Behavioral interview questions are very likely to be asked during a job interview. All types of businesses use behavioral job interview strategies to find out more about the candidate. Your interviewer will ask you these questions to know how would you react professionally, even in stressful situations. They also get an idea about how you would solve difficulties to get a positive solution for the problem in the workplace.
The interviewer will often ask you to tell them about your job responsibilities and abilities from your last position at work or even in the college if you are a fresher. These questions are put-up to look for specific skills and experiences in a candidate.
So, learning more about these behavioral interview questions will always benefit you in your career. In this article, we will discuss the most asked behavioral questions and how to prepare and answer them.
Why are Behavioral Questions Asked in the Interview?
Candidates are most commonly asked to give a few examples of particular events where they had to apply their skills and talents. The interviewer will simply ask you how you will handle difficult working situations or how you solved a problem in a real-life case in your own life. At this point, your answer should be not bookish but something that has happened in your own life.
These questions are popular with interviewers because they allow them to get a more genuine and detailed picture of how you perform and what they can expect from you. It is also a means for employers to see what you’re capable of, depending on your real-world work experience and performance.
You should consider these questions as a more effective way to convince the employer to understand your capacity to work in a team. And instead of saying that you are interested in working on their team, Tell them a story about how you have worked in a group, what were your responsibilities, and how you solved an issue when the whole team was stuck somewhere. This group work can be in a college event or even a college project.
Imagine attempting to assess someone’s abilities without actually seeing them at work. When selecting people for a job, recruiters daily encounter this difficulty. If you want to volunteer, then request them to allow you to explain a problem you’ve already addressed. This will make them believe that you have confidence and belief in your abilities.
Behavioral questions help employers figure out how a person could respond to a difficult situation. Moreover, how will you solve the critical condition to obtain excellent outcomes? In short, these questions provide evidence or confirmation of your talents and your capacity.
How Should You Prepare and Answer Behavioral Interview Questions with No Experience?
Interviewing junior/fresher applicants might be difficult for interviewers. They will be interested in testing your skills, regardless of whether you have professional skills or not. They might try to test applicants’ abilities by analyzing their flaws and abilities, which are entirely judged on a 5-10min interview.
Generally, most of the interviewees are interested in how you will approach different situations or portray yourself and your goals. Meanwhile, they also focus on your communication skills. You must prove your confidence in your language skills, and along with that, you should give a strong response to every situation you are put into.
The recruiter may use psychological and contextual interview questions. But this does not mean that you will stay silent. The interviewer expects you to show that you have the necessary talent, ability, and passion for working. As a fresher, this can be difficult, but don’t worry, the recruiters know about this, and they even have faced the same difficulty in the initial phase of their career. But this does not mean that you will stay silent. The interviewer expects you to show that you have the necessary talent, ability, and passion for working.
They are never interested in hiring such a candidate who is not passionate about working in a competitive environment. You could do two things to drag yourself toward a clear outcome with a positive answer. These two methods are listed below:
- Prepare success stories or ask your colleagues about these questions.
- Conduct research to decide what the company desires and create a few answers that highlight those qualities.
According to several types of research, the STAR (“situation, task, action, and result”) interview technique has been listed to be very effective in practicing behavioral interview questions. The method is divided into a structured manner, which helps the user/candidate respond to questions effectively. This process is listed below:
- Situation: Set the scene or describe the circumstance you have faced at any point in your life.
- Task: Discuss the problems or topic with which you were confronted.
- Action: Describe how you intervened in the incident or resolved the issue. It should introduce the main asset that you want to highlight.
- Results: Describe how you contributed to the problems, how you came up with a solution, and what actions you took to overcome the issue.
Best Common Behavioral Questions and Answers
Before you go for an interview, do some research to gather information about the organization and read the job advertisement/profile carefully. It will be easier to answer the interview questions if you know more about the position and have something to talk about. Prepare well for the interview, as this will help you respond quickly. Review the job requirements and build a list of the behavioral talents you have that match them to assist you in preparation.
Ans: So, a few months back, I was working on a project with my seniors. The project was significant, as we were supposed to get the scholarship. But due to some unavoidable situation, my seniors have to go for an industrial visit. At the last moment, I was given the duty of putting everything together, like a Power Point presentation based solely on their notes and a briefing. But, surprisingly, I performed well, and we received the scholarship.
Ans: I have always wanted to have a job in the fashion business ( or your job profile). After a few weeks of starting my internship as a sales assistant in a store, I decided to learn all the skills that could help me in my career. I worked overtime and learned a lot, due to which I feel that I am suitable for this job role. The internship wasn’t paid, but I was eager to learn and accomplish my learning goals.
