View information about and examples of behavioral interview questions from Luther College’s Department of Human Resources. Asking questions about past behaviors helps identify future performance.

Use phrases such as:

• Tell me about a time...
• Think about a situation where you had to (did)...
• Give me an example of...

What information should you obtain?

• Situation/Task
• Action
• Result

Behavioral Interviewing Questions Identifying Competencies

To the interviewer: Choose an appropriate number of questions from appropriate areas based on the type of position being filled.

Action-orientation/self-motivation

• Tell me about a time when you were bored on-the-job. What did you do to make your job more interesting?
• What is the best way to motivate you?
• In what ways did you take initiative in your last job?
• What kinds of rewards are most satisfying to you?
• What discourages you from wanting to do a good job?
• Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty to get the job done.
• • Were your efforts recognized?
  • By whom and how?
  • How did that make you feel?
• Give me an example of a time when you took ownership of a situation.
• • What was the result of you stepping up to the challenge?
  • What could have happened if you did not take ownership?
• Describe the best manager you've ever worked for.
• Describe the most difficult manager.

Adapting to the environment

• Tell me about a situation in which you had to get around a major obstacle to complete a project.
• Tell me about a time you had to work on several projects at once. How did you handle this?
• Describe something you did in your last job that showed your ability to be flexible.
• Under what conditions do you work best? What changes have you experienced in your current position?
• Give me a recent example of a stressful situation on the job. What happened? How did you handle it?

Communication skills

• What kind of written communication have you done?
• How do you demonstrate to others that you are listening?
• Name one recent success you've had in dealing with a customer. How did you accomplish it?
• On a scale of 1-10, how important was the interaction with others on your last job?
• What kinds of communications were used the most in that organization? (One-on-one meetings, email, voice mail, group meetings, written reports.)
• What departments did you interact with?
• Tell me about a difficulty you encountered in working with another department. How did it reach resolution?
• What was the most complex report/presentation you worked on?
• What made it complex or difficult? Walk me through your timeline.
• I'd be interested in hearing about a miscommunication you had with a peer and how you solved it.
• I'd like to hear about the most recent time you had to deal with someone who was upset with you.

Conflict management

• We all have different ways of doing our work. We also have different communication styles, cultural backgrounds and work experiences. Tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with a coworker or your supervisor and how you handled the situation.
• • Reflecting on the situation, is there something you wish you had done differently?
  • Tell me about a conflict situation in the workplace that you handled well.
  • Tell me about a conflict situation in the workplace that you did not handle well.
• Tell me about a time when you had to work with a difficult person to accomplish a goal.
• Who are/were your internal customers? Describe a problem you encountered where you saw the situation very differently than the other person.

Customer service skills

• What does customer service mean to you?
• Describe a situation where you went out of your way to solve a customer problem.
• How would a customer describe your service? Give me an actual example of something you have done to satisfy a customer's desire.
• Tell me about a time when you encountered an angry customer.
• Give me an example of a time when you went out of your way to please a customer.
• Tell me about your most rewarding customer service experience.
• Tell me about the most difficult customer service experience you've encountered.
• Give me an example of a time when a customer really tried your patience.
• Probing questions for all of the above:
• • How did you handle the situation?
  • Reflecting on the situation, should you have handled the situation differently?
  • If so, how?

Influence/persuasion

• Tell me about a recent situation at work in which you were able to get management to accept one of your ideas.
• Tell me about a decision you have made which affected other departments. How did you alert them?
• What are some recent examples of things you have done to foster creativity in your group?
• Tell me about a problem you encountered when the old solutions didn't work and what you did about it?
• Tell me about a major challenge that you have undertaken within the last year. How did you handle it?
• What is the most difficult project/program you had to manage?
• Describe how you helped develop someone else's career. What was your role?
• What skills do you consider essential in the management of people?
• Describe your management style.

