To find out the most information when interviewing candidates, it’s important to know about job history, learned skills, and how the candidate acts or works in different scenarios. The first two topics are relatively easy to find out – a candidate can just list those for you. On the other hand, how someone behaves in different situations is answered from behavioral questions and can shed a lot of useful insight as to whether or not you’ll want that candidate on your team.

A good behavioral interview question will use an interviewee’s past experiences to determine whether or not their skills or personality is right for your company. These types of questions can be broad or more specific, depending on the information you’re looking for.

  • Why are you leaving your job?

Most often, a candidate you interview is currently employed at another company. Asking why they are leaving is a great question because it provides insight into their motivation. They might be leaving for better compensation or benefits, or maybe they always want to go after what they feel is a better opportunity. A red flag in this answer would be if they are leaving because of a conflict with a co-worker or manager. Conflicts happen, but you want to be sure this person will work well with your other employees.

  • Who was your favorite manager and why? Least favorite and why?

These questions tend to make candidates open up a bit because they feel less intimidating. After all, you’re asking for their opinions! These questions are important to help you determine what kind of management style the candidate responds well to. It’s a great question that helps you determine whether they will respond well to company structure or management style.

  • Tell me about the experiences you gained at your last job?

This is a broad question, but it’s still a good behavioral interview question. Asking what a candidate learned at their latest position will show how they like to be challenged or how open they are to seize different opportunities. If a candidate seems to think they know all there is to know about the field, then they probably won’t be someone you want to hire.

  • Give an example of a time you had to deliver bad news to a customer. What happened, and what was the outcome?

Detours and roadblocks happen in every business. What’s important is how these situations are handled. You’re looking for candidates to be able to answer in specific detail how they handled a negative situation with a positive attitude. If you feel the candidate handled the situation they described inappropriately, feel free to ask follow-up questions so you might be able to understand the reasoning behind their actions.

  • Describe a situation they will likely encounter on the job, then ask: How would you handle this?

This question is a great way to help you decide whether a candidate will fit well at your company. Even though they don’t have to answer with a perfect response (they haven’t worked with your specific policies or procedures yet, you will gain a lot of understanding as to how they solve problems or do their daily work on the job.

These behavioral interview questions can help you make the right choice when hiring for a job opening at your company. To find a good pool of candidates to interview, contact Principle Personnel.