Behavioral Interview Keywords and Strategy

Important Points About Behavior Based Interviewing:

Employers predetermine which skills are necessary for the job for which they are interviewing and then ask very pointed questions to determine if the candidate possesses those skills.

In the interview, your response needs to be specific and detailed. Tell them about particular situation that relates to the questions, not a general one. Tell them briefly the situation, what you did specifically, and the positive result or outcome

The interviewee tells a story for a few minutes; typically the interviewer will pick apart the story to try to get at the specific behavior(s). The interviewer can probe further for related details.

Listed below are key behaviors you may be evaluated on Adaptability Analysis Attention to Detail

Communication-Oral

Communication-Written

Control

Decisiveness

Delegation

Development of Subordinates

Energy

Entrepreneurial Insight

Equipment Operation

Fact Finding-Oral

Financial Analytical

Ability

Flexibility

Impact

Independence

Initiative

Innovation

Integrity

Judgment

Leadership/Influence

Listening

Motivation

Negotiation Organizational Sensitivity Participative Management

Planning and Organizing Practical Learning Presentation Skills

Process Operation Rapport Building Resilience

Risk Taking Safety Awareness Sales Ability/Persuasiveness

Sensitivity Strategic Analysis Stress

Teamwork Technical/Professional Knowledge Technical/Professional Proficiency

Tenacity Training Work Standards

Desired Employee Behaviors

Here's a list of typical behaviors that employers might be trying to get at from job-seekers in a behavior-based interview:

Adaptability

Communication-Oral

Communication-Written

Control

Analysis

Attention to Detail

Decisiveness

Delegation

Development of Subordinates

Energy

Entrepreneurial

Equipment Operation

Insight

Fact Finding-Oral

Financial Analytical

Flexibility

Impact

Independence

Initiative

Innovation

Integrity

Judgment

Leadership/Influence

Listening

Motivation

Negotiation

Organizational

Participative

Sensitivity

Management

Planning and Organizing

Practical Learning

Presentation Skills

Process Operation

Rapport Building

Resilience

Risk Taking

Safety Awareness

Sales Ability/Persuasiveness

Sensitivity

Strategic Analysis

Teamwork

Technical/Professional Knowledge

Technical/Professional Proficiency

Tenacity

Training

Work Standards

Behavioral Interviewing Story

One strategy for preparing for behavioral interviews is to use the S.T.A.R. Technique (often referred to as the SAR and PAR techniques as well.)

Sample SAR story:

Situation (S):

Advertising revenue was falling off for my college newspaper, the Stetson Reporter, and large numbers of long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.

Action (A):

I designed a new promotional packet to go with the rate sheet and compared the benefits of Reporter circulation with other ad media in the area. I also set-up a special training session for the account executives with a School of Business Administration professor who discussed competitive selling strategies.

Result (R):

We signed contracts with 15 former advertisers for daily ads and five for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by 20 percent [quantities are always good] over the same period last year.

S.T.A.R. Interviewing Technique

One strategy for preparing for behavioral interviews is to use the S.T.A.R. Technique, as outlined below. (This technique is often referred to as the SAR and PAR techniques as well.)

Read up on the technique, and then try it out with our list of sample behavioral interview questions. Read one SAR Story.

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 a volunteer 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.

Results you achieved What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn?

Have you seen all our interviewing resources?