Ans: For college: Yes, as because i want to share a incident with you. Our mentor moved to another city amid for a project. My team members and I felt that we could not accomplish our goal now. But we tried to help each other throughout the project, as everyone in the group had their own set of skills. The work environment was so friendly and warm; we also used to work in the evening (as most of us were hostellers). We enjoyed discussing the project as well as the personal stuff. I would remember those days as the good old days! I learned many new things that wouldn’t have been possible without my mates.
If you Have Done an Internship in the Past: When I was going for a training in company “X,” my colleague noticed that one of my co-workers had become addicted to drugs and alcohol following her surgery. She could not carry on her work correctly, and she was making flaws in her work. She suffered from her poor performance at work, and she had to seek help. So even though I was an intern, I had a proper conversation with her and helped her with the result. Most of her work was done via laptop, so she assisted me. This also helped me to enhance my skills.
Ans: Connecting and communicating are essential to deal with any disagreement, even among team members. If I had any conflict where I would be working, I would try to understand the situation first, as the ongoing talks can heat the moment. For example, if my superior asked me to figure out how to outsource the resources that don’t have any tracking details in the mail, etc. Then I would take proper measures to gain all information available regarding the issue and talk to my teammates. Then after analyzing it properly, I will give my excellent a few ideas about what techniques can be used to track them. I have always felt that learning from my superiors or team members has significantly impacted productivity.
Ans: If I make an error during my work, I will immediately inform my boss and employer. I will also notify my team members so that they can help me to rectify it. I will note it so that I wouldn’t repeat the mistake in the future. I believe that mistakes make us better and should be taken positively.
Ans: I have never been in such a big problem in my life. But to handle everyday day-to-day issues, I follow an approach. If I get stuck in the middle of a problem, I constantly analyze my issues to solve the problem. Then I choose the more effective technique in investigating the subject and then different approaches/options to solve the current crisis. I always try to think about all the possible outcomes before choosing an ideal solution and try to solve the situation with the help of my expertise. If I am unable to do so, I always ask for help from my colleagues, friends, or seniors to have a better understanding. This will help me enhance my problem-solving skill.
Ans: First, I will focus on completing one work before moving on to the next one and do the task that suits my ability. I will complete my first task and look for errors before moving on to the next. I believe that I have time management abilities, and sometimes I make a note of all to-do activities. I believe that this has always helped me concentrate properly and saved me from committing mistakes. It has also helped me to lower my distractions. To succeed in a time-based task, I always try to prioritize the most critical task, which has helped me push my limits.
Ans: First, I believe that failing at work is frequent; everyone makes mistakes. To discover something you never knew before is not a very big issue. Yes, but learning from it and never committing/repeating the same mistake makes you a better human. As an individual, I can say that I’m much more interested in finding out the root cause of the issue or the main reason why I failed. I learn from it or ask my colleagues to help me out so that I can do it much more appropriately the next time. I think I have the capability and positive mindset toward life.
Bonus Tips for Passing Behavioral Interview Rounds
You don’t have to plan thousands of potential responses while preparing on “how to respond to behavioral interview questions.” Instead, consider the abilities and behaviors that your future employer will need. You will get to know about this if you have read your job requirements before applying for the job.
Some skills and attitudes are pretty universal and may be applied to any job.. If you’re able to quantify: Highlight your ideas on how you can cause a measurable impact, such as sales or fewer customer complaints even though you are a fresher.
There was no need to remember or mug up. You don’t know what questions will be asked in an interview. Rehearse a few times before the interview. It will make you feel more confident in your ability and help you structure them. This will make your job easier.
These behavioral interview questions aren’t yes-or-no questions. So, always take a deep breath before answering these questions. The STAR method, as discussed in the above sections, will help you to stay on track. Remember that you shouldn’t have to get too down on the specifics of the issue or activity. Keep the summary short so that the interviewer can still follow your narrative and doesn’t feel bored.
Conclusion
Behavioral interview questions are the most common questions asked in an interview. While asking such questions, the HRs are generally more concerned about your prospective of self-awareness, a growth attitude, ambition, humility, ambiguity tolerance, or risk tolerance, especially when you are a fresher and don’t have much job experience.
The recruiter understands more about the job than you, whether you’re interviewing for a new position or filling a void. As a result, they may be looking for specific skills and habits that may increase the chances of hiring you. Depending on the job, it could be your capacity to work in groups and collaborate with others in the workplace to get the desired outcomes.
The interviewer attempts to learn about all aspects of your personality based on your answers. So, behavioral interview questions guarantee that employers get as much data as possible from the candidate’s answers. This helps them find your skills and abilities. So, it is always better to be always prepared for such questions whenever you are going for an interview.
