Be ready to share stories that demonstrate the type of worker you are

Part of what makes job interview preparations so difficult is not exactly knowing what to expect. You could have a standard interview with questions like "What's your greatest weakness?" or find yourself in front of a hostile interviewer. You may also encounter a behavioural interview, where an HR manager seeks insights beyond the most popular interview questions, like "Tell me about yourself." Therefore, it comes with its own common questions and preparation techniques. We explain.

What is a behavioural interview?

The behavioural interview is designed to review your skills, working style, and best personality traits by looking at past experiences to see if you're qualified to do the job at hand. However, in these interviews, there's less focus on proving your expertise and more focus on revealing how you go about your work.

Behavioural interviews give an HR manager insight into the way you think, approach problems, and interact with others. This will help them determine if you can face the challenges of the role and meet their expectations for how it will be performed.

Some of the things that behavioural interview questions can assess are:

Your responses will often feature anecdotes and, ideally, include some reflection on the experience you describe.

What are behavioural interview questions?

Though you'll never be told outright that your interview will be behavioural, there are some keys to identifying when you're being asked a behaviour-focused question. Often, these interview questions begin with phrases like:

  • Tell me about a time when…
  • Give me an example of…
  • Have you ever dealt with…
  • Describe a situation where…
  • When have you used...

Any question that starts with these phrases (or similar) invites you to share about your past experiences, the lessons you learnt and, most importantly, how they've prepared you to do the job you're interviewing for.

Examples of common behavioural interview questions

Some examples of behavioural interview questions include:

  • Teamwork and conflict resolution: Tell me about a time you made a mistake with a colleague. How did you handle the situation?

  • Time management: How did you manage a long-term project to its deadlines?

  • Presentation and communication skills: Describe a time you gave a presentation. Was it successful, and why do you think that?

  • Leadership and motivation: Can you describe a time when you used your leadership skills to inspire or motivate your colleagues or team?

  • Adaptability and resourcefulness: Have you ever been assigned a task for which you lacked training or experience? How did you manage the situation?

  • Problem-solving and decision-making: Walk me through your problem-solving process. How do you tackle complex or high-priority issues in the workplace?

  • Openness to feedback: Can you describe a time when you received constructive criticism at work? How did you respond, and what did you do afterwards?

  • Communication and empathy: Have you ever had to deliver bad news to a colleague, client, or manager? How did you approach the conversation?

  • Collaboration and adaptability: Tell me about a time when you had to collaborate with someone whose working style was very different from yours. How did you make it work?

How to answer behavioural interview questions

Keep these tips and techniques in mind when answering behavioural interview questions:

Compile potential responses

Leading up to your interview, familiarise yourself with common behavioural questions. Then, brainstorm through your career history to find the situations and anecdotes that address the questions you can expect. While you do this, refer to the job listing. It can give you an idea of the qualities important for the role and the questions that may be asked.

As you've been searching for your job, you've likely kept a shortlist of your greatest accomplishments in mind. However, this compilation should be different from that. Remember, behavioural interview questions are meant to reveal how you perform in employment-related situations. Seek out instances from your experience that reflect this so that a prospective employer can get to know you better.

Use the STAR method

Once you have fodder for your responses to behavioural interview questions, the next challenge is communicating them successfully. The best way to do this is to use the STAR interview method. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. By addressing each of these concepts in your response, you're more likely to provide a thorough answer.

Let's break down the four concepts so that you know exactly how to compose your responses:

  • Situation: Describe a situation that relates to the question you were asked that had a successful outcome. You want to set the scene for the interviewer.

  • Task: Then, tell the interviewer what was required of you ‒ what you were tasked with. Zoom in on how the situation relates to you.

  • Action: Next, describe the actions that you took to address or resolve the situation. Focus on your own actions, not your team's or colleagues'. 

  • Result: Lastly, explain what the outcome was in relation to the actions you took. 

If you follow this structure, you'll put together a response that's both effective and concise.

Be specific

While behavioural interview questions offer some flexibility in how you respond, giving vague or generalised answers is not an option. These interviews are designed to uncover the details of your experience, so specificity is key.

For instance, when asked about challenges you've faced, focus on describing the situation clearly and concisely. Avoid glossing over the difficulty, pretending it didn't exist, or offering a distant example that lacks relevance. Instead, be upfront about the challenge, your specific role, and what you did to address it.

This is especially important when discussing teamwork. Using “we” statements when describing collaborative efforts is tempting, but doing so can blur your individual contributions. Use “I” statements to highlight your unique role, decisions, and actions that led to the team's success. By owning your part in the story, you give the interviewer a clear picture of your skills and abilities.

Practise your responses aloud

Your answers to behavioural interview questions should be concise, ideally under two minutes. While two minutes might seem long, the time can pass quickly when describing a detailed scenario. If you're not careful, your response might become overly long and lose focus.

Once you have your drafted STAR method responses, it's time to practise them aloud to gauge the timing and ensure clarity.

If you're unsure how to fine-tune your responses, consider seeking additional tools or support. You might practice with an interview coach, use an interview preparation platform like LinkedIn's AI feedback tool, or rehearse with a friend. Focused preparation will help you stay on track, avoid filler words, and make your answers impactful within the time limit.

Behavioural interview question sample answer

Below is an example of how to effectively answer the question, “Have you ever been assigned a task for which you lacked training or experience? How did you manage the situation?” using the STAR method:

  • Situation: In my previous role as a marketing assistant, my manager unexpectedly asked me to create and schedule a paid social media ad campaign for an upcoming webinar. I didn't have prior experience with paid ads, as my focus was typically on organic posts, and the campaign needed to be set up within three days.
  • Task: My responsibility was to design a campaign that targeted the right audience, stayed within the budget, and drove sign-ups for the webinar. I had to figure out how to execute the campaign efficiently despite my limited knowledge of the tools and process.
  • Action: To manage this, I first reviewed the platform's help guides and tutorials to understand the basics of setting up a paid ad campaign. I also reached out to a colleague who had experience with paid ads to ask for a quick overview of key settings like audience targeting, budget allocation, and performance tracking. Based on this guidance, I created a draft campaign and reviewed it with my manager to ensure it aligned with the team's goals. I also scheduled extra time for monitoring the campaign after it launched to make real-time adjustments if needed.
  • Result: The campaign launched successfully and achieved 95% of the sign-up target, which was considered a strong result given the short timeframe and my inexperience. My manager appreciated the effort I put into learning a new skill under pressure, and I've since become more confident in managing paid campaigns.

Succeeding in a behavioural interview

The behavioural interview is a well-loved tool used by recruiters to discern which candidates possess the qualities, working style, and mindset that they desire. Because of this, it's important that you treat these more anecdotal enquiries with as much care as you would any other interview question. By telling the right story the right way, you can show any interviewer that you have what it takes to excel in their position.

Will your CV get you the interview? Get a free CV review and we'll tell you where you stand.

Recommended reading:

Related Articles: