Answering behavioural questions – be concise, specific and explain your role clearly
Being invited to an interview is a great step in the job search process. It means the hiring manager or recruiter can see that you have a relevant background and skillset; they think you have something to offer and want to explore further.
This is your chance to sell yourself, demonstrate your value, provide evidence of what you can do and why you are a good fit for the team and organisation.
So often, after a candidate interviews with the hiring manager, we hear things like this…
From candidates:
“I don’t think it went as well as it could have”
“I’m not sure I answered questions cohesively or sold myself well enough”
“I got stuck on some of the questions and didn’t provide specific answers”
From clients:
“They didn’t sell themselves well”
“They provided some good examples, but I didn’t get a clear picture of the specific role they played or how the contributed” “They use we, us, team, etc…
How to answer behavioural questions
It’s likely that your interview will have many behavioural or competency-based questions, such as ‘tell me about a time when…’ or ‘describe a project that you’ve worked on….’. These questions give hiring managers insight into how you approach your work, how you manage projects and situations, how you deal with challenges or stress. They want to know WHAT you have done in the past and HOW you have managed or responded; they want real-life examples.
This is your chance to shine! And the key is preparation. Whilst you won’t know exactly what questions will be asked, you can prepare based on the position description and your research.
Be a Star
Take out the position description and against each key responsibility, reflect on your experience and think of 2-3 examples that clearly demonstrate your knowledge, achievement or success. A simple way to answer behavioural questions and keep on track is the STAR Method.
SITUATION: What was the situation? Provide some context and give some concise details about your project or example.
TASK: What was the task? What needed to be done in that situation?
ACTION: Explain what you did. Provide details about the steps and actions you took.
RESULT: what happened? what outcomes did you achieve?
In an interview, it’s easy to ramble or lose your train of thought when answering questions. This method helps to avoid that; giving a framework to keep answers concise whilst covering the important elements.
When preparing answers and thinking about examples that you can use, keep these things in mind:
Be specific
Choose examples and projects where you played a significant role and where the project was a success (or you turned it around). Talk about your process and make sure you can speak to the goals, how you set priorities, how you reached deadlines, how you delegated tasks, how you managed your time, how you managed challenges and how you made decisions.
Demonstrate your role
This is so important. It’s extremely common for hiring managers to come away from the interview saying “They gave some good examples, but I didn’t get a good understanding of exactly what role they played. It wasn’t clear to me”.
When providing examples in an interview, it’s common for people to answer with ‘we’. Even if the work was a team effort, it’s important to explain your contribution. And again, be specific. Talk through the role you played, the things you did that resulted in success, the problems you solved, the work you did yourself and also the work you delegated. Don’t leave the hiring manager wondering. This is a big opportunity to stand out.
Practice!
Practice makes perfect. We all know this saying and it’s so true for interviewing. People often say they ‘find their groove’ after a number of interviews. Like anything, the more you do it, the better you become at it. The more you prepare and practice, the less likely that you will ramble or be stumped on questions. Practice with your family or friends. Practice with yourself or in front of the mirror if you have to! It might feel silly, but it will pay off.
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