Transcript Behavioral-Based Interviews

BEHAVIORAL BASED INTERVIEWS
Gary Deziel
Associate Dean, Operations and Staff Support
University of Vermont Extension
[email protected]
Mary Fran San Soucie
Human Resources Coordinator
Montana State University Extension
[email protected]
OBJECTIVES
• History of behavioral-based interviewing
• Why do behavioral-based interviewing
• Limitations of “traditional” interviewing questions
• How to prepare for behavioral-based interviewing
OBJECTIVES
• Some Typical B-B interview questions
• What to expect
• How to probe further
• Other interview techniques
• Translating traditional interview questions to B-B
questions
WHO DEVELOPED THEM AND RESEARCHED B-B
Byam
WHY DO IT?
Using behavioral
interviewing can increase
by nearly 60% your
chances of hiring the
RIGHT employee.*
Some researchers
indicate 80%.
Others say it is 5 times
more accurate that
traditional interviewing
for choosing the right
candidates.**
*Salgado, J.F.(1997) Personnel Selection Methods in C.L.
Cooper and I.T. Robinson, International Review of Industrial
and Organizational Psychology, New York: Wiley.
**Green, 2005
ANOTHER “WHY”
In one study,
researchers found
that between 8 and
21 behavioral
examples could be
found in a single
interview*
*Green, Wetzel, Somerville, 1983
AND ANOTHER
The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave their jobs:
1. The job or workplace was not as expected
2. Mismatch between job and person
3. Too little coaching and feedback
4. Too few growth and advancement opportunities
5. Feeling undervalued and unrecognized
6. Stress from overwork and work/life imbalance
7. Loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders
*Leigh Branham, “The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave,” 2005
CLIP TIME
How to determine what questions to ask.
1:12-2:03
TYPES OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Type
Example
Application
Behavior-based
Tell me about a specific time when
you faced this type of challenge and
what you did to address it.
To evaluate how a person has
performed in the past in a similar
job
Situational
A colleague has told you, in
confidence, that she suspects
another colleague of stealing. What
would you do?
To evaluate how a person might
approach a situation with which
they have little or no prior
experience
Self-evaluation
What do you feel are your greatest
strengths?
To explore alignment with
organization’s values, work styles
and attitudes
Simulation
Please take two minutes to identify
all the spelling and punctuation
errors in this document.
To validate specific skills shared
on a resume or in an interview
GETTING THE COMPLETE PICTURE
CAPABILITY – the knowledge and skills to do the job
COMMITMENT – the attitude and motivation to do the job effectively
CHEMISTRY – sufficient alignment of the candidate’s values and working styles with
those of the organization (i.e., its culture)
TRADITIONAL INTERVIEWS (WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS
PICTURE?)
• Tell me more about yourself.
• What are your strengths/weaknesses?
• What challenges did you face in your last position?
• How did you handle them?
• How do you handle stress and pressure on the job?
• Who was your best client? Your worst?
• Why should we hire you?
• What would you do if an angry 4-H parent came to our door
and….?
TRADITIONAL INTERVIEWS
What do they tell us?
What don’t they tell us?
LOGIC/PREMISE BEHIND B-B INTERVIEWING
Past Performance predicts future
performance
PROCESS
• Carefully structured
• In-depth questions
• Used to gather and evaluate information on experience and skills
which have already been determined to be necessary.
• Helps predict employee performance and reduce subjectivity
CLIP TIME
Clip #2
BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWS
These take a lot of work PRIOR to the interview
Requires advance preparation
Need to know skills/abilities/behaviors necessary for the position
Need to determine what questions would help find out if interviewee HAS
those skills/abilities and behaviors
Behavioral interviews end up being more probing and much more specific.
Requires applicants to “tell a story” about what they’ve done in a specific type of
situation.
