Now to your question about behavioral interviews… Companies are just as nefarious as you thought. They ask behavior-based questions precisely because you can’t prepare for them. You can only rehearse stories and recall how you did things in the past.
Despite how it may feel, hiring managers don’t ask these questions because they’re monsters. They want to test your ability to perform skills in a work setting; this gives them a chance to gauge your effectiveness and see how you perform under pressure. Your answers will also demonstrate your knowledge of the industry, whether you’ve worked in the field or not, and how you’ll think through problems to implement solutions on the job.
If you’re looking for a quick list of topics to think through to prepare for a behavioral interview, draw from specific examples to show how you:
⦁Dealt with a stressful situation
⦁Put in extra effort to get a project done on time
⦁Addressed an issue before it became a problem
⦁Navigated working with someone you didn’t get along with
⦁Reorganized your work when priorities shifted
⦁Handled something negative in a performance review
⦁Met a tight deadline
At the end of the day, remember that this part of the interview isn’t given more importance than the rest of the interview and your application as a whole. This is just one company trying to gauge how you’ve solved problems in the past to try to predict how you will handle issues you might face in the future.
Be specific with your examples, be clear about how this experience relates to the job you want, and know that you can only be limited by your own beliefs.
If you’re a Veteran who’s having difficulties with Behavioral Interview questions, your problems likely stem from:
1. Translation of skills
2. Targeting your resume to a specific job