While each interviewer you encounter will probably have their own unique ‘style’, it’s important to recognize the types of interview styles that exist in most places of employment.
The types of questions you will be asked during the interview process will often be based on what style the management team goes with. Generally there are two separate styles of conducting an interview: traditional interviewing and behavioral interviewing.
TRADITIONAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Traditional interview questions are most times rather straight forward. Although they often ask you to speculate or ruminate on topics, the questions give the impression of being binary – there’s a right way and a wrong way to answer, with little wiggle room. The questions can often border on the absurd if you gave much thought to how they actually assess one’s ability to do the listed job. Questions like these are generally considered to be traditional questions:
– What are your strengths/weaknesses?
– Where do you see yourself in five years?
– What motivates you?
BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Behavioral interview questions get to the heart of your experience. Most questions in the behavioral style will ask you to give an account of your past experiences in some detail. The idea is that reviewing past behavior can help an employer to predict future behavior. If your behavior matches what they’re looking for, then we have a winner! It is important when answering questions of this nature that you’ve done the proper research. You need to tell stories about your past jobs that mimic the roles and responsibilities you will encounter in your future employment. Questions in the behavioral category sound like this:
– Tell me about a time when…
– Describe a situation when…
– Have you ever encountered a problem where…
BECOME A BLEND
You may encounter all sorts of hybrids of these styles along your journey through the job search. I’ve had experiences ranging into extremes with both styles. But more and more companies are using behavioral questions as the base of the interview, with traditional questions to help settle in prospective employees. Because answering each type of question varies, you must be able to switch quickly as the interview flows.
With traditional questions, get to the point. State your answer with confidence, and with examples to back it up. You can almost do the work for them – turning traditional based questions into behavioral ones. “One of my greatest strengths is my ability to handle deadlines. In fact, in my previous job I led a team of four and was responsible for meeting x deadlines per month…” Make sure to use strengths based on what the company is looking for. Research is crucial.
For behavioral questions, you must create a flow chart of ideas that will tell the employer how you can help them. So for a question like, “tell me about a time when you had to deal with a very unruly customer” you need to explain the entire process.
– Customer’s problem
– How I helped customer
– Resolution
– Bonus: Customer’s nice words, boss acknowledgment, furthered customer knowledge, what you learned
How well you do in an interview will be determined by your experience, practicing your answers, and how you articulate what you know. Regardless if you come across a behavioral or a traditional interview, the number one tip is to be confident. And you should be! Remember that the interview is one step closer to the job. Understand that many people applied for the position, with only a few being called back for an interview. They determined from your resume that someone with your experience level and education would be suitable for the job. Now they just have to meet you! Have fun and enjoy the opportunity to meet new people. I know you’ll do great.