Transcript for:
Tough Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers

behavioral interview questions are probably the toughest type of question to answer correctly in a job interview questions such as tell me about a time when you received criticism that you thought was unfair tell me about a time when you made a mistake and also tell me about a time when you worked in a team those are really difficult interview questions to answer correctly however if you have a job interview coming up soon for any role or organization you will have to answer them so make sure you stay tuned watch the presentation from start to finish because i promise to help you be the standout candidate and to achieve that goal this is what i'm going to cover so i will give you a list of tough behavioral interview questions i strongly recommend you prepare for i will then give you example scripted answers to all of the questions to help you pass your job interview i will also give you the perfect structure to use an easy to remember structure that you can use when answering any type of behavioral interview question and i will then tell you how you can access further downloadable resources including the answers to help you be the standout candidate at your job interview and just very quickly if you are new to the channel please make sure you hit that subscribe button literally thousands of you are passing your job interviews and i don't want you to miss out i can only help you if you are subscribed and please give the video a like because that tells me you find these tutorials useful and also it motivates me to create more content for you thank you very much so to begin with how do you answer behavioral interview questions well my advice is to make sure you use the star technique take a note of this now star stands for situation task action and result now the star technique is recognized by all hiring managers it's a brilliant format to use when answering any type of behavioral interview question and it allows you to easily remember your scenarios and your answers and also it will help you to get the highest scores possible for each answer to the behavioral interview questions so we need to utilize this when responding to all of the questions in this tutorial so just to recap when using the star technique of situation task action and result you start off your answer to the interview question and you tell the interviewer the situation you were faced with you then move on and briefly explain the task you had to complete you then give in-depth details specific details about the action you took to achieve that task and you then finish off with the result following your actions so whenever you are answering any type of behavioral interview question whatever it is make sure you use the star technique of situation task action and result so let's now start working through some tough behavioral interview questions and top scoring answers that make really good use of the star technique so i will give you the question i will give you a really important tip for answering it and i will then give you a powerful scripted answer that uses a star technique tough behavioral interview question number one is tell me about a time when you received criticism that you thought was unfair now if you get asked this question during your interview you're going to be sitting there thinking how do i answer this well let me tell you how first of all a tip when responding to this tough behavioral interview question demonstrate to the interviewer you are a mature and professional employee who is willing to take on board feedback to improve despite it appearing to be unfair so here's a great example scripted answer that uses a star technique to help you pass your interview here we go tell me about a time when you received criticism that you thought was unfair in a previous role my manager spoke to me about how long i was speaking to customers for on the telephone now i was trying to build up a positive rapport with our customers to help improve sales however my manager said i was taking too long now although i felt the criticism was unfair simply because i was trying to help the company it was my task to take on board his feedback to improve now i explained to my manager that i was trying to improve customer relations but that i fully understood there was a need to act with speed because other customers were waiting on the line that also needed my assistance now after reflecting on my performance i made changes as per my manager's instructions and this improved the speed of my call handling rates meaning i could help and assist more customers that's a brilliant answer and it shows that you are prepared to take on board feedback and you also understand why it is so important now don't go anywhere because obviously i've still got many more behavioral interview questions and answers to give you but when you're ready you can click that link in the top right hand corner of the video head through to my website pastmyinterview.com and you can download my full set of 27 behavioral interview questions and top scoring answers including the ones we are covering today during this tutorial let's now take a look at tough behavioral interview question number two this is another really difficult question to answer correctly tell me about a time when you had to do something differently and what was the outcome now this behavioral interview question is assessing how adaptable you are when difficult situations arise give an answer that shows you managed to successfully overcome a difficult challenge in the workplace here's a great example answer to help you tell me about a time when you had to do something differently and what was the outcome here we go i was working in a previous role as part of a team project now it was our task to build a website for an important client however part way through the project we lost an important team member due to illness he was our graphic designer and there was still plenty of graphic design work still to be done on the project now not being deterred by this setback i decided to use my initiative and think of alternative ways of working to still get the website project completed on time now after assessing the options i decided to place an advert on the website upwork.com for a graphic designer who could work remotely to create the artwork we needed now 10 high quality graphic designers responded to the advert and after i had chosen the most suitable one i gave him a detailed and concise brief and he then set to work now by using a different method of working i was able to overcome a challenge that had the potential to derail the project and get the website finished on time and to the client's specification that's another really good answer and you can see how effective the star technique is situation task action and result it enables you to give a thorough and concise answer to the most difficult of behavioral interview questions let's now take a look at