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Using School Experiences in Behavioral Interviews

By Catherine Neiner, WetFeet. Catherine F. Neiner is a principal with The Chrisa Group a consulting firm dedicated to enhancing individual, small group and organization effectiveness.

Even if you don't have much work experience, you can still beat a behavioral interview.

"Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership. Describe a time when you were working on a project that suddenly changed in mid-stream." These types of behavioral interview queries are designed to unearth information about your past performance and prompt you to give specific examples demonstrating your skills and abilities. You can ace a behavioral interview even without much work experience.

Valuable Skills Don't Only Come from Job Experience

It's important to remember that you will be evaluated on intangible competencies, including skills you've acquired through a variety of experiences, not just at work. Some of the qualities behavioral interviewers look for include:

Initiative
Individual leadership
Working well in teams
Decision-making skills
Problem solving and analytical skills
Effective time management
Working under pressure

Draw from School Experiences

Think of the varied experiences you've had as a student. Do any of the following situations sound familiar?

You handled challenging relationships in the dorm, in school organizations, or within class teams.
You decided what college to attend and which major to pursue.
You simultaneously wrote a term paper, studied for a major exam, and met family obligations.
You identified the value of a study group for a particularly challenging course and organized one.
You chose between an internship, a semester abroad, and a job.

Analyze Each Situation

Each of the previous scenarios provides a wealth of material to use in a behavioral interview. Think about the processes that went into resolving each situation. You probably had to:

Identify a need or problem
Define ways to improve a situation
Seek input from others, cooperate, and compromise
Gather data and analyze options
Determine the best way to manage your time in order to meet deadlines
Base a solution on logical assumptions and factual information
Take the initiative to finish a project or achieve a self-imposed goal

Answer the Questions

Once you've pinpointed a variety of relevant situations, you must learn how to use them effectively in a behavioral interview.

Remember that the interviewer will evaluate how logically, clearly, and concisely you express your experiences and the processes you used. Here's what the interviewer wants you to do:

Set up the situation. Explain it fully (but concisely), including all the circumstances that affected it. Choose a situation that really allows you to showcase your skills and abilities.
Explain how you handled the situation or set about to resolve the problem. Stay on track; don't include unrelated details.
Describe the result of your actions. This is a very important component of your answer and one that people often neglect. Tell the interviewer what happened even if you were unsuccessful.

Practice Question

Describe a time when you were a member of a team or group that had to achieve a goal or solve a problem. What type of team or group was it? What was the team or group trying to do? What was your role? How did you contribute to the team or group? Was the team or group successful?

Think it Through

What competency is the interviewer evaluating? Teamwork/Collaboration: Working effectively with others outside the formal lines of authority to accomplish a goal or resolve a problem.
What situation best demonstrates my skill or ability in this competency?

My dorm had monthly meetings where we discussed everything from someone taking too much time in the shower to how we wanted to represent our dorm in homecoming activities. Most people didn't like the meetings: they took forever, often degenerated into either squabbling or a gossip fest, and cut into study time. Although they weren't mandatory, there was pressure to attend.

What actions did I take?

Some of us began discussing alternatives to these meetings. We looked at the problem from several angles: Why didn't we get anything done? Did they have to be monthly? Were there other ways to accomplish our goals?

A group of us canvassed the dorm to get ideas on how to streamline the meetings. We got some great ideas and offers of assistance. For example, a couple of journalism majors suggested starting a newsletter where basic dorm information could be posted, but which would also include "gossipy" items. (Of course, we would be sure to use our best judgment with those.)

We also realized that nothing gets done in a large group, so we decided to form small committees. The committees could take on various projects, and with fewer members, could conveniently set meeting times.

Of course, there were some students who were quite attached to the dorm-wide meeting, so we compromised by meeting once each semester. We set a standard agenda format and procedure so the meetings would actually be productive.

My main contribution was in organizing our initial small group and all the information, suggestions, and offers we received. I also developed a plan for the committees-where they were needed and how to organize the volunteers.

In the end, we were able to reduce the number of meetings and make sure the ones we had were worthwhile. It required compromise, but most people were satisfied with the end result.

What was the result? Less meeting time, but more was accomplished.

Why Is This Answer Effective? It demonstrates your skills and abilities in several aspects of teamwork including: sharing ideas and information, seeking feedback from others, building upon ideas of others, and showing sensitivity and understanding. It also highlights your own contributions to the process.