6 Behavioral Interviewing Tips
An in-person interview can be a critical step in the hiring process and can help a recruiter or hiring manager determine whether a job candidate fits the organizational safety culture and core safety values of your company. Studies have shown that behavioral interviewing1 can be an effective interviewing technique and can help the interviewer understand more about how a candidate might act when faced with a workplace concern or safety issue.
The premise behind behavioral interviewing is that a person’s past behavior can more accurately predict future performance in similar situations. By asking a job candidate how they performed in specific real-life settings, you’ll gain a better idea of how that person may behave if they work at your company. By considering a candidate’s propensity to adopt safe workplace practices, business owners can gain insight into how they will embrace the company’s safety culture.
6 TIPS for behavioral interviewing
FIND THE STORY BEHINDTHE CANDIDATE BY USING THESE TECHNIQUES
1 Don’t ask “yes or no” questions
Elicit relevant insight by asking open ended questions: like “Why do you think ...?”
2 Ask each candidate how she or he would handle a work scenario
“Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem.”
3 Use the same scenario with each candidate, to draw an “apples to apples” comparison
“Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem.”
4 Ask candidates to talk about a work situation they’ve faced on a job
“Tell me about a time when you had to assess and make a recommendation.”
5 Ask followup questions to dig deeper into what a candidate was thinking about a specific situation
“Lead me through your decision process.”
6 Be clear on what you are looking for in a candidate, and seek to get a sense of whether there is a fit
“Our group is deadline driven; how do you adapt under pressure?”
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Source
1 Predictive Validity of a Behavioral Interview Technique; Oliphant, Hansen and Oliphant; Marketing Management Journal, Fall 2008.
