Five stories you need to master to pass any Behavioural Interview
Five stories you need to master to pass any Behavioural Interview
I have run hundreds of interviews in my career and came to the conclusion that almost any, if not any, behavioural interview question can be answered by telling a variation of one of the 5 stories.
Companies, at least the good ones, are looking for great teammates with good enough tech skills. People we can trust, work hard and achieve goals, celebrate success and have fun, learn from failures and improve together.
Hard skills, product knowledge, and company-specific processes can be taught. Personality, however, is hard to change. Some say it is impossible.
How can someone determine if you are a good fit?
Usually, by asking questions about your past experiences. How you dealt with or how you behaved (hence the “behavioural”) in certain situations in the past suggests how you will do it in future.
It is hugely important to invest time in preparation for behavioural interviews so you can present yourself in the best light.
Is it hard? Not at all.
I have run hundreds of interviews in my career and came to the conclusion that almost any, if not any, behavioural interview question can be answered by telling a version of one of these five stories: most successful project, least successful project, dealing with difficult stakeholder, passion project, and everybody’s favourite - tell me about yourself.
Let’s go over the stories.
The Five Stories
Most successful project
First and foremost, your most successful project story tells a lot about your definition of success.
Every role has its scope of impact and responsibilities. Your story and success metrics should match the expectations of the role.
Least successful project
We all make mistakes. Not every project is a success. Shit happens. If you spent at least a year in any industry, you most certainly had the pleasure of experiencing some failure.
There are only two questions I’d love for you to answer — why did it happen, and what did you learn? In other words, did you understand the root cause, and how would you act now if you were presented with the same situation?
Difficult stakeholder
People are complex. They have different motives, personality types, and so on. Some are way too strongly opinionated, some are brilliant jerks, some are not sharp enough to fulfil the role they’ve somehow got, and some seem not to care.
What is your definition of a difficult stakeholder?
How did you deal with him/her?
Having high emotional intelligence is essential for a good team player, especially for more senior roles.
Passion project
It doesn’t have to be work-related, but it definitely might. Maybe it’s a charity or social event that you organised or participated in. Perhaps you planned a vacation for a whole family or a wedding. It can be a side project. It can be something that you did at work. It can be anything as long as it makes your eyes light up.
A story like this can tell a lot about your true passion, skills, willingness and ability to lead.
Tell me about yourself.
Or, as Americans say — what’s your story? :)
Your story can be anything. It is yours.
What an interviewer like me would love to see is a human being telling a clear and concise teaser, explaining who he is, what he can offer and what he is looking for.
Four basic rules for any story
You have a story.
If you don’t have a story, it doesn’t mean nothing happened to you. I would doubt it. Most likely, it means you haven’t thought about it enough.
Having a story means that you have reflected on a situation. People don’t learn from mistakes. People learn by thinking through situations and stories.
Have a story.
You can tell a story.
Your ability to tell a story in a clear way is as important as having a good story. Especially when it comes to more senior and managerial positions, the ability to explain topics and tell stories in a clear and concise way is hugely important.
Use the CAO (context, action, outcome) method to tell your stories. It’s a simple method that helps construct stories in an easy-to-absorb way.
The story is applicable to your role.
It might be a great story, and you are probably telling it well, but if it has nothing to do with your role, it counts against you.
There are some standard expectations from certain positions:
New to the industry — you learn.
Spent a couple of years in the industry — you perform well.
Senior/experienced — you lead and mentor.
Your stories, whether they are work-related or not, must show that you possess the right traits and skills.
The story ended well and you learnt something.
Whatever your story is about, it has to have a happy ending. The outcome always has to be positive.
Project failed? Okay. What have you learnt?
Had a conflict with a colleague? Sure. How did you resolve it?
Do your stories have a positive outcome?
Three things an interviewer is looking for
Motives and Motivation
We don’t always know. But when we do, it’s powerful.
Motives — What are you looking for? What you want to be doing when you grow up. Why? It’s ok if you’re still figuring it out.
Motivation — What motivates you? What makes you feel good? What would you do if you didn’t have to do it for a living? Why?
Interviewers have to figure out quickly whether you are a good match for the team and company. Knowing what you love doing and where you are going can help interviewers to tell with some level of confidence if you will stay and grow with the company for an extended period of time. Hiring is expensive.
Teamwork
Teamwork is about collaborating with each other, trusting each other, arguing with each other, and holding yourself and your teammates accountable so you, as a team, can achieve goals.
My goal as an interviewer is to understand if you are a team player. Make sure your stories tell about teamwork.
Leadership and ownership
Everyone is a leader. Everyone should take full ownership of his work.
Leadership is about creating followers. If you have no followers, there is no one and nothing you lead.
How does one lead? By sharing and explaining ideas and opinions.
If you don’t have an opinion, you either still need to learn the topic, or you don’t care enough to have an opinion. If you have one, and it is good, and you can articulate it, someone will follow.
Ownership is about taking full responsibility for the outcome of your and the people you lead actions. If you own it, it’s yours. You do everything you possibly can, and you support others in achieving goals. You take the blame if something goes wrong.
Everyone is a leader. Everyone should take full ownership of his work. Your stories, whether they are work-related or not, must show that you own and lead.
Two pieces of advice to summarise
Don’t BS. People see it right away. Especially those who interview a lot. Be yourself.
Spend time reflecting and building your stories. Think through your experiences and stories deeply. What happened? Why it happened? What did you do? How did it go? What was the outcome? What would you do differently? You will learn a lot.
Best of luck. You’ve got it!