How to succeed in your JOB INTERVIEW: Behavioral Questions

Think about your last job interview. What did you do to prepare for it, and how did it go? Job interviews are difficult whether you are an English learner or a native speaker. If you want to get the job, you need to prepare for the job interview. In many English-speaking countries, interviews often include behavioral questions. In this lesson, I will teach you about behavioral interview questions and how to answer them. This video also has a listening practice portion to train you to recognize these questions, as well as tips on how to prepare for them. Try our quiz at the end to practice what you have learned, nail that interview, and get that job! Then work like a dog for the rest of your life :)

TRANSCRIPT

Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video I am going to teach you how to do really well on your interview. So, if you're looking for a job and you have an interview coming up, I'm going to talk to you about a type of question you might hear during your interview. I'm going to tell you how to recognize this type of question, and how to answer this type of question, along with many tips that can help you. Okay? So if you're about to do an interview, don't stress out - we can do it.

All right, so let's look at the types of questions we're going to talk about today. Today we're talking about behavioural interview questions. Okay? So let's look at some examples to understand what I mean by "behavioural interview questions". Okay, so we have this question: "Tell me about a time when you worked effectively under pressure." So take a moment to think about that question. "Give an example of how you worked on a team.", "Describe a time when you had to deal with a very upset customer.", "Have you ever made a mistake? How did you handle it?" Okay, so when we're talking about behavioural questions, it's important to think about: What is being asked of you? Okay? So, the main thing with these types of questions is this word here: "Give an example". Behavioural questions... behavioural interview questions require that you give an example of how you have dealt with or handled a situation.

So, my next question to you is: Do you think we're talking about an example of the past, something that's happened; the present; or the future, something that could happen? So look at these questions. Are we talking about a past example, a present example, or a future example? If you said: "Past example", you are correct. When we talk about behavioural interview questions, what the interviewer is asking is they want you to give a past example. Okay? Something you have done in the past. How can you recognize these types of questions? Because there are many different interview types of questions, these are just one type, so how do you know if it's behavioural interview question? That's a very good question. One way to know is by looking for key words. Okay? So, a lot of the times behavioural questions start off with some sort of hint or clue. "Tell me about a time" is an example. Okay? "Tell me about a time when you worked effectively under pressure.", "Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.", "Tell me about a time when you had problems with your co-workers." Okay? So lot of the times you will hear: "Tell me about" or "Tell me about a time", and that's a signal: Okay, this is probably a behavioural interview question. You might have this as a starter to the question, they might ask you: "Give me an example of how you worked on a team." or "Give me an example of a time when you showed leadership." Okay? So those would both be behavioural questions. Again: "Describe a time". A lot of the times you'll hear the word: "a time" or "an example". So this is another common phrase you will hear with behavioural interview questions. You might also have a question like this: "Have you ever made a mistake?", "Have you ever had difficulties working with somebody?", "Have you ever had a conflict with a customer?", "How did you handle it? What did you do?" So these types of questions, they don't have the same key words as the ones above, but usually they're written or they're said with the present perfect tense, and usually you'll hear a second follow-up question: "How did you handle it?" Okay? So, key word here: "did". If you hear the past tense in the question, then they probably want you to answer the question using a past example. Okay? So, this might be a little bit confusing, you might be a bit worried, you know: "Oh, these questions seem really hard." Well, the very first step is recognizing these questions, so that's what we're going to do right now. We are going to practice recognizing behavioural interview questions.

Okay, so now we are going to practice identifying behavioural interview questions. Okay? […]

[agudoris]

If u watching dis and u have interview tomorrow good luck

[MyColcana]

Thank you, Emma. This is a very helpful and informative video. I'm preparing a job interview in an academic setting, which has another additional elements, but the way you explain is universal. I'm not a native English speaker and I feel extremely nervous, but your tips help a lot. Thanks.

[hannanice]

Hi teacher! I wish you could provide us with more job interview tips and how we could implement what we've learnt on Engvid at work! This was legit a good lesson. Btw those glasses are great on you though!

[chiaraelettra]

Although this is a "learning English" video, I found it to be the best video around about "how to prepare for an interview"! Much better than the ones made by career experts and self-proclaimed coaches. Thank you and congrats on the great quality provided!

[LeiMai]

I finally found this kind of teaching. I can barely understand her. Thank you Emma. I JUST subscribed the engvid. And I LOVE it.

[felpis]

That's a professional class! As all her classes are! As all EngVid Classes are!!! I'm really thankful

[jalaidris]

Dear Emma, let God bless you in this profession you have taken .You have purified every one's way of attempting interviews . You real change coal into Diamond. Than you very much professor!

[mdazam]

"Emma" You are my good teacher. I love your all classes.

[JessicaMartinez-wcfp]

Avoid using "but" in interviews use, however, instead. Thank you so much for creating this video.

[mchaelbarber]

Hi, Emma
I was impressed with your pedagogic style, knowledge and content. I'll certainly recommend people to follow you!

[zairyzairy]

She don't only teach me how to learn English, but is also show me the way to find a job. Amazing.

[jonathanduarte]

Thank you so much Emma! This is a great clip on being prepared. I'm so excited to address any questions in my interview. Your input on how to think of the process through mental preparation and readiness is so helpful. This has been the greatest influence to my understanding.

[federicosagun]

Imagine the candidates for miss universe and get a behavioural questions in front of the audience.

[gunelhuseynova]

The best teacher is youtube.Her speech so clear and explain comprehensive. Thanks dear Emma

[fzpkxde]

Thank you Emma very much for your video! I have not a fluent English skills but I understood all your words, phrases and what you meant. That's a great!!! You have a fantastic talent and you are a very qualified teacher!!!

[beadydani]

Wow, this is such a good tutorial. I really like the lecture format, it will stick in my head. Going to share this with some of my colleagues.

[alialtaby]

S.T.A.R. technique for these type of questions
-Situation
-Task
-Action
-Results

[teacherhamza]

Thank you for all of this greatest tips my teacher . you the best teacher i see in my life ....

[lamiseajour]

these type of video are very importants, they allow us to prepar our interview and anticipate all type of questions.
Thank you Emma

[galgalgirl]

I teach adults with Developmental Disabilities career skills . This video is easy to understand and has all the qualities to assist them in a job interview! Great Job!