Dear Dr. Mimi:
I recently heard bits and pieces of a conversation on behavioral interviewing. I was wondering if you could give me more insight into this topic.
—Just Wondering

Dear Just:
Behavioral interviewing is a great tool because it focuses on examples of past behavior that can be useful to help predict future actions and attitudes. The benefit of using this method is that you are able to get the person to tell you more. They can relate information about specific experiences and anything they may have learned from those experiences. In traditional interviews, we find people ask questions that elicit simply a yes or no answer, and the onus is on the interviewer to keep the conversation going. Behavioral interviewing will give you more information to decide if the person is right for your particular job. Here are samples of traditional interview questions and behavioral interviewing questions developed from them.
          • Do you like to work hard? (Traditional)
          • Tell me about a time in which you had to be persistent in order to reach one of                    your goals. (Behavioral)
          • Are you good at making decisions? (Traditional)
          • Describe a situation in which you had to draw a conclusion quickly and take                         immediate action. (Behavioral)

Not all questions in an interview need to be behavioral. Tailor your questions to get the information that you need to determine if the candidate is right for your particular position.
—Dr. Mimi