behavioral interviews | Jennifer McClure`

Recently, for a student research project, I was asked to provide my thoughts on the skills that I believe are essential for young professionals entering the workforce, as well as how I would assess these skills in internal or external job applicants.

Below are the questions that were asked of me, as well as my responses.

Question 1: What specific knowledge, skills, and abilities do you look for in new applicants?

Generally, I look for curiosity, communication skills, problem-solving ability, and a desire to learn and grow. If an applicant has these skills and abilities, then they can be developed, and can grow into a variety of roles over time.

Specifically, I would also look for basic qualifications and experience to do the specific job that they’re applying for. Unless it’s a truly entry level position, ideally, they will have some education, volunteer experience, or work experience related to the job that they can demonstrate through results they’ve previously been able to achieve.

When interviewing, I’m always interested in hearing from applicants how they improved something in a previous or current role, and how they approached specific challenges or assignments. I want to be able to understand how they’re oriented towards solving problems, taking on challenges, and pushing through resistance.

Question 2: Which of these knowledge, skills, and abilities do you think are the most important for candidates to have, in order to advance in their career?

I place a priority on a candidate’s desire to learn and grow, and curiosity to seek out opportunities or problems/challenges that need to be solved in order for the company to successfully achieve its goals.

I want to understand if they’re intellectually curious enough to ask great questions in order to understand the current state/desired state? Also, do they seek out growth opportunities?

Question 3: What factors are considered more heavily in the hiring process – previous experiences, qualifications, or an applicant’s performance during the interview?

The answer to that question will depend upon the position level that I’m hiring for.

For entry level positions, I would focus more on the interview, education and qualifications, but as mentioned above, I’d be looking more for learning ability, curiosity, and growth orientation.

For mid-level or senior roles, previous work experience is going to weigh more heavily, but I would also be looking for the same things that I do with entry-level folks. However, I’d be asking candidates to share specific examples of how they’ve demonstrated the skills required in the job in one or more of their previous roles or life experiences.

Question 4: How does utilizing past experiences and examples from their work history help candidates to address difficult interview questions and demonstrate qualifications for a role?

I believe that it’s critical for interviewees to have some examples prepared in advance to show how they’ve demonstrated specific skills or abilities in their past jobs, education, or volunteer experiences, as well as how they have gotten results. A Career Coach I worked with once called these CAR (Challenge / Action/ Result) stories, and I’ve also heard them called STAR (Situation / Task / Action / Result) stories.

If an applicant prepares several examples from their experience that they can put into one of these frameworks prior to interviews, then they can be utilized to effectively answer many behavioral interview type questions – those “Tell me about a time when…” questions.

As an interviewer, when I ask a behavioral interview question, I’m not necessarily interested in the actual story the person is telling me as a response. I’m looking to understand their thinking process, how they approach challenges or responsibilities, how they respond when things don’t go as planned, how they involve others, etc. If the end result is a win, that’s great, but I think there are also good stories that can be shared where the end result wasn’t what was expected or hoped for, but the applicant can work in what they learned from the “failure”, and how they approached recovering from the failure in order to achieve the desired results.

—

Obviously, a good interview requires much more in-depth discussion and questioning, but in general, for the purpose of this study, I tried to sum up some of the key skills to look for in candidates that I believe make the best hires for not only the current job opening the candidate is being considered for, but also to have the best chance for future growth and success with the company.

___________________________

As a keynote speaker and leadership coach, Jennifer McClure helps leaders to embrace the future of work, and to develop the skills necessary to lead their organizations and the people on their teams to take bold actions that positively impact business results.

Want more leadership and future of work insights from me?

SUBSCRIBE to get my weekly Impact Makers newsletter delivered to your inbox!

In my role as a Consultant focused on recruiting, coaching and developing Leaders, I think I know a good Leader when I see (i.e. get to know) one. This super-power comes from a combination of my experiences – I’ve worked with several great Leaders and I’ve also had exposure to some pretty bad ones too – and the formal and informal training that I’ve received throughout my career.

