Using Behavioral Interviewing Techniques for Hiring

By Pierce Smith

Time is money.

If not spent wisely, time and resources can easily be consumed in the recruiting and hiring process.  Just ask any HR professional.

Fortunately, new techniques offer hiring managers more insight into the character of the candidates they are considering. 

One such technique is behavioral interviewing, an easy, but powerful tool that will help the interviewer gain critical information about the interviewee.

What is behavioral interviewing? 

Behavioral interviewing is a technique in which interviewers focus on questions regarding the potential candidates’ previous experiences by asking them to provide examples. 

How does it work? 

Descriptive details is essentially, what defines behavioral interviewing.  It’s no longer just about stating simple tasks completed in any given role.

All questions regarding past experience are followed up with more specific questions, such as why the candidate did something, how they did it, and what was the result or accomplishment. 

Situation. Actions. Results. 

The magic of behavioral interviewing lies in a three-part answer: one that includes the situation, the candidate’s action, and the result (referred to as “SAR”).

Prior to the behavioral interview technique, interviewers tended to ask more task- and list-oriented questions, like, “What were your responsibilities as  marketing intern?” 

When not asking these list-based questions, they focused on hypothetical questions, such as, “What would you do if your supervisor asked you to do something against company policy?”

While this information seemed to be useful, interviewers realized, was that it’s easy to spout off a list of actions that one did or did not truly take part in. 

And, they presumed, most interviewees are going to give the “right” response to hypothetical inquiries – meaning people were going to respond with what they assumed the interviewer wanted to hear. 

Essentially, the problem was that list-oriented questions didn’t go deep enough while the hypothetical questions usually prompted idealistic responses, which anyone knows doesn’t necessarily translate to practical reality.  

So, how were hiring managers really going to get an insight into the capabilities of a potential employee? 

Well, the theory behind behavioral interviewing is that past performance is the best predictor of future performance. 

Therefore, by learning what a candidate has already done – in extensive detail – one can have a better view into how he or she would handle future situations.   

The limitations of the list-based questions are addressed as well. Turns out, behavioural interviewing is a great mechanism for filtering for BS. 

It’s much harder to illustrate a well-colored portrait of fabricated accomplishments than it is to pump out quick, canned responses. 

How about some examples? 

Behavioral interviewers often ask questions beginning with:

“Describe a specific incident, or a time when you…,” 

“Describe a situation in which you were able to…,”  

“Tell me about a recent challenge that you…” 

Open-ended questions like these require an in-depth description to support statements made in the interview or on a resume.

Time-Tested Technique

Behavioral interview has become the gold standard for many industry-leading organizations in their hiring process. 

Introduced more than 30 years ago, it is a time-tested and empirically validated evaluation technique, applicable for assessing full time team members and intern candidates alike. 

Still not sure you understand behavioral interviewing? Not sold on its abilities to help you identify and select the interns and staff members most suitable to your organization? 

To learn more about Behavioral Interviewing, and how it’s used with StrideWire, click here for the StrideWire Recruiting Solutions division.