Behavioral interviewing tip #10: Ask questions (part 1/2)
Previous posts in series:
- Behavioral interviewing tip #1: Use results to demonstrate past successes
- Behavioral interviewing tip #2: Prepare stories from your career based on the job description for the position you want
- Behavioral interviewing tip #3: Research the company and its industry and products
- Behavioral interviewing tip #4: Give STAR responses
- Behavioral interviewing tip #5: Answer “negative” questions positively and with an appropriate level of candor
- Behavioral interviewing tip #6: Be succinct
- Behavioral interviewing tip #7: Don’t try to game the system (because it’s essentially impossible)
- Behavioral interviewing tip #8: Relax
- Behavioral interviewing tip #9: Answer the question you’re asked; don’t go on tangents
This advice may seem to contradict the last post a bit, but it really doesn’t. In addition, this advice applies to all interviews of all types. It’s extremely important, since one of the most important things you can demonstrate in the interviewing process is intrinsic motivation to help solve the prospective employer’s problems and pursue opportunities available to it.
You demonstrate this motivation by asking questions. In fact, it’s difficult to demonstrate this motivation any other way, aside from a general air of enthusiasm and attention. Moreover, asking the right questions can help show you have the right knowledge base and mindset for the job.
So how do you ask questions in a behavioral interview? First, it depends on who is giving the interview. Sometimes a recruiter will be the one giving a screening interview (this isn’t too common yet in the recruiting industry, but Key Corporate Services is working to change that). When we give behavioral interviews, we encourage the candidate to ask questions at the end. Other recruiters may or may not do this. It’s a good idea, since we gain some information about candidates from the questions they ask, and they can learn more about the company and the job.
If the company itself is giving the behavioral interview, there are several possibilities. If it is a pure behavioral interview as a stage in the interview process, there may or may not be a Q&A opportunity at the end. It’s fine, however, for you to ask a few questions if the interviewer is open to that. The interview may also turn into a “discussion” in which you and the interviewee are just talking. Definitely use this opportunity to ask questions.
In our next post in this series, we’ll talk about what kind of questions to ask, plus give you an extremely important tip that could literally save your candidacy during the interviewing process.
Matt
The Key Corporate Services Blog Team
Handy guide to our blog post series
