Transcription outsourcing companies help small businesses and large corporations transcribe various kinds of documents and communication sessions, including recruitment interviews. Interview transcription services can help recruiters to analyze interview performances of candidates, check out key aspects, and find out if they have the specific skill sets needed for the position they need to fill. When it comes to manager or team leader positions, job-related skills and technical know how are not the only things recruiters look for. These positions require personnel management, and organizational and behavioral skills which are necessary to pull the team together and complete projects successfully.
Behavioral Interview from the Employer’s Perspective
Interviewing techniques have advanced to such an extent that employers can glean not just the academic and professional worth of the candidate but also how they fit into the organization. From the perspective of the employer, it’s probably the best way to find out how the individual would fit into the organization. That quality requires more than what certificates and job experience reveal.
The individual needs to fit into your work culture and that often makes the difference between goals attained and deadlines missed. No matter how talented an employee is, unless he/she is able to fit into the environment, get along with colleagues, and exert a positive influence that brings out the best in others, your company isn’t going forward. Behavioral interviews take care of that.
How to Perform Well in a Behavioral Interview
From the candidate’s perspective, a behavioral interview can be tricky to handle. It usually involves the interviewer asking questions of the candidate’s work experience, how he/she managed a difficult situation, dealt with pressure, or fulfilled a task through hard work and efficient coordination of his/her team despite challenging circumstances. You might have been successful in these situations before, but the employer won’t get the positive vibes unless you answer them in a convincing manner. The way you respond is the key for the interviewer to find out not only your skills and ability, but also your personality – whether you’ll be able to handle tough situations that may arise in this company, while galvanizing your team.
The STAR Approach
How you handled tough situations in your previous jobs, and how you present that experience matter the most. There can be quite probing questions, specifying certain specific situations.
Complex as that may sound, there is a specific approach to handling this. It’s called the STAR approach. STAR stands for:
- Presenting the Situation,
- Explaining your Task in the situation,
- Describing the Action you took, as part of your task, to deal with the situation, and
- Explaining convincingly what the positive Result of your outcome was
Sounds simple? Well, you still need to practice this.
Kind of Questions to Expect
Here are some examples of the kind of behavioral questions that are usually asked:
- “How did you handle a particularly challenging situation at office without compromising work efficiency?”
- “Did you ever have to galvanize your team to go ahead with something they weren’t quite keen about but that you knew would help your company?”
- “How did you attain a goal when the odds were stacked against you?”
- “Have you had things not go according to plan, and how did you keep your focus despite that?”
- “Describe a situation when you were really under pressure.”
How to Prepare for a Behavioral Interview
Here’s how you can prepare for a behavioral interview:
- First, make sure you go through the job description properly.
- Prepare a list of the qualifications and skill sets required to excel in the job.
- Then write down your stories, keeping the STAR technique in mind.
- Remember to jot down the situation, what your task in the particular situation was, and what action you took. Make sure you also explain why you took that particular action. Ensure your result is convincingly presented.
- Don’t get too elaborate because the answer needs to be only around 1 ½ or 2 minutes.
- Your ability should be clearly demonstrated in each of the situations presented.
Preparing is one thing, while actually presenting it at the interview is totally another. That’s why you need to practice all you have prepared. There could be multiple incidents you’ve prepared to present. So make sure you practice all of them since you don’t know what you’ll be asked. It’s true that you really can’t anticipate all the behavioral questions put before you. But when you’ve prepared all these multiple scenarios, you can answer almost any question confidently.
Employers make use of audio transcription services offered by experienced transcription companies to keep a record of behavioral interviews and gauge candidate performance. So give it your best shot and make the best impression.
