Over the years we have had many clients ask us what the secret is to conducting an effective interview. Well, the easy answer is there is no secret. However you can use a technique that has been shown to improve the quality of your interviews and increase the likleyhood of you hiring the right person. The technique is known as Behavioral Interviewing.

What is behavioral interviewing? It is a style of interview that forces candidates to answer questions which demonstrate their competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) by giving specific examples from their past experiences. The focus on the interview is less about what they can or could do (ie, hypothetical situations), and more about what they have done in specific situations in the past. Behavioral interviewing is based on the assumption that a person’s past performance (in previous roles) is an excellent predicator of their future performance. How to prepare for a behavioral interview To prepare for a behavioral interview, take the following steps: Make sure you have clearly defined the competencies for the role. General competencies include: Enthusiasm Knowledge/skills Problem solving Team building Personal attributes Leadership Communication Flexibility Decision making Develop a series of questions which will enable you to find out if the candidate has these competencies. Questions might take the form of: Give me an example of how you have … Tell me about a situation where you … In the past, how did you deal with a situation where … Given your past experience, how would you best deal with … What should you look to evaluate in a behavioral interview? There are three types of competencies you should look for: Content competencies – which are work/role specific. Functional/transferable skills – which are used generally with people, information or things, regardless of the specific environment. Adaptive or self-management skills – which are personal characteristics.