![]() |
![]() |
|
|
Behavioral Interview Questions You Can Use Monday Morning
If past behavior is the best way to determine future behavior then behavioral interviewing is a requirement for anyone serious about hiring top talent. This skill isn't something that should be taken lightly, but everyone's got to start somewhere. Keep in mind that you're looking for specific examples rather than vague descriptions. A good communicator can dance around the question and sound very convincing if you don't insist that they give specifics. Here are a few questions that I have found to predict the future behavior of some of the most critical personality traits. Leadership Ability These abilities will be important for any position that involves persuasion or managing a team. Here are a few questions to determine the strength of a candidate. Tell me about a time when you lead a discussion, task force, or committee meeting. What was the situation and how did you orchestrate it? Tell me about a time when your co-workers looked to you for guidance on an important project or task. What was the situation and how did you handle it? Verbal Skills Any employee that requires a high degree of human interaction will benefit from strong verbal skills. Here are a couple of questions to determine the strength of a candidate in this area. Tell me about a time when you had to explain a challenging concept or idea to a co-worker. How did you communicate it to them to ensure that they understood? Tell me about a time when you were required to speak before a large audience. What was the situation, how did you feel about doing it, and what was the outcome? Decisiveness This is an indicator of an individual's ability to make decisions independently and is also an indicator of an individual's self confidence as well as their tolerance for risk. Here are a couple of questions to understand a candidate's strength in this area. Tell me about a time when you were required to make an important decision without having complete information. What was the situation and what was the outcome? Describe a situation when you had to make a decision that you didn't feel was your responsibility or authority to make. What course of action did you take to make sure you did the right thing? Assertiveness This is an indicator of an individual's ability to communicate. This will closely relate to leadership ability and is important for any position that requires giving direction to others. Here are a couple of questions to gain a better understanding of a candidate's strength in this area. Tell me about a time when you had to speak up in order to get your point across. Be specific. Tell me about a time when you had to "sell" your manager or co-workers on one of your ideas. What was the idea and what was the outcome? Energy Level This is an indicator of an individual's ability to maintain intense levels of work for long periods of time. While most candidates will be able to complete an 8 hour work day, someone with a low energy level will feel the effects much more than someone with a high energy level. This is also an indicator of an individual's propensity to work quickly. Here are a couple of questions to determine the strength of a candidate in this area. Tell me about a time when you were required to work with a team on an important project and you weren't pleased with the speed at which it progressed. How did you deal with the situation? Describe a situation where you were required to work an extended period of time to accomplish a task. What was the situation and how did you keep yourself motivated? These interview questions should set you on the right path to becoming a proficient behavioral interviewer. For a more complete understanding of behavioral interviewing, get my free 19 page behavioral interview guide at http://www.mikenacke.com/behavioral-interview.html. It will provide a more complete understanding of the behavioral interview process and take your interviewing skills to the next level. Mike Nacke is the Director of Development for PrideStaff, a national staffing and recruiting firm and is an expert at building a world class workforce. For more information on how to hire and retain passionate employees visit http://www.mikenacke.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
What are Your Best Practices? Best Practices StudiesThese studies can be defined as inquiries into the skills and methods of your high performers to recognize their achievements, document their methods and skills and then share this information with team members to improve overall performance. The responses generated from your study may hold the solutions to a variety of team challenges in the Call Center. Importance of Just-In-Time Inventory System In today's competitive world shorter product life cycles, customers rapid demands and quickly changing business environment is putting lot of pressures on manufacturers for quicker response and shorter cycle times. Now the manufacturers put pressures on their suppliers. Cross Cultural Solutions for International Business Globalisation, the expansion of intercontinental trade, technological advances and the increase in the number of companies dealing on the international stage have brought about a dramatic change in the frequency, context and means by which people from different cultural backgrounds interact.Cross cultural solutions to international business demands are increasingly being viewed as a valid and necessary method in enhancing communication and interaction in and between companies, between companies and customers and between colleagues. Are You in Control of Your Practice or Does it Control You? One of the most common complaints that business owners have today is