Why behavioral interview questions are a reliable method for evaluating manager and supervisor candidates
What the main competency areas that behavioral questions for managers are designed to assess
What manager-focused behavioral interview questions look like in practice
How to prepare for and answer behavioral interview questions confidently
Behavioral interview questions have become an industry standard for assessing management candidates. In fact, I’ve written about them before.
In this article, I’ll explain why behavioral interview questions work well when looking for good managers and supervisors, what kind of questions they tend to ask, how you can prepare for them, and how you should answer them.
Why Behavioral Interview Questions Work for Manager Candidates
There are many ways to evaluate job candidates. You can ask them about their experience, skills, education, or personality traits. But none of these methods is as effective at predicting future performance as asking them to describe how they handled specific situations in the past.
This is because people’s behavior tends to be consistent over time. If someone has behaved badly in the past, they will likely behave badly in the future. And if someone has behaved well in the past, they will likely behave well in the future.
When hiring for a leadership role, it’s especially important to get a sense of how a candidate will act in similar situations. That’s where behavioral interview questions come in handy. These questions ask the candidate to talk about how they acted in a particular situation in the past. This gives the interviewer insight into how the candidate would act in a similar situation in the future.
Behavioral interview questions also help uncover exactly how the candidate acted in a specific situation. For example, if the question is “Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult client,” the answer might tell the interviewer whether the candidate was able to handle the situation professionally, whether the candidate used communication skills to resolve the issue, and whether the candidate managed stress well.
In addition, behavioral interview questions give the interviewer a gauge of the candidate’s skill level. The more complex the situation described by the candidate, the more skilled the candidate is likely to be. They also reveal how the candidate manages stress — whether the candidate handles high-pressure situations well or tends to panic. And they show whether the candidate acts professionally, even under pressure.
Finally, behavioral interview questions are useful because the situations they’re based on are likely to recur in a leadership role. As a manager, you’ll often find yourself dealing with problems like poor employee performance, interpersonal conflict between employees, or unexpected changes in company priorities. Behavioral interview questions are designed to uncover how a candidate would react to such situations.
What Behavioral Interview Questions Are Designed To Assess
The goal of any interview is to find out if the candidate is a good fit for the job. Behavioral interview questions are no different. However, since managerial jobs require a range of competencies, there are many possible types of behavioral interview questions that could be asked.
That said, most behavioral interview questions for managers are focused on four main areas of competency:
Leadership: Providing direction and vision for your team.
Problem-solving: Anticipating risks and deciding how to proceed.
Communication: Face-to-face, email, chat, video conferencing, phone.
Effective communication helps your employees get the information they need to do their jobs well.
In practice, behavioral interview questions for managers usually fall into one of these categories. Let’s take a look at some examples.
What Behavioral Interview Questions Look Like in Practice
Behavioral interview questions are typically open-ended questions that start with something like “Tell me about a time when…” or “Give me an example of a time when…”. Here are a few common examples:
Tell me about the last time something significant didn’t go according to plan at work.
Give me an example of a time when you didn’t meet a client’s expectation. What happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation?
Have you ever had to explain a complex topic to a group of people? What was the topic? How did you go about it? How did you know that they all understood?
Tell me about a time when you had to make a tough decision without having all the facts.
Tell me about a time when you were given a task that was very difficult to accomplish.
Describe a situation where you failed to achieve a goal. Why did you fail, and what did you learn from it?
Tell me about a time when you had to convince others to support your idea.
Tell me about a time when you worked closely with someone who wasn’t easy to work with.
These kinds of questions aren’t just vague prompts; they’re meant to elicit detailed stories about specific experiences. It’s important to remember that behavioral interview questions are not technical interviews. You won’t be asked to solve a math problem or write code. Instead, you’ll be asked to talk about your experience, and your answers will be judged on how well they demonstrate your ability to perform the job.
Preparing for Behavioral Interview Questions
One of the best things about behavioral interview questions is that they’re 100% preparable in advance. Unlike situational judgment questions, which are hypothetical scenarios that you have to think through on the spot, behavioral interview questions are based on real events that you’ve already experienced. All you need to do is think back to your past experiences and choose a few stories that highlight the key skills and qualities required for the job.
So before your interview, identify a few stories based on the job description. Then, during the interview, be ready to talk about those stories. This will reduce your nerves and increase your readiness.
Answering Behavioral Interview Questions
When answering behavioral interview questions, you want to focus on yourself, not on the interviewer. So instead of saying “I once had a bad experience with a client”, you want to say “I once had a bad experience with a client. When this happened, I took several steps to try to fix the problem.” This shows the interviewer that you’re proactive and capable of handling difficult situations.
Also, when answering behavioral interview questions, you want to give evidence of doing a good job, not just a description of events. For example, instead of simply saying “I got along well with my coworkers”, you want to say “I got along well with my coworkers. I always made sure to communicate clearly and listen to their concerns.”
By focusing on yourself and giving evidence of doing a good job, you’ll be able to give a strong impression of your skills and abilities.