Interview Preparation

Preparation Tips for a Behavioral Interview

 

 

Preparing for a behavior based interview can be daunting. Here are some tips to get started:

Be familiar with the job

for which you're being interviewed. Read the advertisement or job description to identify which personal attributes and behaviors are likely to be key success factors for the role. For Client interviews it is advised that you research the company's website and any external information about them from business directories etc.

Make a note of two or three examples for each personal attribute that will best illustrate your suitability - you may want to bring these into the interview with you as prompts. Remember that different companies and industries may require different personal attributes, even for the same position. For example, 'self-managing' can mean very different things to different companies.

Be able to draw from a variety of experiences

that demonstrate your skills and abilities. A good story can also combine work experience with a non-work experience (shows you can use the skill in a variety of settings). Examples may be from your work experience, your personal life or some social or other situation. Of course a unique work situation story (unless otherwise specifically requested) should take priority. Be as open, expressive and succinct as possible about each experience.


Let others help you out

use examples of quotes from bosses or customers, i.e., "My boss gave me a good performance review, they liked the way I stepped in to get the job done without being told to." This demonstrates your willingness to accept contribution, your flexibility and teamwork skills.

Think 'STAR' - Situation or Task, Action and Result.

There are several variations of this acronym in the recruiting industry, but all of them are intended to provide structure and focus to your answers. When asked about a type of situation, the interviewer is looking at how you responded to it by via a specific example. Using the STAR model you would break your answer into the three segments of; description of the task, then the action you took, and the final measurable result.

This makes it easier for the interviewer to visualize and record your specific behavioral responses to specific events and so gain the best impression of your potential future performance. Prepare at least one STAR response for each personal attribute you may be questioned on. Make sure you don't use the same example for all the attributes.

Use recent examples.

As you will be probed for detail around the situation, it is better to use events in the last 12-18 months as the detail will be clearer in your mind. Be specific as possible about your contribution and the quantitative results achieved. Specific absolute or relative (%) gains in areas such as cost or time savings will give you the interviewer a clearer picture of your abilities.

If specific measurable results don't apply to your example, you might explain how it streamlined processes, empowered others or resolved communication or productivity issues.

Practice telling your stories

until they are vivid and concise, one to three minutes long. An interview can be likened to a marketing activity, where you are the brand. You will only get an interview because your resume and past roles suggest that you have the appropriate technical skills set (your attributes). Often what separates you from the other candidates at the interview stage is the interviewer's belief in how you will fit into the company's culture and specific IT team (your personal benefits). Remember, you are selling your technical AND personal skills. Being able to communicate your adaptability and relatedness at an interview is essential to becoming the leading candidate. This 'story telling practice' is an important preparation tool to assist you in creating a natural flow to your stories so that the interviewer can focus on your potential benefit to the client.

Ask to come back to the question.

If you are stuck for an answer to a particular question, it is reasonable to ask the interviewer if you may move on to the next one and you'll come back it.

Interview : Why Should We Hire You

A Most Important Question...

why should you hire me

You should hire me because time is money so let's not waste time and I will show you how to extract maximum from time.

 

Why should we hire you?

You are the only one that can answer this question... test is the best.

 

Why You Should Hire Me

I am the best in my field and not like the others.

 

It's My Dream Job

It's my dream job profile & when anyone dreams for a any job he or she is the best person to hire because of his/her determination about the job.

Why should we hire you?

You should hire me because I have a strong determination to do my job well.

 

Why should we hire you?

Give the reason why not to hire me and I'll prove that you're wrong.

 

Why should we hire you

I have requisite knowledge and skills required for the job and it is my passion as well. You will find me deserving this job.

 

Why Should we hire you?

The job profiles is very well gel with my profile and experience. And this is what (function) I enjoying doing and want to make my career in this (function). You should hire a person who should not only working for you but should be enjoying working for you...

 

Strange answer

Because I know Joseph Fritzl, also I want your money.

 

Best answer

Because I told you man, I need money and a job, I'm a bum and have nothing else to do.

 

Why You Should Hire Me

Because I have enough knowledge and skills in this kind of work.

 

Why not hire the best?

No person can do the same job as me because each one is different .

 

Why should we hire you?

I'm a hardworker and I hope my profile will be suitable to your company.

 

Hire the best

i would say do not hire me - hire the right person for this. If you think I am the right person then hire me.

 

Why You Should Hire Me

I am a smarter worker than others. I always oriented to my goal. If you give me chance than i will show you.

Why should we hire you?

For a sales job:I am an extrovert who interacts well with people. I like to set myself goals and keep them and I'm very persistent and can use my ability to create solid long term relationships with clients.

 

Customer Service

Aside from my prior experience in customer service and other transferable skills, I believe I am the best candidate for the position. This is mainly because I truly understand the value of a customer to the organization and have a passion for working with them. I thrive when I am placed in such environments and am always aiming toward providing an excellent customer service experience. This helps assure the loyalty of the customer to our organization and an increasing and solid client base.

Why should I hire you?

Because I have what it takes to fill all the requirements of this job. with my extensive background and experience working with computer hardware, software and network troubleshooting and networking computers will be an asset to the organization and I am knowledgeable also in configuring,installing and assemble and disassemble computers. I am already skilfully trained and take no hard time to deal with any projects. My license as a computer technician will prove that I am fit for this position. I work well in team, I'm self-motivated and I have an ability to work under pressure with minimum supervision. and I am willing to share my knowledge for the growth of your company.