that they feel their practice is running them and that they're being pulled in every direction instead of really running the business themselves.Well, I'd like to tell you, when I was in practice I experienced the same thing. Being a Great Boss Are you one of those bosses that people just love to hate? Maybe successful, maybe very intelligent, maybe organized and moving forward but just can't get along with people. Communication and other people skills are as important to the success of your business as your talent, knowledge and entrepreneurial drive. Creativity Management - Quality from Quantity Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Improve Operations by Restructuring Transitioning from Vertical Hierarchies to Decentralized / Flatter OrganizationsThe need to restructure for traditional, bureaucratic firms is essential in the fast paced, dynamic business world today. Team-based organizations are largely successful in having all of the people in the firm feel accountable and responsible for the operation and success of the enterprise, not just a few people in senior management positions. Mantra for Managers What do organizations look for in a prospective employee with special reference to fresh MBA graduates? The two key assets that an organization looks for is the potential of the individual and ability to pursue his goals in all situations. Every organization expects its team of fresh recruitees to grow into top quality Managers and therefore it is very important to evaluate the potential of the fresh graduate. Selective Job Cuts Often Benefits Firm More Than Broad Layoffs Over Long Term It is difficult to pick up a newspaper or listen to a business news broadcast without being greeted with the announcement of another massive corporate layoff or cutback. The economy catches a chill and, as a result, the corporate world catches a profits "cold. Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 404: Old Dog, New Teeth The failures we have seen in the quality and integrity of financial reporting in corporate America are clear evidence that something was awry. It is the responsibility of corporate boards, managements, public accounting firms and regulatory agencies to put confidence back into the financial statements issued by our society's most significant entities. Office Politics Office politics! It's just another way of saying: "The employees are not getting along!"When so much of a company's success depends on the employees' ability to work together as a cohesive team, it is critical that people understand and appreciate the differences in each other.Symptoms of Office Politics:ConflictStressJob DissatisfactionPoor communication skillsThe Results:High employee turnoverReduced productivity and profitabilityThe Solution:Improve employee communication and understandingThe Disc Classic behavioral assessment is widely used by the nation's largest companies to improve the working relationship amongst its employees. The Best Way to Keep Track of Meetings How should you keep track of meetings?Have you ever wanted to run away from a meeting? I worked for one of the top five companies in the US and they seemed to hold meetings to plan meetings. It absolutely drove me around the bend! I would try and multi-task like all the other participants and secretly hoped they would not call on me for any information. What Every Manager Should Know About How to Enhance the Motivational Climate of the Workplace It has been well documented that employees' productivity and job quality increase when we are made to feel welcomed at work. In other words, when the motivational climate is enhanced to meet their needs they produce quality work at the 100% rate. The Compliance Officers Killer Application It used to be that only the largest multi-nationals needed a Compliance Officer. Today most practices, regardless of size, would be wise to charge someone within their organisation with the responsibility of keeping abreast and managing the compliance process. The 20/60/20 Rule Of Leadership. Dont Go Solving The Wrong Problems Several decades ago, a passenger jet approached a Florida airport with the pilot and co-pilot struggling to fix what they thought was a malfunctioning landing gear. The landing-gear light was on, signaling that the gear was deployed; but both men did not hear it actually deploy. Strategies for Planning and Conducting Effective Meetings Did you know that business executives spend about half their time sitting in meetings? In fact, 40 to 50 percent of their working hours are consumed by meetings, according to a study by the Annenberg School of Communications at UCLA and the University of Minnesota's Training & Development Research Center.Meetings are inevitable - whether you're a business executive or member of a volunteer, social, or civic organization. Leading Meetings: The Top Three Challenges What do people really find challenging about leading meetings? Here are the top three questions that keep on cropping up followed by guidelines or simple ways to keep meetings under control and on track. Make your meetings work. Communication: Managements Responsibility I've just watched, again, an episode in the Back to the Floor television series, which aired on the BBC (United Kingdom) and PBS (United States). Once more, communication turned out to be a key issue, as it often does in business stories. A Leadership Lesson: Two Guys With Guns PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership. The Seven Cs: Partnership Danger Signs - The 5th C: Control Issues A series of articles exploring the seven critical areas that can indicate a partnership is in trouble.The 5th C: Control IssuesWhen control is in the picture it is a lose/lose proposition. |