Common Job Interview Behavioural Questions

Behavioural interview questions are the questions where they get you to explain how you would handle yourself in a given situation. The interviewer is trying to determine how you solve problems and whether this fits in with the role in question. The idea is that your previous behaviour will be similar to your future behaviour.

The STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Results) method is a common technique used to answer behavioural questions.

• Situation / Task - Explain the circumstances of the issue in questions.
• Action - Explain how you went about solving the issue at hand.
• Results - Conclusion of what your actions achieved (You should be relating a positive outcome here).

Listed below are some of the common behavioural questions and tips on how to answer them.

What motivates you?

Try come up with a personal experience or trait that presents you at your best. You want to show them that you are an enthusiastic, conscientious and able to get things done. Try relate it directly to the position you are applying for.

Give an example of when you...?

Pick a strong example that shows your qualifications over the whole process. Try bring up points that show you can be independant as well as a team player.

Tell me about a time you went the extra mile to get the job done?

This is a great question to be asked. They are basically giving you free reign to trot out a story about your greatest moment in a job. Make sure you have a few of these lined up.

Make sure it shows how it benefited the company and this is what you were striving for at the time. Don't turn it into some epic though, make sure you stay true to your original point and don't wander.

Tell me about a time when you were responsible for getting an important task done?

Your answer for this should be similar to the answer about going the extra mile described above.

Describe how you discovered an issue during your work and what you did to bring it to the attention of your team and resolve it?

Describe how you worked closely as a team on a project to achieve the desired results? Explain your input into the team?

Describe a time when you worked in a team and had differences with a team member? How did you handle this?

These questions are related to how you can work in a team environment and your ability to be a leader. As always, you need to come up with some good examples that put you in a positive light.

Tell me about a time when you had different pathways available to solve a problem and how you went about choosing a given path?

Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision and how you handled it?

These question are trying to determine how you go about problem solving.