Sunday, July 25, 2010

Preparing for behaviorial interviews

Preparing for behavioral interviews  means a little soul searching. Here are some steps.

1. Examine  a  job desription for the positions. Pay close attention to key qualifications,
kskills and attributes that the position is asking for.  A skill is something that you do very well. Hard skills are the technical skills that you possess. Attributes are soft skills, even characteristics and they are transferable from different jobs. .

2/ Next, reflect on your work-related experiences and accomplishments.Hhow you may have handled difficult situations. Which ones best illustrate the key hard and soft  skills required by the position?

3. Think like an interviewer and create your own questions. Rember to start your  own question with
"Think of a time when..." or
"Give me an example of how you ..."
or describe a time when...

4. Keep relevant anecdotes or stories at your fingertips.  What skills did you demonstrate during these events? What actions did you take that made a difference, or helped solve an important problem?

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Answering behavioral interview questions questions-the STAR Technique

When answering behavioral interivew questions,  the STAR technique. STAR is an acronym that stands for "Situation"  , "Task" , "Action"  "Result".

Situation - When and where did this take place? What was your role? What problems occured in this situation that you had to face?
Task-What needed to be done? Was there a deadline? Was there a crisis?
Action- What specifically did you do in this situation? (Describe in detail).
Result-What was the result ( crisis averted? increased sales?)


When answering,  be explicit, so the emploer has a clear picture of what you can actually do.
Give examples, and  tell stories. Describe how  you demonstrated certain key skills in a specific situation. Illustrate concretely that you are ready to do the job and can take on different situations.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Mastering tough interview questions

Succeeding at behavioral interviewing is about mastering tough interview questions. These are the questions that make you squirm. They go beyond such old standards as "tell me about yourself", and "what are your strengths". A behavioral question doesn't "have" a right answer except the one that is right for you.

In mastering these tough questions, expect ones that start like this:


  • Tell be about a time when..."
  • Give me an example of how you..."
  • Describe a situation where you..",
  • Think of situation where something didn't work out. What did you learn?



When you answer, it's not what you say, but how you say it.  Once I was asked: "tell me about a time where something you did backfired in a class (I teach)". Whoa! Why would I tell the interviewer about my failings. I described a time where I misread the class needs, but then explained what I learned from it.

Like anything else, the more experience you have with behavioral interviews, the better you get.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

What is behavioral Interviewing

In behavioral interviewing, a candidate is asked about his/her response in a past situation. The theory is that past behavior will predict future actions.

Practicing how to answer behavioral interview questions will make you more comfortable and more adept when addressing them.

Employers usually think first about behaviors that are needed in the open position, and based on that develop questions to elicit responses that might demonstrate the candidate's performance in those areas. Some examples of behaviors employers might want to know about are: flexibility, independent thinking, presentation and listening skills, planning ability, team participation, attention to detail, handling change, professionalism, and dealing with frustration. The interviewer will typically ask questions that start off sounding like an opportunity to converse or to share about yourself.


Greetings

This blog is dedicated to behavioral Interviewing to give you information to help your job search