What are situational and behavioral interview questions, and how can you craft responses that will make a favorable impression on the interviewer?

Situational questions provide you with a hypothetical situation and ask how you would deal with it. Employers can check your understanding of specific processes as well as your interpersonal or working with others skills. Whereas behavioral based questions are used to assess similar skills and abilities to situational questions. In behavioral based questions the employer asks you to describe what you did in an actual experience. (https://www.jobsetc.gc.ca/pieces.jsp?category_id=1501)  In short, situational questions asks what would you do, where behavioral questions ask what did you do.

Outlined below are questions, answers, and what your answers reveal about your work ethics.

Examples of Situational Questions:

Q: If we were to offer you a position with our company what would your first week on the job consist of?

A: My first week would consist of acquainting myself with my team members and obtaining the necessary training for the job.

Results: Shows the desire to be a team oriented employee and the willingness to learn the methods of the job.

 

Q: This position as front desk coordinator requires handling disgruntle customers both via phone and in person.  How would you handle the situation, when the phone is ringing and you have a customer in front of you also needing attention?

A: I realize that both the customer on the phone and in person deserve my prompt attention.  I would treat the customer on the phone and the customer in front of me exactly the same. I would attend to the customer in order they appeared, whether in person or via phone.

Results: Shows you understand that a customer is not just the person standing in front of you. But that the customer on the phone should receive the exact same customer service as the customer standing in front of you.

Examples of Behavioral Questions:

Q: Tell us a time when you made a mistake, how did you resolve it?  And what did you learn from your mistake?

A: At a previous job, I miscalculated the amount of food needed for a catering event. Unfortunately, the original catering company was not able to accommodate the additional request.  I was able to locate a catering company that was able to compliment the food that was already there.  I learned that I need to pay attention to not only the big details, but also the small details.

Results: shows you are able to admit your mistakes and learn from your mistakes

Q: Tell us about your Time Management skills, how do you prioritize your tasks?

A: I’ve attended classes on how to manage your time in your personal and professional life.  I use the Steve Covey method, which teaches you how to develop a to-do-list that helps you prioritize your tasks.

Results: Shows you have taken the initiative to improve your time management skills.  And you are utilizing the method. It also show that you also care about your time management in personal life.