Behavioral interviewing has become an integral part of the hiring process in recent years. Indeed, if you have been on an interview in the last decade, chances are you have been asked behavioral questions that are designed to give the hiring manager real world examples of how you would handle “critical incidents” to perform the job in question. These questions are easily recognizable and they usually begin with phrases like, “Describe a time when you….” “Tell me about a specific time when you…” or “Give me a work example of you…” and are followed with a situation specific to the job for which you are interviewing.
We recommend that all job candidates utilize the STAR method when answering behavioral questions. The STAR method is a step-by-step way of answering behavioral based interview questions by discussing the specific Situation, Task, Action, and Result of the real world situation you are describing.
Situation: Describe the specific situation you were in. Task: What was the desired outcome? Action: Describe the specific steps you took to reach the desired outcome. Result: Describe the results of your action. Include details of how your actions affected others, what you accomplished and learned as well as any other results worth highlighting.
While this is the correct strategy in answering behavioral questions, we have discovered that “showing proof” in an interview can be the clincher in landing the best possible offer. “Showing proof” entails bringing samples of your work and making a presentation to the hiring manager on your ability to do the job. If you are a manager, bring in reports that prove you are already doing the job. If you are an engineer or technician, bring in actual parts you have molded. By doing this you will be doing more than just telling the hiring manager how you are already solving the critical problems they are facing at their company, you will be showing them. When asked behavioral questions, you will be able to use these concrete items to describe the actions and results taken to trouble-shoot molding issues. You will be showing them with proof, the actual fruits of your labor.
Clients often call in, thoroughly impressed with an interview, because the job candidate brought actual parts they molded with them. Coupled with utilizing the STAR method, “Showing Proof” completes the one-two punch that explains why SearchAmerica job candidates consistently receive offers over other candidates interviewing for the same positions.
Ted Despotes
Vice President of Sales
SearchAmerica, Inc.
www.searchamerica.net