4 Effective Behavioral Interview Tips

You’ve heard of behavioral interviewing and how it’s a successful indicator of future performance but do you know how to effectively conduct one? Below are some quick tips on how to learn the most about a candidate in a fast and efficient manner. If you’re in need of marketing and creative recruiting help check out our services and get in touch with us!

1.) Start with open ended questions

• What
• When
• Why
• How
• Tell me about a time…

Asking open ended questions lets the candidate speak more so you can listen. Whenever you hear something interesting you can dive deeper at that point. By letting the candidate describe things you get their true experiences and values.

Open ended questions don’t tip your hand to the candidate as to what you’re looking for. If they find out, all their answers will be skewed to what you want to hear.

2.) Never ask leading questions

Example: Do you know HTML?

The interviewee will adapt an answer that you’re clearly looking for. Instead, replace with “What coding languages are you familiar with?”. Then you can dig deeper depending on their response. When digging deeper on past experiences or skills make sure you get specific answers.

3.) Get very specific answers

When someone tells you they used HTML for a few projects in the past make sure to follow that up with probing questions. You’ll get valuable insight and details on their prior experience. If they stumble through their experience this is a hint that they may be exaggerating or lying.

Examples

• When was the project? (Get months or dates)
• What were the objectives of the project?
• How long did it take to complete?
• How many pages were on the website?

4.) Make sure questions are 10 words or less

If your questions are long they will not be understood by your candidate. Think about questions you’ve been asked that needed clarification. Chances are good they were long questions. Stick to short open-ended questions, then dig deeper with follow up questions.

These 4 tips will shorten your interviews and get more information. You can find more tips for hiring and managing marketing & creative talent on our blog. If your team needs short term talent, direct placement help, or some digital project work, consult us on it.

Visit The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Digital Talent page for more information about how to interview digital candidates!