A Word From Akin Gump: A Short Guide to Navigating Behavioral-Style Interviews

Posted: 05 Aug 2018 09:00 PM PDT

Behavioral-style interviewing has become a popular mode of job interviewing. An increasing number of employers are using this approach to screen candidates and determine their potential for success. One of the reasons this approach to interviewing is used more frequently is the prevailing assumption that, under similar circumstances, past behavior can predict future performance. As a result, interviewers will ask for examples from past experiences that demonstrate the set of skills that the company has determined are needed for a position. In this post, we will provide some insight into what to expect from behavioral-style interviewing so that you can be prepared before walking into your meeting.

What to Expect

Before any job interview, it is important to anticipate any questions that may be asked so that you may prepare appropriate responses. In a traditional interview, the questions are generally open-ended and allow you to reveal as much information as you would like. Behavior-based questions are different in that they are more direct and meant to solicit specific answers. These questions will encourage you to recount past endeavors and experiences. Some of the questions might be geared toward negative situations, which are meant to give the interviewer insight as to how you respond to adversity and whether or not you can still achieve a positive outcome despite facing obstacles. In preparing for your interview, it can be helpful to review potential behavior-based questions and brainstorm how you might respond.

Examples of Behavior-Style Questions

• Give me an example of a time when you faced an obstacle. What did you do to overcome it?
• Describe a time when you effectively worked with a team to accomplish a task. What was your involvement?
• Tell me about a time when you set a goal and were able to achieve it.
• Give me an example of when you tried to accomplish something and failed. How did you handle that?
• Tell me about a time when you had to interact with a difficult client. What was the situation, and how did you handle it?

Crafting Your Responses

The STAR method is a popular technique for answering behavioral-style interview questions. This method involves discussing the specific situation, task, action and result of the event you are recounting in the answer to a question that you have been asked. You can use this system to help organize your thoughts while you are thinking of your specific examples.

Situation (S): Explain the situation that you were in, or describe the task that you were trying to accomplish. You should give a detailed depiction of the event and try to be as specific as possible. The example that you use can be your experience from a previous job, volunteer work or any relevant situation.

Task (T): Specify what the particular task was. What was the goal you were attempting to achieve? What were you hoping to accomplish at the end?

Action (A): Explain the actions that you took to address the situation. Make sure to use the proper amount of detail and try to keep the focus specifically on YOUR actions. What steps did you take? What was your contribution to the task? If your example is a team collaboration, try to keep the attention more on your individual actions, rather than reciting what the team did.

Result (R): Describe the outcome of your conduct in the situation. What happened? What was the end result? Did you accomplish everything you set out to do? Did you learn anything? Try to have an answer with multiple positive results.

It is a good idea to spend some time identifying four to eight examples from your past where you excelled and demonstrated excellent behavior. Try to structure your responses using the STAR method, and remember that you want your answers to be positive and to reflect an impressive skill set.