Interpersonal skills

• Tell me about a time you had to deal with an irate customer.
• We've all had situations in which we've disagreed with our manager. Tell me about a time this happened to you.
• Describe your manager. How would you evaluate your working relationship with him/her?
• How would your current team members describe your strengths and development needs?
• What skills do you consider essential in the management of people?
• Describe your management style.

Planning/organizing/priority setting

• How do you keep track of matters requiring your attention?
• What do you want out of your career short-range? Long range?
• How are you capitalizing on your strengths?
• What methods do you use to keep track of your activities and results?
• How do you determine priorities in scheduling your time?
• Give me an example of a time when you had to do many things at once.
• Tell me about a time when a coworker did not report to work and you had to take on extra duties to help out in the absence of the coworker.
• • How did you plan your day?
  • How did the day go?
• Have you ever been in a position where you worked for more than one manager?
• Tell me about a time when you were asked to complete more work that was reasonable during your workday. How did you handle the situation?

Problem solving skills

• Do you consider yourself to be a proactive person? Give me an example of a time when you were proactive in solving a small problem before it turned into a major problem.
• How have you used creativity to solve a problem? Tell me about a specific instance.
• Tell me about the most frustrating work experience you have ever faced.
• • How did you deal with the situation?
  • What steps did you take to improve the situation?
• Tell me about a time when you encountered a problem and your supervisor was not available to help you.
• • How did you handle the problem?
  • How did that make you feel?
• Walk me through a difficult/complex problem/project you encountered.
• • How did you decide what to do first?
  • What information did you need?
  • What obstacles did you face? Which ones were you able to overcome? Where did you have to ask for help? What did you do?
  • Tell me about a time when you had to shift your plan of attack. How did you make the decision to change? What/who influenced you?

Quality orientation

• Describe what you do to ensure your work is of top quality?
• How do you define quality?
• Tell me how your peers would rate the quality of your work?

Results orientation

• What are your personal objectives for this year? What have you done to make sure that you attain them?
• We've all made decisions that haven't turned out as we had hoped. Tell me about a time this happened to you.
• Tell me about your last key job assignment. How was success measured? How could you have been more successful?
• What would your manager say your greatest contributions at work were?
• Describe a process or task that you put into place in your current job that has helped your team move forward.

Team orientation

• Give me an example of a time when you worked as part of a team.
• • What was your role?
  • What was your contribution to the team?
  • What difficulties did the team experience?
  • Did all of the team members get along?
• Give me an example of a time when you worked by yourself.
• • What were your accomplishments?
  • What challenges did you encounter?
• Out of the two situations you just described, which situation was most interesting and why?
• • What did you most enjoy and why?
  • What did you least enjoy and why?
• How are you perceived by your team members?
• • What do you need from others to operate successfully as a team? Give me an example of a time this worked well for you.
  • Tell me about a time when you worked with someone who was not completing his or her share of the work.
  • How did you handle the situation?
  • Did you discuss your concern with your coworker? With your manager? If yes, how did your coworker respond to your concern? What was your manager's response?
• Tell me about a time when you had to change your behavior to successfully work with others. How did this make you feel?
• How have you built positive, productive relationships with your coworkers? Other departments? Your manager?

General questions

• Tell me about your most important responsibilities in your current /last job.
• Tell me about yourself.
• What do you find most satisfying about your current job? What do you find least satisfying?
• Why are you leaving your current employer? How did you reach this decision?
• Why did you choose this field?
• What achievements would your manager note? Your peers? Your staff?
• What is the ideal job for you?
• What accomplishments have provided you with the most personal satisfaction and career advancement?
• What are your salary aspirations?
• What is the make up of an ideal (your position)?
• How would you evaluate your career to date?
• What qualities do you think have helped you be successful? Tell me about a situation that exemplifies these qualities.
• Tell me about a job you've held that most closely matched your skills. What made this job the best fit for you?

Closing questions that check level of interest

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how interested are you in this job at this point? What interests you most? Least?
• Why should I offer you the job?
• What can you do for us that someone else cannot do?
• What reservations do you have about working here?
• How far along are you in the interview process with other organizations?