 

Why should we hire you?

I have always been a hard worker and optimistic person, who never looses hope and try to take the organization to the top. Please hire me and give me chance so that I can be a asset for your company.

 

My abilities

I have the ability to work with people and how to motivate the team to achieve the assigned job. I know my responsibilities means having the ability to respond to a situation.

 

I love my job

Aside from skills and experience, passion for the job you are doing is what determines someone if he/she is is the right person for the job. This is what makes me the best candidate for the job. You should hire me because I love what I'm doing and I'm always passionately finding ways to enjoy and do better with this job.

 

Why should I hire you?

Because my knowledge and skills will help for the growth of your organization.

Why should you hire me?

Because I personally believe in making my own way towards success and I never back-down from any challenges.

 

Sales

I think you shoud hire me because I have the skills to communicate with customers and convincing them hence increasing profits of the firm.

 

General Answer

You should hire me because i will be able to perform each task to the best of my ability.

 

Why You Should Hire Me

As per my view, the selection procedure depends on you and your organization, but I know I'm the right person for this position. I know the right contacts methods and what capability I have. I give as my best which helps me as well as the organization's success.

 

Why should we hire you?

This is a chance for me to contribute my efforts and grow together with this company. I wish to see for this company unexpected future growth.

 

Positive Re-enforcement

My experience in this field, along with my personal background and formal training has provided me with the skills to perform at the highest level. My caring attitude and compassion meet the requirements for this type of work and your mmission statement of services match exactly how I feel about this field of work.

 

Why should you hire me?

I think you should hire me because may be there are some better candidates but I am better than the best.

 

A chance to prove my worth

If my qualifications and my personality are up to your expectation then I think I should be given a chance to prove my worth for the company. I will feel happy to join this institution.

Interview : Behavioral Interview

What is a behavioral interview? 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.

Traditional Interview vs. Behavioral Interview
 
In a traditional interview, you will be asked a series of questions which typically have straight forward answers like "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" or "What major challenges and problems did you face? How did you handle them?" or "Describe a typical work week."
 
In a behavioral interview, an employer has decided what skills are needed in the person they hire and will ask questions to find out if the candidate has those skills. Instead of asking how you would behave, they will ask how you did behave. The interviewer will want to know how you handled a situation, instead of what you might do in the future.

Questions in a Behavioral Interview

Behavioral interview questions will be more pointed, more probing and more specific than traditional interview 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.

Follow-up questions will also be detailed. You may be asked what you did, what you said, how you reacted or how you felt.

Preparation for the Potential Behavioral Interview

What's the best way to prepare? It's important to remember that you won't know what type of interview will take place until you are sitting in the interview room. So, prepare answers to traditional interview questions.
Then, since you don't know exactly what situations you will be asked about if it's a behavioral interview, refresh your memory and consider some special situations you have dealt with or projects you have worked on.You may be able to use them to help frame responses. Prepare stories that illustrate times when you have successfully solved problems or performed memorably. The stories will be useful to help you respond meaningfully in a behavioral interview.

Interview : Tell Me about Yourself

You walk into the interview room, shake hands with your interviewer and sit down with your best interviewing smile on. Guess what their first question is? "Tell me about yourself."

Do you "wing it" and actually tell all manner of things about yourself? Will you spend the next 5 minutes rambling on about what an easy-going, loyal, dedicated, hard working employee you've been? If this is the case, you stand a good chance of having bored your interviewer to death thus creating a negative first impression.
 
Because it's such a common interview question, it's strange that more candidates don't spend the time to prepare for exactly how to answer it. Perhaps because the question seems so disarming and informal, we drop our guard and shift into ramble mode. Resist all temptation to do so.
Your interviewer is not looking for a 10-minute dissertation here. Instead, offer a razor sharp sentence or two that sets the stage for further discussion and sets you apart from your competitors.
 
Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
 
Give them "your synopsis about you" answer, specifically your Unique Selling Proposition. Known as a personal branding or a value-added statement, the USP is a succinct, one-sentence description of who you are, your biggest strength and the major benefit that a company will derive from this strength. Here is an example of a Unique Selling Proposition: "I'm a seasoned Retail Manager strong in developing training programs and loss prevention techniques that have resulted in revenue savings of over $2.3Million for (employer's name) during the past 11 years."
 
What a difference you've made with this statement. Your interviewer is now sitting forward in her chair giving you her full attention. At this point, you might add the following sentence: "I'd like to discuss how I might be able to do something like that for you." The ball is now back in her court and you have the beginnings of a real discussion and not an interrogation process.
 
Be Specific
 
The key is that you must lead with your strongest benefit to the employer. Be specific and don't wander about with some laundry list of skills or talents. Be sure to put a monetary value on your work if at all possible and be ready with details when you're called upon. Give an estimated value to the $$ you've either helped to make or save for your employer.
 
Be Prepared
 
When you walk into an interview, remember to always expect the "tell me about yourself" question. Prepare ahead of time by developing your own personal branding statement that clearly tells who you are, your major strength and the clear benefit that your employer received. The advantages of this approach are that you'll quickly gain their attention and interest them in knowing more. You'll separate yourself from your competitors. You'll also have a higher chance of being positively remembered and hired.