even if this is so, it is worth making a convincing statement about why you are the best person for the position. If the job description refers to matters which you think have not been covered by the selection criteria, this is a chance to mention relevant experience.