Have you ever sat across from an interviewer, frozen because you were just asked a question about a work situation that you’re not prepared to answer? If so, chances are you’ve encountered behavioral interview questions before.
Many job seekers find behavioral interview questions difficult to answer. Their difficulty increases if you have no work experience to fall back on.
Yet, if you’re browsing jobs on ZipRecruiter, you’re likely going to get asked about your behavior. These questions can serve as a positive, though. If you answer well, the hiring manager might think you’re well-suited for the position and hand you the job. As such, mastering behavioral interview questions is key. We’ll get into how to do so below!
What Are Behavioral Interview Questions?
As the #1 job site in the United States, ZipRecruiter allows job hunters to look for positions that closely match their qualifications. Whether you’re looking for your first job or your next one, you can find employers who want to hire people like you. Then, you can apply for the position with one easy click, saving you time!
If you get an interview, though, you should be ready to answer behavioral interview questions. These are inquiries a hiring manager makes that relate to your ability to navigate different situations.
Asking these questions helps employers assess how well candidates might fit into the role’s responsibilities. However, they can get difficult to answer, so you should prepare your answers before your interview.
Sample Behavioral Interview Questions
There are several different types of behavioral interview questions. Here are some typical ones:
- “Can you tell me about a time you took the initiative on a project or exceeded expectations?”
- “Tell me about a time you encountered a conflict. How did you handle it? What are some ways you have resolved conflicts in the past?”
- “Describe a time you failed at something. What did you do to recover from it? How did it change the way you worked?”
- “Tell me about some of your greatest strengths and weaknesses.”
Answering Behavioral Interview Questions without Experience
As you can see, most behavioral interview questions assume you have experience in past positions. If this would be your first job, though, you’ll need to find a way to answer in a satisfactory manner without highlighting your lack of professional experience.
To do this, think of times you’ve either volunteered or worked on a project with someone. Ask yourself whether you have encountered relevant situations and use this experience when answering interview questions.
If the hiring manager is asking about your weaknesses or about a time you failed, be truthful, but don’t paint yourself too negatively. Instead, use it to highlight how you’ve changed. Employers know workers aren’t perfect, but they prefer workers who learn from their failures and weaknesses.
The STAR Method
Many job applicants use the STAR method to answer interview questions. STAR interview questions are behavioral questions that you can answer by mentioning a situation you faced in the past.
STAR stands for:
- Situation
- Task
- Action
- and Results.
When preparing for an interview, you should always identify some situations you can use to answer the common interview questions listed above. Look at the task you were instructed to do, lay out how you took action, then share the results.
Here is an example of a STAR interview question and answer:
Question: Tell me about a time you were in charge of a project and needed to make a last-minute change.
Answer: First, I always try to start tasks early so I can make time for any unexpected changes. When I volunteered at my local food pantry, I was in charge of making sure the pantry had enough food for the week. At one point, we received a large portion of food during one of our drives. The person supervising me wanted me to process and organize each food item by the end of the day.
To accomplish this, I decided to organize my team into two separate teams: one that could itemize and one that could organize. Together, we worked on getting each of the food items processed and properly stored.
In the end, the food pantry had a better-organized space and more food they could hand out!
Ready to Land a Job?
When you prepare to talk to a hiring manager, you should anticipate behavioral interview questions. Most of these conversations have STAR interview questions embedded in them. So, you should master the STAR method so you have a better chance of getting a job (check out the top positions in finance).
If you want to increase your chances of finding a position, use ZipRecruiter. Once you create a free profile, ZipRecruiter will send your information to employers looking for people like you. Then, if they think you’d be a great match, they can invite you to apply. People who get invited to apply are three times as likely to get the position. Ready to land your dream job? Create your profile today!
