Increasingly employers are using a strategy known as behavioural based questioning when interviewing applicants. Behavioural questions are designed to produce short stories, discourage hypothetical answers, avoid leading the applicant and match a set of predetermined selection criteria.
Interviewers will probe applicants past behaviour to determine whether they meet the pre-selection performance criteria. Many employers will use a mix of behaviourally based and traditional questions.
Organisation Skills
Ability to Plan
Tell me about a time when you had to plan an event?
What steps did you take?
What were the results?
Ability to Set Priorities
Could you tell me about a time when you were really busy with study or work or other commitments?
How did you handle it?
What did you do?
Ability to delegate
Have you ever been in a position when you were organising/managing something and had others helping you?
How did you distribute tasks?
What happened?
Interpersonal Skills
Client Relations
Tell me about any people-oriented or customer-service roles you have held?
How did you feel?
How did they respond?
Being a Team Player
Were you ever involved with a group of people and a problem arose?
What caused the problem?
How did you approach it?
How was it solved?
Ability to Deal with People at All Levels
Tell me about a time when you’ve worked closely with someone at a higher or lower level to you?
Describe the situation?
What was the outcome?
Technical Skills
Problem Solving
What was the most difficult work or university/school problem you ever faced? Describe it.
How did you address the problem?
What were the results?
Ability to Apply Knowledge
Tell me about a time when you had to apply some newly acquired knowledge or skill?
What was the knowledge or skill?
What was the outcome?
Knowing Limitations
Describe a situation when you had to turn to someone else for help.
To whom did you turn?
What happened?
Growing With The Job
Taking Initiative/Leadership
Tell me about a time when you had to step out from the crowd and take the lead in doing something different?
What did you do?
What was the result?
Ability to Learn on the Job
Can you describe a time when you had to assimilate a lot of new knowledge and apply it?
What was the situation?
How did you apply the knowledge?
Communication Skills
Ability to Communicate
Tell me about a time when someone misunderstood something you said?
How did you make yourself clear?
What was the outcome?
Ability to Listen
Can you tell me about a time when a friend sought you out as a confidante?
What skills did you utilise in this role?
How could you apply these skills in the workplace?
Commitment
Work Commitment
Describe a situation where you kept persevering with a task even though every one else had given up?
Why did you keep going?
What was the result?
Service Commitment
Have you ever done any work in a customer oriented or community service organisation?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
This article was kindly provided by Candle Recruitment Australia