However, sometimes for me – and I’ve certainly seen it with hiring managers and clients – it’s hard to guard against that “gut feel” you get when you just know that someone has what it takes to be a successful leader. In short, we’ve all fallen victim to the “I just like ’em” syndrome that almost never is a predictor of actual results.

Recently, Dan McCarthy shared Three Questions for Potential Managers to Ask Themselves over on his blog Great Leadership. While the three questions Dan posed are good ones an aspiring leader should ponder before pursuing a managerial role (“Why do I want to be a Manager?”, “Do I have what it takes to be successful?” and “What do I want to become?”), I found the listing he shared of predictors of leadership success to be of particular interest. Here’s a snippet from Dan’s post:

We know there are certain skills and attributes that can be demonstrated in a non-managerial role, that if done well, are predictors of managerial success. For example, Development Dimensions International (DDI) has developed a set of criteria that they say will accurately predict executive success, based on their own experience and research, and research by others.

According to DDI, the “right stuff” for future managerial success includes:

Propensity to lead. They step up to leadership opportunities

They bring out the best in others

Authenticity. They have integrity, admit mistakes, and don’t let their egos get in their way

Receptivity to feedback. They seek out and welcome feedback

Learning agility

Adaptability. Adaptability reflects a person’s skill at juggling competing demands and adjusting to new situations and people. A keyhere is maintaining an unswerving, “can do” attitude in the face ofchange

Navigates ambiguity. This trait enables people to simplify complex issues and make decisions without having all the facts

Conceptual thinking. Like great chess players and baseball managers,the best leaders always have the big picture in mind. Their ability to think two, three, or more moves ahead is what separates them from competitors

Cultural fit

Passion for results

Try assessing yourself against this list of criteria. Better yet, ask your manager and others to assess you. If you’re lacking in any key areas, that’s OK – most of these things can be improved with awareness, practice, and feedback. Other management skills are learned and mastered once in the role and with experience.

While I think most would agree that no checklist of characteristics will be a 100% predictor of future success as a Leader, I like using this approach as a starting point for both individual assessment and for developing some interview questions when selecting individuals for leadership roles. I can think of several ways to get at these qualities through the ever popular “Tell me about a time..” behavioral interviewing questions, but I’m not a big fan of interviews that rely solely upon those types of questions – especially with non-skilled interviewers.

I’m interested in your feedback and ideas in regards to the questions that you ask candidates, or have been asked as a candidate, to identify potential for success as a Leader. What questions would you suggest asking in an interview to assess the leadership qualities listed above?

Hit me in the Comments section with the best questions that either you are asking or have heard and let’s do some crowd-sourcing to come up with a great list. And it’s o.k. to share your best “Tell me about a time…” questions too – just be sure to use them wisely.

Question Mark uploaded by Marco Belluco

Hiring for Success: An Interviewer’s Guide to Identifying Job Fit and Future Potential

Question 1: What specific knowledge, skills, and abilities do you look for in new applicants?

Question 2: Which of these knowledge, skills, and abilities do you think are the most important for candidates to have, in order to advance in their career?

Question 3: What factors are considered more heavily in the hiring process – previous experiences, qualifications, or an applicant’s performance during the interview?

Question 4: How does utilizing past experiences and examples from their work history help candidates to address difficult interview questions and demonstrate qualifications for a role?

What Are the Best Interview Questions to Identify Leadership Potential?

Need A Speaker?

Recent Blog Posts

Question 1: What specific knowledge, skills, and abilities do you look for in new applicants?

Question 2: Which of these knowledge, skills, and abilities do you think are the most important for candidates to have, in order to advance in their career?

Question 3: What factors are considered more heavily in the hiring process – previous experiences, qualifications, or an applicant’s performance during the interview?

Question 4: How does utilizing past experiences and examples from their work history help candidates to address difficult interview questions and demonstrate qualifications for a role?

Need A Speaker?

Recent Blog Posts

Connect on Social