5 strategies to acing behavioral interviews

You already know that most employers use behavioral interviews to determine your core competencies. And you know that behavioral interview questions account for at least 40% of your interview. So what happens when you are not prepared for behavioral interviews? You end up looking like a deer in the headlights and you walk away from the interview without a job offer in hand. I want to change that for you, so let’s take a look at some behavioral strategies you can use on your next interview.

1. Carefully listen to your interviewer and the question they are asking you. Let them finish asking you the question and don’t jump to any conclusions about how to answer it. You might even repeat the question back to them to help you get a better feel for it.

2. Carefully choose your language when answering their questions. Try to use language that is specific to your industry so you look like more of an expert.

3. Before your interview, research key words, terms, and buzz words that might be used by the company you are interviewing with and incorporate that language into your answers.

4. When giving your answers, don’t go into extreme detail, just give them the basic facts because this allows for two things:

a. It shortens the length of your answer, making it more digestible to your interviewer. Basically, they’ll have a better idea of what you said because you explained it in a simple manner.

b. A shorter answer allows for your interviewer to ask follow-up questions about some of the details, and now you can further demonstrate your competencies by answering those specific questions.

5. Carefully choose examples from your past that you want to talk about. I say that because if you are unwilling to go into detail about certain topics, then avoid bringing them up.

When you follow these guidelines, you’ll be much more prepared for the type of questions that are coming at you.