Michael DeSafey | Executive Recruiter and HR Professional
Behavioral Interviews…Shine With The STAR Method!!
Behavioral Interviews…Shine With The STAR Method!!
As a professional recruiter who has been working recruiting professionals in the environmental, engineering and construction industries for over 18 years now at Webuild Staffing I have seen many extremely qualified candidates lose an opportunity because they get tripped up in a behavior interview situation.
During a traditional interview the employer is looking to determine if you will be a good fit for their company based on questions about how you might handle future situations as they arise. In a behavioral interview the employer is more interested in how your past work history would make you a good candidate for a future position and tends to be very job specific. They will seek examples that demonstrate you already possess the skills they have deemed necessary for the position you are interviewing for. Your strengths and weaknesses are not nearly as important as what you have actually done; in this type of interview.
Prior to any interview it always a good idea to review your work history, past situations and events that you have dealt with and be prepared to present this to a potential employer in an interview situation. Take some time to review not only the position description but also their website, literature and other company material. You should be aware of what the company is about and what they expect from their employees. Carefully consider the skills that they will likely require of an employee and be prepared to show that you already have a history of successfully demonstrating them in past employment, always being specific with the when and how.
When answering questions you should always refer to the STAR method; Situation (describe what the situation was), Task (what goal did you hope to achieve), Action (what did you do to reach your goal, and Result (be able to explain how you, specially, achieved the goal in the end).
Michael DeSafey is a leading executive recruiter for professionals in the construction, engineering and environmental industries. He is currently the President of Webuild Staffing (www.webuildstaffing.com) . To learn more about Michael or Follow his Blog please visit www.michaeldesafey.com