When you're interviewing for a job, behavioral questions are everywhere. These are questions or statements that ask candidates to share examples of specific past situations. Interviewers rely on them because they want to objectively measure a candidate’s past behaviors, which they believe is a good predictor of future results.
LinkedIn Talent Solutions 2024 found that 92% of talent professionals consider soft skills equally or more important than technical abilities. The importance of soft skills explains why behavioral questions have become the default interview format.
There are many ways to answer behavioral questions, but one common method is the STAR method. This stands for Situation (set the stage), Task (what you needed to do), Action (how you did it), and Result (the payoff). Here’s how it works:
Practitioner example:
Client deadline at risk due to last-minute glitch
Task was to fix it fast
Pulled team together, pinpointed issue, reworked plan overnight
Client delivered on time and renewed for a bigger project
Focusing on outcomes drives the example home for the interviewer.
Story Toolbox and Competency Areas
Another way to prepare for behavioral interviews is to use the story toolbox method. This involves building ready-to-use story examples before the interview, so that when you’re asked a question, you can draw on those prepared stories instead of trying to think up an answer on the spot. A video resource teaches how to answer any behavioral interview question using the story toolbox method.
Behavioral questions typically target four core competency areas. LinkedIn Talent Solutions 2024 organized 40 behavioral interview questions by these eight core competencies:
Leadership and decision-making: Organizations with strong leadership are 13x more likely to outperform competitors.
Communication and influence: Consistently ranks among top three competencies employers assess.
Time management and organization: 93% of talent acquisition professionals identify accurate skill assessment as critical to quality of hire. Time management is easiest to claim, hardest to verify.
The rest of the core competency areas include teamwork and collaboration, adaptability and innovation, problem-solving and critical thinking, emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills, integrity and ethics, and initiative and self-motivation.
Sample Answers and Core Advice
Here’s what a strong behavioral answer looks like in practice:
Sample question: Describe a time you faced problems or stress at work or in a class that tested your coping skills.
Pushback example: When I pushed back on my boss’ idea, he focused on the direct objection rather than the prior agreement we had about training. He explained that training would improve company culture and operational efficiency, making everyone’s workload lighter.
Proactive communication example: In order to show that I was proactive, I began arriving at one-on-one meetings with a prepared update of all ongoing work instead of coming unprepared. That showed him that I was paying attention and not just going through the motions.
Addressing specific questions and concerns signals genuine preparation and distinguishes the candidate from cookie-cutter responses.
Core advice for behavioral interviews is to find the right stories and polish them up rather than memorizing scripted answers. Behavioral questions can feel tricky, but they may be easier than expected once the right stories are identified and prepared.