tough behavioral interview question number three tell me about a time when you worked in a team this has to be the most common of behavioral interview questions it comes up during virtually all job interviews make sure you have a really good answer prepared now this tough behavioral interview question is designed to assess whether you can collaborate with other people in an unselfish manner now when your answer demonstrates you understand the importance of always putting the needs of the team first in everything you do here's another great example answer to help you pass your interview tell me about a time when you worked in a team here we go in a previous role i was part of a team whose responsibility it was to come up with innovative ways to promote a new company product that had just launched now i suggested we should hold a team meeting to brainstorm different ideas because by doing so we would have many different options at the end of the session and at least one of them would help us to achieve our objectives during the team meeting there was no hierarchy i encouraged everyone to put forward ideas and no suggestion was off limits team members who were normally shy were given plenty of opportunity to contribute at the end of the meeting we had five outstanding ideas for promoting the company product now these included online advertising through social media running a contest for our loyal customers to win one of the new products and a targeted radio advertising campaign that's a really good example answer that shows you thoroughly understand the importance of working effectively in a team tough behavioral interview question number four is tell me about a time when you made a mistake this is another really difficult one but do not say in your answer that you've never made a mistake when you respond to this question instead show you are the type of person who takes ownership of their mistakes and takes positive action to improve and develop so here's a great example answer to help you tell me about a time when you made a mistake i am the type of person who tries to learn from every mistake now when i started working my last role i was eager to impress but i took on too many tasks and responsibilities without first considering how long each one would take now although it was my job to make sure everything was completed on time i ended up missing an important deadline due to the workload i had committed to which was entirely my mistake after i had apologized to my manager for missing the deadline i started putting systems in place to make sure the same situation never happened again i kept a priority list of tasks i was responsible for and the time it would take to complete each one and by using a more methodical and considered approach to task completion i could safely take on additional responsibilities knowing everything would be successfully completed on time and as requested so that's another really good answer that shows you are not afraid to own up to your mistakes you apologize for them and you then put positive action in place to make sure they never happen again tough behavioral interview question number five is tell me about a time when you multitasked now being able to successfully complete multiple tasks is a key workplace skill required in virtually all job roles my advice is to make sure you give a specific answer that demonstrates you have the ability to prioritize and finish multiple tasks on time and to the expected standard so here's another great example answer to help you tell me about a time when you multitask here we go my manager asked for a volunteer to cover the work of a co-worker who was off sick for several weeks i volunteered to be that person now it was my task to make sure my own work and the work of my co-worker was completed on time i started out by writing a priority list of the tasks that needed my attention and any tasks that were not urgent i would leave until the end of the day now there were several of my co-workers tasks that i was unsure how to complete so i carried out some research and found out the most efficient way to tackle them and by prioritizing tasks correctly by remaining calm and by taking the initiative to learn the tasks i was unsure of i was able to successfully complete two people's work on time and to the required standard so that's another really good example answer that's going to help you pass your interview tough behavioural interview question number six is tell me about a time when you failed to meet a deadline now this is another tough behavioral interview question to answer correctly however in your response give a situation where you missed a deadline due to challenging circumstances but explain what you did to improve and learn from the experience here's a great example answer to help you tell me about a time when you failed to meet a deadline in my last role i was working as part of a team on a difficult time sensitive project now it was our task to get the project completed on time despite the many challenges that were present now seven days before the project deadline two members of staff went off sick with covid we tried our hardest to get the project finished i and several other team members put in extra hours and we outsourced several tasks to online contractors however despite the team's best efforts we missed the deadline by 24 hours now i learned a lot from that situation now whenever i am part of a team project or task i always put contingency plans in place before starting work to compensate for problems whenever they occur this includes making sure we have backup from other departments in the organization if needed at short notice that's a great example answer to that behavioural interview question tell me about a time when you failed to meet a deadline now the next thing to do if you want to pass your interview is click that link in the top right hand corner of the video head through to my website pass my interview dot com and you can download my full set of 27 behavioral interview questions and top scoring answers including the ones we have worked through together today it's a great resource you can literally have it within your inbox within two minutes from now and it's going to put you ahead of the competition at your interview make sure you check out that page as i say click the link in the top right hand corner of the video thank you very much finally don't forget to subscribe to the channel it's really important because i can help you not just pass every job interview you ever attend i can also help you to get promoted and also negotiate a pay rise or get the salary you deserve please give the video a like that tells me you find these tutorials useful and don't forget to connect with me on linkedin i've put my linkedin link in the description below the video it's always good to connect with like-minded professionals such as yourself thank you so much for watching and i wish you all the best for passing your interview have a great day