Behavioral Based Interviewing
Posted by Stan Schroeder on Mon, Dec 12, 2011 @ 11:58 AM
Any one of us who have been in positions to interview and hire people over the last 10 years are probably familiar with "Behavior Based Interviewing".
Behavioral Based Interviewing is interviewing based on discovering how the interviewee acted in specific employment-related situations. The logic is that how you behaved in the past will predict how you will behave in the future i.e. past performance predicts future performance.
Like most trends in business, I believe it has some merit based on the level of person you are interviewing, what their experiences have been, and what you are really looking for in an employee.
One of the values of the technique when it first came out - was that it forced "professional interviewers" to think differently and give real answers that they had not rehearsed or prepared in advance. Whether you are a sales person questioning customers, a manager questioning employees or even personally, stop and think about the value of that for a minute.
Here are a few examples of Behavioral Based Interviewing Questions:
•Give an example of an occasion when you used logic to solve a problem.
•Give an example of a goal you reached and tell me how you achieved it.
•Describe a decision you made that was unpopular and how you handled implementing it.
•Have you gone above and beyond the call of duty? If so, how?
•What do you do when your schedule is interrupted? Give an example of how you handle it.
•Have you had to convince a team to work on a project they weren't thrilled about? How did you do it?
•Have you handled a difficult situation with a co-worker? How?
•Tell me about how you worked effectively under pressure?
And in this style of interviewing - the follow-up question is also planned out based on which way you answer. You are generally asking questions by category trying to figure out someone’s resilience, persuasiveness, negotiation skills, adaptability, ambition, integrity, analytical thinking, sales ability, management style...
Do you have a list of questions like this that you ask based on what you are trying to accomplish with the person/people you are questioning? Whether it is interviewing a potential candidate, learning about a customer, motivating a team or understanding an assignment given to you - the quality of the questions you ask will help determine your success.
The more prepared you are; the better listener you will be able to be. If you don't know the questions cold, you will not be able to listen as effectively as someone who is really prepared.
Think of the top 3 objections you expect from any situation and be prepared to deal with them with good questions up front to remove them as obstacles whenever possible.
If you anticipate that they will resist your proposal because of people in their facility fighting "change" you might ask, "Can you give me an example of a time when you helped a staff member accept change and make the necessary adjustments to move forward?"
Can you tell me about a time when you had to convince someone in authority about your ideas? How did it work out?
Describe a project or idea that was implemented primarily because of your efforts. What was your role? What was the outcome?
Spend the time to develop your questions. It will help differentiate you and your understanding of the people you are working with. It will also save you time and frustration in learning that the person you are working with might not know how to do something because they have never been asked to do it before.
Have a productive week. And that includes taking time to stop and think about your plan and further develop your process.
Rob Bahna