Behavioral Interview Question and Possible Answer
So if you are preparing for your next Behavioral interview you must be curious about what we can expect to be asked in our next interview.
Before going into any sort of questionnaire remember a small strategy to answer any question successfully in your next interview. The world-known STAR approach of attempting any sort of question whether Behavioral or not.
STAR stand for situation, task, action and result. So whenever asked another interview question. Start answering using the following approach.
Situation
The situation stands for the situation you faced which lead to doing any specific task. This could be developing any new feature. Also, it could be any specific use case for improving any particular scenario.
Task
Of course, once you have any scenarios, the next logical step would be to define some steps of the task that you would be following to fulfil that functionality. Now, this could be as simple as thinking about which framework to choose etc.
Action Once the basic heavy lifting is done, you need to work on the actual task. So we need to inform you about the action we took. This would be the actual effort that you and your team put into that specific task. You might have played a lead for that particular task. Collaborating with different teams. All these things need to be highlighted.
Result
Now with all these efforts, it is obviously important to have some result, whether positive or negative. Generally, we highlight the positive in any interview. But personally, I will recommend that you discuss some of the findings along the way. It will show the interviewer that you have really put in that extra effort.
Let's discuss further details about the types of questions which we might encounter.
Time management Related
Whenever you are working on any particular task you are always required to complete the task within the given time frame. Various areas in which you might not get the appropriate time to complete a particular task due to some sort of urgency. Let's suppose there is a production release for some event that is about to happen in the next few days but the task which you need to complete may take little more than a few days.
This is a very practical scenario that you may face while developing such tasks. Obviously, your attitude toward solving that particular scenario is something the interviewer is looking after. Now there is no right or wrong answer but the perspective of the interviewee to work that particular scenario. Always consider yourself in that particular problem and try to solve it as real as possible.
For Example: Tell me about the time when you were constrained with the time for completing a particular task. And how were you able to complete it despite the crunch of time.
Handle Challenging Situation.
So this is inevitable that we will never face a challenging situation while working on any task. But our attitude toward handling those challenging situations is something that matters. We don't need to be masters of everything but we should always have a strategy to solve any particular problem.
For example:
Tell me about the time when you faced a challenging situation, and what was the strategy that you followed to handle the situation.
Interpersonal Skills.
While we are working on any particular assignment/project. Normally various teams are involved. You may be able to complete a specific set of tasks but for the entire project will be up and running we need to communicate between different teams.
Different teams could be working in different time zones. Here your interpersonal skills will shine and will help you communicate gracefully with other team members.
Keep in mind a situation when you handled such a scenario where various other teams were involved.
Pressure handling
We all righty avoid pressure in any field of our life. The pressure will help us to grow. The same pressure can be felt while we are working on some project. Handling pressure and not breaking is an art which can be learnt if you might not be born with it.
And if you try to remember you also might have faced some scenario when pressure was built upon you. Now it's the time you tell the interviewer about that particular scenario and how beautifully you handled it.
Possible answers should contain your inclusive team effort instead of boasting about yourself. Otherwise, it will look like you are a simple man army.
Example Question:
Tell me about the time when you were forced to complete any particular task under a crunch time. How are you able to handle the pressure and were able to complete the task.
Communication
Communication skills are something which is always required while performing any particular task. So it is required that you always make sure you have good communication skills. Although I won't say that if you are average in communicating your thoughts, it will be a red flag, it will impact.
Since you will be working in a team. You can't work alone so obviously you need to communicate your thoughts with others so that everyone is on the same page.
Example Question:
Tell me a time when you were able to communicate about any new idea that you wanted to implement into your current project.
Adjustability.
While we are working with a group of people, it is required that we are not very rigid with our requirements. Adapting to the team environment is very much required as other skills. We need to have an understanding of ways to work with others. If we fail in that it is a recipe for disaster.
When we start working within a new organisation, a lot of changes are required. Although these changes are from both sides of the spectrum.
But as an interviewer, they try to understand our behaviour based on certain scenarios.
For example:
Tell me the time when you were able to adapt to your new office environment, with a tough to please buddy.
About The Author