Page 42 - 101 Dynamite Answers to Interview Questions

Interview Types and Techniques 35

However, you can prepare for the behavioral interview! You may not
be able to anticipate every single question - no more than you can
prepare for every single traditional question that may be asked. But just
as you can anticipate the areas of questioning which an employer is likely
to probe and consider the gist of the responses you will give, you can do
much the same thing in preparation for the possibility you may face an
interview in which at least some of what you are asked are behavioral
based questions. This, of course, assumes you have had a relevant
experience and that you have acted in a positive manner that you are
pleased to have the opportunity to talk about! But the major problem for
most job candidates is not whether they have had a related experience,
nor that they have responded inappropriately, but rather that they are
thrown off balance by a question they not only didn't anticipate, but had
never considered. They have a tough time formulating a good response
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under the stress of the moment.
Your strategy, as you prepare, should be two-fold. First, anticipate as
many of the behavioral questions you are likely to be asked as you can.
Consider the job for which you are interviewing. What lcinds of behav-
ioral questions do you think the interviewer might want to ask specific to
that job? What special situations would someone working in this job
likely encounter? Are there any things on your resume or in your work
history that might raise questions? Looked at in this way, you may be
able to add questions to your behavioral list.
Once you have a compiled a list of possible behavioral type questions,
your next step is to strategize the responses you would male. Your tactic,
as in any aspect of the interview, should be to be honest, but not stupid.
In other words, how can you best answer this question honestly and yet
in the most favorable light possible vis-a-vis your behavior? Remember
that the interviewer will probably check your references if the company
is seriously considering hiring you. So you want to keep your answers
focused on the truth.
Consider the questions about your real life performance and pull out
as many examples as you can of how you have responded in relevant
situations in the past. If you have a great deal of work experience, most
of the examples you use should be related to past jobs. However, if you
are recently out of school, your examples need not all be work-related.
Examples taken from situations you encountered in organizations you
belonged to at school or in volunteer experiences may yield positive

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