2.4(b) Behavioural questions

Behavioural interviews are linked with a high success rate. The theory behind behavioural interviews is that past behaviour predicts future behaviour. This means you will not be asking applicants questions that ask them to imagine what they would do in future situations-eg ‘What would you do if you had a team member that you didn’t get on with?’ Instead you ask them to recall specific situations in the past and tell you what happened, in terms of the situation, their actions and specific results.

The questions asked should seek to have applicants demonstrate their ‘competencies’ or behaviours rather than technical skills. This is because you can evaluate technical skills relatively easily through looking at qualifications, experience and samples of work. If the applicant finally chosen lacks a technical skill, they can learn this skill. On the other hand, behaviours such as teamwork, leadership, ability to learn, organisational skills, etc, are difficult to evaluate and if someone is lacking one of these, it is difficult for them to learn it.

An example of a question that would be asked in a behavioural interview is:

‘Tell me about a time when you worked in a team that experienced conflict.’

The applicant would need to then be prompted with questions such as ‘What did you do?’ and ‘What was the result?’ Be careful to draw out what the applicant did if the situation described is one that involved a team. You may need to ask ‘Exactly what was your role?’

Applicants may have had limited experience that directly relates to the question that you ask. It is a good idea to have a back-up question in case you don’t get at the information that you want.

Try a ‘Google’ search or a YouTube search for Behavioural interviews e.g.:

http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/interviews/a/behavioral.htm

(Please note these links were active at time of publication. If they are no longer active you should conduct your own research)

You will need to prepare about 10 base questions but be prepared to probe the answers you get. Topic 3 also discusses behavioural interviews.

Your questions need to be tied to the requirements of the job and should be in a meaningful sequence.

You may choose to have the candidate actually ‘do the work’. This is considered a performance based approach and sometimes included in a bank of assessment centre processes.