Requires allowing pauses to require an answer
CLIP TIME
Clip #3
FINDING INFO FOR ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Personality
Personal &
Familial
Operates like an extended family; most
individuals personally
invested in their jobs
Dynamic &
Entrepreneurial
Encourages and supports risk taking,
individually as well as
collectively
Action & Results
Oriented
Stays focused on getting the job done;
competitive and
achievement-oriented
Structured &
Controlled
Relies generally on formal procedures to
govern what people
do; values doing things “by the book”
Terronez and Shay, Structured Interviewing: Perfecting the Perfect
hire, 2006
FINDING INFO FOR ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Leadership
Style
Supportive
Engaged actively in mentoring, facilitating
or nurturing
Entrepreneurial
Focused on innovating and risk taking
Practical
No-nonsense; aggressive; results-oriented
Efficient
Managing/organizing a smooth-running
operation
FINDING INFO FOR ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Behavioral
Norms
Collaboration
Teamwork, group consensus and
participation
Autonomy
Individual risk-taking, innovation, freedom
and uniqueness
Competitiveness
Hard-driving; high demands/standards
and achievement
Stability
Conformity; predictability; secure/stable
relationships
FINDING INFO FOR ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Operating
Principles
Loyalty &
Mutual Trust
Seeks and expects strong commitment to
the organization
Innovation &
Development
Emphasizes being on the cutting edge;
fostering new ideas
Goals &
Achievement
Sets stretch goals regularly and
aggressively pursues them
Formal Rules & Puts a premium on maintaining a smoothPolicies
running organization
FINDING INFO FOR ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Strategic
Emphasis
Human
Development
Fostering high trust, openness and
participation
Growth
Acquiring new resources; creating new
challenges; trying new
things; prospecting for opportunities
Competitiveness
Setting/hitting stretch targets; winning in
the marketplace
Permanence &
Stability
Maintaining efficiency, control and smooth
operations; valuing
long-term relationships
FINDING INFO FOR ORGANIZATION CULTURE
Success
Criteria
People
Developing talent, teamwork and employee
commitment
Product
Being a product leader and innovator with the
most unique
and/or newest products
Competitive
Achieving market leadership; outpacing the
competition
Operational
Maximizing efficiency, low-cost production and
dependable
delivery
CLIP TIME
#4
14:24-18:07
SOME BEHAVIORAL QUESTIONS
A la clip #5
18:10-
TYPICAL BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
• Give an example of an occasion when you used logic
to solve a problem.
• Give an example of a goal you reached and tell me
how you achieved it.
• Describe a decision you made that was unpopular and
how you handled implementing it.
• Have you gone above and beyond the call of duty? If
so, how?
MORE
• What have you done when your schedule was
interrupted on the job? Give an example of how you
handled it.
• Have you had to convince a team to work on a project
they weren't thrilled about? How did you do it?
• Give an example to a time when you encountered a
difficult situation with a co-worker? How?
• Tell me about a time when you worked effectively
under pressure.
MORE…
• Give an example of a situation where you didn't have enough
work to do.
• Give an example of a time when you made a mistake. How
did you handle it?
• Describe a decision you made that was unpopular and how
you handled implementing it.
• Did you every make a risky decision? Why? How did you
handle it?
• Tell me about a time when you postponed making a decision.
Why did you?
MORE
• Have you ever dealt with company policy you weren't in
agreement with? How?
• Have you gone above and beyond the call of duty? If so,
how?
• When you worked on multiple projects how did you
prioritize?
• Please give us an example when you met a tight
deadline?
• Give an example of how you have set goals and achieved
them.
• Did you ever not meet your goals? Why?
STILL MORE…
• Share an example of how you were able to motivate employees or
co-workers.
• Give an example of a time when you had a conflict with a
supervisor? Would you have changed anything if you could?
• Give an example of a difficult situation you had with a client or
vendor? How did you work through the situation?
• What do you do if you disagree with your boss?
CLIP TIME
#6
24:05-24:33
LET’S TRANSLATE….
• How do you handle stress and pressure on the job?
• What do you expect from a manager?
• Are you decisive on the job?
• Who was your best client?
• Give some examples of teamwork…
• How would you feel supervising two or three other
employees?
MORE….
• Do you prefer to work independently or on a team?
• Are you comfortable about working on many projects at once?
• What motivates you?
• What would you do if an angry 4-H client came in the door?
SUMMING IT UP
Behavioral interviews don’t offer ALL the information, but can help determine past
performance on specific behaviors needed for the position.
Many seemingly abstract behaviors can be brought out in behavioral interview
questions.
MUST prepare ahead of time
Must ask for specific examples to get a story
Allow for silences
Be able to interpret responses
QUESTIONS?
BEHAVIORAL-BASED INTERVIEWING
Gary Deziel
Associate Dean, Operations and Staff Support
University of Vermont Extension
[email protected]
Mary Fran San Soucie
Human Resources Coordinator
Montana State University Extension
[email protected]