Your interview date is set and your resume is done. Now it is time to get ready with some preparation drills. First you need to understand the type of interview you are walking into. If you are going into a mid-large size company, there is an excellent chance you will face a behavioral analysis interview.

What is behavioral interviewing?
It is a style of interview that forces you to answer questions that demonstrate your competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities) by giving specific examples from your past experiences. The focus of the interview is less about what you can or could do, and more about what you have done in specific situations in the past.

Prior to the interview, the interviewer will define the competencies for the position, and will then develop a series of questions that allow him/her to find out if you have those competencies. Behavioral interviewing is based on the assumption that your past performance (in previous roles) is an excellent predicator of your future performance.

What sort of questions should you expect?
If your interviewer decides to conduct a behavioral interview, you can expect questions that will focus clearly on how you handled situations in the past, such as:

• Give me an example of how you have.
• Tell me about a situation where you.
• How did you deal with a situation in your past role where you had conflict with.

How should you prepare for a behavioral interview?
You can best prepare by taking the following steps:

• Look closely at the position you are applying for. Get hold of a job description. What specific skills are the employers looking for?
• Analyze your past work experience and background. Match the skills that you have with those the employers are looking for. Don't forget competencies that you have developed outside of the work environment (eg, leadership or organizational skills through not-for-profit activities, etc.)
• Now identify specific examples/situations that demonstrate those skills. You need to be able to explain an entire situation - tell a story to show how you actually used a particular competency. It pays to illustrate the level of involvement you had in resolving a situation, and to quantify the results. If there are situations where you applied a competency but things didn't work out, use them as examples and explain what went wrong. What did you do to resolve it?
• Try the STAR approach to answering questions. State the situation you faced. Outline the task ahead of you and the action you took to resolve the problem. And then explain the result you achieved.

The STAR structure

• S ituation/Problem you encountered
• T ask ahead of you
• A ction(s) you took (alone or with others) to overcome that problem or purpose
• R esult(s) you achieved, in as concrete terms as possible

The following questions can help you select suitable STAR experiences from your personal life:

• What classes have you taken?
• What research have you conducted?
• What events have you attended and contributed to?
• With whom have you worked?
• What were the problems you tackled?
• Do you seem to get involved with administering projects? Organizing people? Communicating ideas?
• Have you been recognized for taking initiative? Pioneering new projects? Taking reasonable risks?

Does your current work environment match up to your preferences? Using this new information, think about ways that you can make positive changes to help you thrive within your organization. Talk to your mentor or supervisor for support.