Behavioral Interview Questions

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Once you know the pattern of these questions, you'll be able to respond appropriately with poise and confidence.

Behavioral interview questions are cleverly worded to invoke a response from you that will give your interviewers a pretty good idea how you will react or behave under certain circumstances.

Everyone handles stress, confrontation, and annoying coworkers differently. All companies want to minimize friction and headaches in the workplace.

No matter how prestigious or successful a company, there is always a bozo on every bus and a clown around every corner.

They don't need to hire another one.

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Pearl of Wisdom: Have you ever noticed the tendency to blame an entire company for the misdeeds or attitude of one person? Take the airlines for example. Let's say they lose your luggage, or cancel your flight...even serve you a warm soda. I've actually heard people say:

I'm never flying this airline again! They canceled my flight and it took the agent forever to re-route me. And, they actually expected me to connect through Atlanta of all places.

So, because one gate agent out of 15,000 employees fell short, the entire airline is bad, and a customer walks. If this happens often enough, it can be fatal; especially for service related industries like restaurants, banks, brokerage firms, and motels.

Companies are made up of people; and, when a few people misbehave or handle a problem in a less than professional manner, the entire company can be branded as bad.

And just the opposite is true.

Companies can be deemed as wonderful if a few employees go the extra mile to delight a customer, or quickly resolve a problem.

This is precisely why companies ask behavioral interview questions.

The folks who will be interviewing you know you are going to show up for your interview with your best game face on.

They will also assume you are familiar with the top 10 interview questions, and will have some good answers prepared to dazzle them with your footwork.

So to add some depth to your interview, companies will ask you several behavioral interview questions. Your answers will give them keen insights into your personality and character.

Read the introductory chapter, table of contents, and watch a short video on what makes this book different:

Why Don't They Call Me?-Job Search Wisdom to Get you Unstuck

Top 10 Behavioral Interview Questions

1. What was the biggest mistake you ever made and what did you learn from it? - Answering interview questions that focus on your past mistakes can either make you or break you in your interview.
2. Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with or you didn't like. - The real secret how to answer interview questions about your relationship with difficult co-workers is explained here.
3. Tell me about a time when a co-worker was not shouldering their fair share of the work load. - Answering thorny employment interview questions that focus on lazy co-workers can be dicey. Here is the best way to respond without sounding negative.
4. Sometimes we're faced with dishonesty in the workplace. Tell me about such a time and how you handled it. - Dishonesty in the workplace is a problem today. Companies often include this topic on their list of interview questions. Don't be caught off guard.
5. What qualities do you look for in a boss? - Rejoice if this question shows up on a company's interview question list.
6. What is the title of the last book you read? - Seems like this common interview question is from left field. What do my reading habits have to do with the price of eggs?
7. What do you do to improve yourself? - Get some free interview answers to one of the top 10 behavioral interview questions.
8. What are some of your hobbies or personal interests outside of work? - Why would questions about your personal hobbies be among a company's general interview questions? What business is it of theirs anyway?
9. Why did you choose your major in college? - Don't let great interview questions like this leave you speechless if you have an unusual degree unrelated to your job target.
10. What motivates you? - This is one of those good job interview questions that basically asks: Why do you do what you do?

OK--let's explore each one of these behavioral interview questions in greater depth.

If you can't pass this short quiz...cancel your job interview.

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