Answering behavioral interview questions is shockingly uncomplicated

Today's discussion centers on mastering behavioral interview questions, a crucial skill regardless of one's professional field. Whether an individual is a highly technical software engineer or works on the business side, proficiency in these questions is equally important. While technical roles may prioritize technical portions of an interview, qualitative behavioral questions are consistently encountered. These questions aim to uncover specific experiences from one's life or career that demonstrate qualities sought by employers. Matt, currently in strategy operations at Google and formerly a Management Consultant at BCG, emphasizes the universal applicability of this skill.

Many individuals might assume they fully comprehend behavioral interview questions, believing them to be simple inquiries about past leadership or failures. However, the essence of these questions delves deeper than a surface-level recounting of experiences. Fundamentally, a behavioral interview question is designed to prompt candidates to demonstrate specific qualities. While the phrasing can vary widely, the underlying objective is always to reveal how an individual embodies certain traits that employers value.

Based on extensive interviewing experience across finance, consulting, and tech industries, five qualities consistently emerge as crucial for employers. While industry specifics might introduce slight variations, these generally apply to roles requiring collaborative effort. Employers universally seek these attributes, demonstrating their significance in hiring decisions.

Leadership is a highly valued quality, often sought by companies looking for employees who will grow and advance within the organization. This trait closely aligns with 'taking the initiative,' signifying a self-starter who is proactive rather than passive. An employer almost invariably prefers a candidate with more initiative, assuming all other factors are equal. Common questions include 'Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership' or 'Tell me about a time when you took the lead even though you were not in a formal position of leadership,' often probing for the same core quality despite varied phrasing.

Resilience is another critical quality, primarily focused on understanding how individuals react to challenges and failures. While it might seem counterintuitive, questions about proudest accomplishments can also uncover resilience by exploring the journey from point A to point B, often involving significant hurdles. Interviewers are less interested in the accomplishment itself and more in the process of overcoming difficulties to achieve it. Common direct questions include 'Tell me about a time that you failed' or 'Tell me about a time that you overcame a challenge,' but also subtly 'Tell me about your proudest accomplishment.'

Teamwork is paramount for almost all modern jobs requiring collaboration. Basic questions like 'Tell me about a time when you worked in a team' are straightforward. However, interviewers often delve into more nuanced scenarios, such as 'Tell me about a time when you had to bring together a group of people that you didn't know' or 'Tell me about a time when you had to bring together a group of people with disparate backgrounds to achieve a common goal.' These more complex inquiries test deeper collaborative skills and sometimes even overlap with leadership.

The ability to influence or persuade others to one's viewpoint is highly valued. This involves effectively voicing thoughts and convincing individuals or groups of a certain objective. While a basic question might be 'Tell me about a time when you had to influence someone or persuade someone,' more challenging versions involve convincing senior stakeholders. For instance, 'Tell me about a time when you had to convince someone who was more senior than you of your opinion' tests the ability to navigate authority dynamics and present compelling arguments.

Interviewers often explore how candidates handle ethical or moral conflicts to assess integrity. These questions present situations where an individual might have witnessed something ethically ambiguous and had to choose between addressing it or ignoring it. Typical questions include 'Tell me about a time when you ran into a moral or ethical conflict at work and what did you do?' or 'Tell me about a time when you saw a coworker doing something that was unethical, what did you do about it?' These situations are tricky, requiring a balanced approach to demonstrate integrity without appearing judgmental or overly critical.

Even though there's a slight chance of encountering a question unrelated to the five core qualities, most variations ultimately probe these underlying traits. Questions about success often relate to challenges and resilience, while teamwork can intersect with leadership and persuasion. Therefore, the crucial first step in preparation is a 'brain dump.' This involves documenting every relevant experience, both personal and professional, that comes to mind, keeping these core qualities in perspective. This exhaustive list will serve as a rich source for crafting compelling stories later.

With a comprehensive brain dump complete, the next critical phase is to 'craft your arsenal' of interview responses. Approaching an interview is likened to preparing for battle, where being well-equipped with numerous compelling stories significantly enhances your chances of success. The universally recognized STAR framework—Situation, Task, Action, and Result—is the foundational structure for forming effective behavioral interview responses. This framework ensures a cohesive narrative that clearly demonstrates your qualities.

