\u00bb<\/span> CV\/career services<\/a> Structured interview questions \u2014 sometimes called behavioural interview questions \u2014 are the primary interview tool of government recruiters but are widely used outside government. Whenever they crop up in a recruitment interview, answering them effectively is an essential step towards getting hired. So what are structured interview questions, and how can you best address them?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of a simple structured-interview question: \u201cDescribe a time when you missed a deadline. Why did you miss it? What did you do to make sure you wouldn\u2019t miss deadlines in the future? What lessons did you learn from the experience?\u201d And here\u2019s a sticky question: \u201cTell us about a time when you encountered an ethical challenge in your workplace? How did you resolve the problem?\u201d<\/p>\n In both of these examples I\u2019ve included follow-up questions. Some interviewers will ask you the main question as well as the follow-ups all in one go. Some will ask the main question first and then follow up your answer with further questions. And others will ask only the main question, and leave it up to you to flesh out your answer by implicitly addressing the logical follow-ups.<\/p>\n Seek out example questions relevant to the competencies listed in the position description, e.g., google \u201cstructured interview questions customer service\u201d or \u201cbehavioural interview questions accountability\u201d.<\/p>\n Follow a STAR approach in answering the questions. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action(s), Result. Start by describing a work situation you encountered in enough detail for the interview panel to make sense of the incident, and include a description of the task or challenge you faced.<\/p>\n Then outline your action(s), spelling out all the steps you took that were relevant to the result. Don\u2019t assume you can omit one of the steps because you feel it\u2019s too obvious to be worth mentioning. The panel may have a set of tick-boxes to complete on each answer, and if you omit a key step, you\u2019ve automatically lost points.<\/p>\n When you describe the results, start with the immediate results \u2014 sometimes referred to as outputs \u2014 and then talk about the long-term results, that is, the outcomes, both for other people and for you personally.<\/p>\n Wherever possible, look for incidents that portray you in a good light. Gather together a series of vignettes, that is, narratives of work incidents, each of which can be used to answer a number of different questions. To accumulate vignettes, use the accomplishments you\u2019ve listed on your CV plus those that weren\u2019t strong enough to make it into your CV.<\/p>\n Aim for 2-minute answers and make eye contact with every panel member at least once during each answer. Make sure you fully grasp the question before starting to answering it. There\u2019s nothing worse than answering a different question. If necessary, or if you\u2019re initially stuck for an answer, try repeating the question out loud, followed by something like \u201cLet\u2019s see now\u201d.<\/p>\n Stay positive: If the incident involves other people, and if one or more of them didn\u2019t behave well, don\u2019t slag them off. Talk about their part in the incident in factual, non-judgemental language.<\/p>\n Recruiters will be assessing your values as well as your competencies, and will sometimes ask questions specifically geared to eliciting your values, e.g., \u201cGive me an example of a situation where you found it difficult to work with someone from a different ethnic background\u201d.<\/p>\n An effective answer to such questions will depend on the values sought by the recruiter. For example, indicating a respect for ethnic diversity will go down well virtually everywhere in New Zealand, but in a Trump stronghold in the USA, or in nationalistic segments of European society, it\u2019s going to go down like a lead balloon.<\/p>\n Practice your answers with a colleague, friend or consultant. Practice as much as possible but don\u2019t forget that there are umpteen possible questions, so however well prepared you might be, you\u2019ll need to wing it for at least some of your answers.<\/p>\n Finally, don\u2019t believe any websites that claim they\u2019ll tell you how to answer the \u201ctop 10\u201d behavioural interview questions, or the \u201ctop 30\u201d. Don\u2019t forget that recruiters read too. And if I was recruiting, I\u2019d make sure that I didn\u2019t ask any of these \u201ctop\u201d questions, wouldn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
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