Oftentimes, while candidates excel in the technical aspects of an interview, they fall short on behavioral questions. Throughout the interview preparation process, heavy emphasis is usually placed on technical skills, leaving behavioral aspects often overlooked or prepared at the last minute. However, a successful pass of the behavioral interview is crucial to receive a job offer from any company.
Amazon assigns each interviewer to ask a couple of behavioral questions, in addition to technical ones, as they focus on evaluating a candidate’s behavioral competency in accordance with their ‘Leadership Principles’. This is because training a candidate on technical skills is often easier than molding them into an ideal cultural fit within the company.
In this article, we will highlight five key scenarios for which every candidate should prepare a story before they appear for an interview.
1. Impactful Projects
During the interview, there will be a focus on the projects you have worked on in the past specially the one you have mentioned in your resume. Some sample questions you might face:
- What was the most challenging project you have handled?
- What project are you most proud of?
- Can you describe a project where you came up with an innovative solution for a difficult problem?
Have you worked on a project that is directly related to the job you are interviewing for?Your task is to demonstrate your competence through your roles, scale of the projects, and achievements. Providing detailed descriptions of the projects will help interviewers assess your experience and potential contribution to their company.
2. Managing Conflicts
Experienced professionals often face conflicts with colleagues, managers, clients, or other stakeholders involved in a project. It is important to provide examples where you have shown effective conflict resolution skills, emphasizing your ability to resolve conflicts while keeping team productivity intact.
In our previous article, we discussed strategies for professionally handling conflicts.
3. Learning from Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes – it’s a part of being human. The real challenge is in how you learn and adapt from these errors. Discuss how you have put strategies or mechanisms in place to prevent similar issues in the future. A seasoned professional not only learns from their mistakes but also shares these learnings to strengthen the team’s problem-solving skills.
4. Handling Constraints
Professional life often comes with challenges like tight deadlines or short delivery timelines. Interviewers want to assess your decision-making skills when faced with tough trade-offs. Share your process of reprioritizing tasks and the subsequent positive results. Your ability to communicate effectively, particularly under time pressure, is a valuable skill to showcase.
Lack of information can also be a constraint, often requiring decision-making with unclear requirements or customer expectations.
It is crucial to indicate your preparedness for undesirable outcomes resulting from decisions made under constraints. Discuss your contingency plans and solutions for any side effects. If a workaround was used or a technical debt was incurred, share your plan for a timely resolution.
5. Why us, Why this role, why now?
Every workplace has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. However, there may be certain aspects of a new role that are more appealing than your current or previous positions. Interviewers are interested in understanding your motivation for changing jobs. While discussing this, focus on the positive aspects of the potential new role instead of dwelling on the negatives of past roles.
Why do you want to join the new company? Illustrate how you have researched about the company and its projects, showing your genuine interest. Talk about the skills you are looking forward to enhancing and the challenges you are eager to face in the new role. Also, touch upon your potential contributions in the new role.
How to Prepare for Behavioral Interviews
At TechMockInterview.com, professional interviewers from top companies can help you evaluate your behavioral interview skills through mock interviews. If you require specific guidance, customized mentorship sessions are a great option. Secure a slot with one of our experts for a mock interview or mentorship session and receive valuable feedback on your performance.