For instance, when asked to influence a senior colleague, an example using the STAR framework could be presented. The **Situation** involved being an investment banking analyst whose team relied on Pitchbook, a subscription-based website providing startup data. The head of M&A was considering canceling the costly subscription, believing information could be found via Google. The **Task** became convincing the managing director to renew the subscription with data-backed evidence. The **Action** involved surveying the entire analyst class to gather feedback on Pitchbook's value and impact on productivity. The **Result** was presenting the aggregated data, which clearly showed Pitchbook's high value in saving time for pitch decks and investor materials, leading to the subscription's renewal. This experience taught that preparing compelling arguments with data, even with senior colleagues, is essential.

Adding a phrase like 'and what I learned from that experience is X' at the end of your story is crucial. This synthesizes your narrative, ties all details together into a concise takeaway, and unequivocally hammers home the point of the quality you demonstrated or the lesson you gained, leaving no doubt in the interviewer's mind.

A key aspect of captivating storytelling in interviews is to 'show, not tell.' Instead of simply stating you possess leadership or are a team player, illustrate these qualities through descriptive narrative and vivid details. For example, when discussing a failure or receiving negative feedback, merely saying 'my boss told me I messed up and I felt upset' is telling. A more impactful 'showing' approach would be, 'My boss told me that I messed up, and the first thought that came to my mind was, boy am I screwed,' which conveys the pressure and emotion, making the subsequent actions to bounce back far more compelling. Effective storytelling ensures interviewers remain engaged and truly understand your experiences.

Many candidates underestimate the importance of practicing delivery, often spending excessive time on brainstorming and crafting written responses, only to falter during live interviews. An interview is an interactive, in-person experience, not a written submission. Therefore, all the meticulous preparation on paper becomes ineffective if one cannot articulate their stories fluidly and confidently. Proper practice is essential to ensure that the effort invested in preparing content translates into a compelling and natural spoken delivery.

A common pitfall leading to a scripted sound is memorizing word-for-word paragraphs. This approach prioritizes recall over natural conversation, hindering fluidity and coherence. To overcome this, during verbal practice, always utilize short bullet points for each story instead of full paragraphs. Force yourself to elaborate on these few bullet points, connecting the dots organically. This method compels your brain to construct cohesive sentences on the fly, resulting in a more natural, thoughtful, and less rehearsed delivery that truly showcases your communication skills.

Recording oneself is arguably the most immediate and effective way to gain feedback on communication and delivery. Individuals are often their own harshest critics, and watching or listening to yourself speak provides acute awareness of verbal tics like 'um' or 'like,' as well as non-verbal cues such as breaking eye contact. This self-observation allows for targeted improvements, such as replacing filler words with thoughtful pauses. Pauses, though they feel longer to the speaker, can make one appear more deliberate and confident to the listener, enhancing the overall impression of thoughtfulness.

Having covered the entire preparation process, it is helpful to explore additional examples that illustrate these core qualities in action. While the leadership and influencing example involving the Pitchbook subscription has been detailed, further scenarios can deepen understanding of how to apply the STAR framework effectively to various qualities.

A compelling story demonstrating resilience involved a personal experience with violin auditions. As a senior in college, the goal was to join a prestigious orchestra that toured internationally. Despite rigorous practice for the violin audition, the attempt was unsuccessful. A week later, a serendipitous call from the orchestra director offered a chance to re-audition for the viola section, a different instrument, if the individual was willing to learn it over the summer. Seizing this unexpected opportunity, a viola teacher was hired, and intense practice ensued. The dedication, including practicing during a family vacation, led to successful re-audition and a subsequent tour in Norway. This experience highlighted the importance of an open mind in the face of failure and being prepared for unforeseen opportunities.

An example illustrating integrity and navigating an ethical conflict comes from working at a UPS package facility during freshman year. It was a physically demanding hourly wage job where a coworker was observed deliberately punching in early and punching out late to gain an extra hour or two of pay daily. Initially, this seemed minor, not warranting escalation. However, a conversation with an older brother provided a crucial perspective: 'it's really the little things that define who we are; it's how we react when people aren't watching.' This reflection prompted raising the issue with the manager, emphasizing that the intent was not to cause trouble for the coworker but to address the observed behavior. The manager addressed the situation, and while the coworker did not lose their job, the company implemented a better, less manual timekeeping system. The takeaway was profound: integrity is most evident in how one handles small, seemingly insignificant ethical dilemmas.