Preparing before the interview will help you deliver clear, concise and brief answers, which could be the difference between landing the job and disappointment.
Have you just been invited to attend a behavioural competency style interview and want to know how to prepare?
Behavioural interviews get the candidate to think of and provide specific examples from their work history.
Past behaviour tends to be a good indicator of future behaviour - and that’s why many recruiters feel confident using this method to assess your competence to do a particular job.
Sometimes it's difficult to think on your feet in an interview. So it doesn’t hurt to makes some notes on your past experience and match it against the new job you are interviewing for.
That's why you need to take the time to prepare before the interview. It also helps you to deliver clear, concise and brief answers.
Follow the STAR every time
The most commonly used process to help you structure a specific example is STAR - Situation, Task, Action and Result.
This will help you prepare before the interview and structure your answer accordingly.
Talk about your results and how you went about solving the challenge. Use these questions as prompts:
• Did your actions save time, save money, prevent something bigger happening or loss of data etc?
• Did you streamline or automate a process?
• Did you identify a potential problem and by doing so, prevented an even bigger issue?
Recruiters and employers today look for candidates that are commercially aware and understand how their actions affect either the profitability or operational costs of the business.
As an IT practitioner, you will also likely be asked about your Analytical or Problem Solving Skills, Client focus or Communication Skills.
So use these generic competencies to think of and prepare several specific examples where you have demonstrated evidence of these behaviours.
Having examples at your fingertips
Here are some memory joggers if you are finding it difficult to think of specific examples.
Review your last annual appraisal – what were your main objectives? Were you tasked to improve any processes or the delivery of a service? Do you remember a particularly challenging problem you resolved to the client's satisfaction, and how did you approach this task? Did you receive praise or reward or recognition for a piece of work?
Continue to bank up specific examples, achievements and accomplishment during your career. Once your next interview arrives, you'll be able to access these quickly and will make a hugely positive difference to your preparation.
Want advice about landing your future big telco role? Talk to us for a confidential conversation.
info@hunterprofessional.com.au