Why Behavioral Interview Questions Are Important

When you’re hiring a new employee, you want to learn more than just what skills they have to offer. At a time when cultural fit is becoming more important in the workplace, you need to determine whether a candidate’s motivations, characteristics and personality are appropriate for the role. Behavioral interview questions are designed to help you discover this information, making them important to the process.

Under the best circumstances, job seekers will be unaware the hiring manager is attempting to gain information pertaining to their normal behaviors. This helps you get the most honest information, as the candidate isn’t as liable to compose an answer based on what they think you want to hear. Here’s what you need to know about adding effective behavioral questions to any interview.

Determine the Ideal Traits for the Position

Just as you want to define the skills required to be successful in the job, the same can be said for identifying the desired characteristics. Begin by reviewing the duties assigned and consider the personality traits of current employees who do similar work. Create a streamlined list of the most desirable behavioral characteristics and use these to guide your questions.

With technical skills, you want to prioritize the target traits based on their level of importance. In many cases, no candidate will be competent in all technical areas, and the same can be true for personality traits. This approach helps you determine which ones are most valued and can be especially useful if you interview two strong candidates with different behavioral characteristics.

Create Your Questions

Before the interview, craft questions designed to get the behavioral information for which you are aiming. This means what works for one interview might not be ideal for another.

Begin by focusing on open-ended questions that prompt candidates to provide examples of their prior experiences. For example, if you want to determine if an applicant is a skilled problem-solver, ask them to discuss a time when they had to troubleshoot an issue they hadn’t previously encountered.

The intention of the question is less about getting details about their technical capabilities and more about getting insight into how they think. And any question that allows you to glean that information can do the trick.

Intersperse the Questions Among Those Focused on Technical Ability

To help make the behavioral questions less obvious, mix them in with some that focus on other goals, such as determining their experience with specific systems. This approach can help ensure candidates aren’t aware your intentions have shifted, making it more likely their answers will remain honest.

However, there are questions that can pull double duty if they are crafted properly. In most cases, any open-ended question has the potential to provide you insights into the candidate’s character, so try to follow that format whenever possible.

If you would like to learn more about behavioral interviews or would like assistance finding top talent for your open positions, the professionals at The Squires Group can help. Contact us to see how our services can work for you.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *