Darden Career Education

BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWS: STORY PREPARATION TEMPLATE

Behavioral-based interviewing (e.g., “Tell me about a time…..” or “Give me an example of……”)explores how an interviewee acted in specific situations. The logic behind these questions is that past performance is a good predictor of future performance. A well-structured story and/or answer helps ensure that you can fully answer the question asked and can demonstrate the critical skills and/or qualities for which the interviewer is looking.

This template can be used to prepare examples (stories from your background) for behavioral interview questions. There are many different kinds of behavioral questions. As you prep for interviews, think about the buyer’s needs for the position you are recruiting for and prepare stories accordingly.

INTERVIEW TOPICS & SAMPLE QUESTIONS

FOCUS/TOPIC / SAMPLE QUESTIONS / STORYCONSIDERATIONS
Accomplishment
Goal Setting /
  • What’s your greatest accomplishment?
  • Give me an example of an important goal you set in the past and tell me about your success in reaching it.
  • Tell me about your proudest achievement.
/
  • Show interviewer what you are capable of
  • Outline the steps needed to make your greatest accomplishment happen and the results
  • Select an example that relates to the requirements of the role you are interviewing for

Leadership
Initiative
Motivating Others /
  • Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership skills.
  • Give me an example of when you showed initiative and took the lead.
  • Tell me about your most significant leadership experience and why you are proud of it?
  • Tell me about a time when you had a very significantimpact on an organization. What was your role?
  • Tell us a time when you "stepped up."
  • Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
/
  • Think about a time you stepped up and took charge or took initiative
  • Acted as role model
  • Show how you communicated your thinking/vision or defined strategy
  • Your story might include a time when you empowered or inspired others, led a team,and/or alignedindividuals with projects they are passionate about

Influence
Work Cross-Functional /
  • Tell me about a time you needed to influence others without positional power.
  • Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone's opinion or successfully convince someone to see things your way.
  • Talk about a time when you worked as a member of a cross-functional team.
  • Tell me about a time you were working in a group and had to convince someone in the group of something in order to make a tough decision.
/
  • A good answer includes showing that you understand who the critical stakeholders are you need to win over to achieve an objective or overcome an obstacle
  • May want to consider what influencing stylewould be most effective in the situation
  • Show how you gained agreement and acceptance of a plan/approach (confirmed mutual interests)

Coping with Stress
Dealing with Conflict
Dealing with a Difficult Person /
  • Tell me about a time you dealt with a conflict on the job.
  • Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult person.
  • Tell me about a time where you disagreed with someone and had to get them to adopt your point of view.
  • Tell me about a time you were working in a diverse group and there was a controversy that you had to deal with
  • Tell me about a time you worked with a challenging person and how you handled him/her.
/
  • Interviewer is looking for someone who anticipates and takes steps to prevent counter-productive confrontations and someone who manages and resolves conflicts and disagreements in a constructive manner.
  • Acknowledge that a difficult situation exists
  • Individuals may need to express their feelings
  • Define the problem(s) causing conflict/stress
  • Determine needs of individuals involved and find solutions

Creativity
Innovation /
  • Tell me about a time when you delivered an innovative solution and talk about its impact.
  • Tell us about a situation where you trusted your team to derive a new approach to an old problem. How did you manage the process?
  • Tell me about a time you showed creativity?
  • Give me an example of a time when you had to think out of the box.
/
  • Interview is looking for how you came up with a new idea and what you did with that insight
  • A story might highlight a time when you developed new insights for a current situation and/or questioned conventional approaches
  • Think about a time when you designed and/or implemented a new or cutting edge program/process/product. Did you pilot new idea?

Teamwork
Collaboration /
  • Tell me about a time when you needed to build relationships and collaborate to complete a project.
  • Describe a project that required input from people at different levels in the organization.
  • Share a rewarding team experience.
  • Tell me about a time when you worked with a difficult team member.
/
  • Interviewer is trying to determine if you are easy to get along with, collaborate well, appreciate different backgrounds/skill sets, and communicate effectively with different personalities.
  • Review the job description carefully to try to understand what “teamwork” is likely to mean for the role you are applying for

Ambiguity /
  • Tell me about a time when you had to deal with an ambiguous situation.
  • Tell me about a time you had to solve a problem when there wasn't a path to follow and you were not told what to do.
  • Tell me about a time you were given a task with vague or unclear goals.
/
  • Think about a time when you had to tolerate and mange change effectively, change course quickly, or decide and act without having the total picture
  • A good answer might show that you try to understand the problem(s) you are trying to solve, take small steps, evaluate and prioritize what is important
  • Realize some decisions may be wrong

Decision-Making
Use Data to Make Decision /
  • Tell me about a time you had to make critical decisions in the business context. What were the decisions and what impact did it have on the project?
  • Tell me about at time when you had to use data to make a decision.
  • Tell me about a time when you had to make a quick decision without your manager's approval.
  • Tell me about a difficult decision you have had to make.
/
  • The question aims to understand how you make well-informed, effective, and timely decisions, even when data are limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences; perceives the impact and implications of decisions
  • Think about how you assessed the situation and possible outcomes show you have a bias for action

Failure
Made a Mistake /
  • Tell me about a time when you had to admit that you were wrong.
  • Tell me about a time you truly failed at something.
  • Tell me about a time you faced failure and what you learned from that situation.
/
  • Interviewer asks this question to gauge how you respond under pressure and grow from adversity
  • This is not a weakness question as a failure is a temporary event
  • Share an example of when you failed, how you mitigated the situation, and what you learned and how you have made improvements going forward.

S.T.A.R FORMAT – BUILDING YOUR STORY

QUESTION TYPE
(COMPETENCY) / SITUATION / TASK / ACTION / RESULT/LEARNING
CONTEXT /
  • What action did you take?
  • Why was the action important?
  • Demonstrate buyers’ needs
  • Make sure your actions align with the question asked
/
  • Narrowly: Results or outcomes for the project, team, etc. Use hard metrics when possible.
  • Broadly: Results or outcomes for the division, company, client, etc.
  • Personal/Learning: What was your growth, learning, etc., as a result of this experience?

  • What was the context of the experience?
  • Be clear and concise
/
  • What was the specific challenge, job, project or goal?
  • What was your role?

Accomplishment
Goal Setting
Leadership
Initiative
Motivating Others
Influence
Work Cross-Functional
Coping with Stress
Dealing with Conflict
Dealing with a Difficult Person
Creativity
Innovation
Teamwork
Collaboration
Ambiguity
Decision-Making
Use Data to Make Decision
Failure
Made a Mistake