Why Behavioral Interview Give Me an Example Questions Do Not Work

Why Behavioral Interview Give Me an Example Questions Do Not Work

Interviewing is an intricate dance with potential high personal and professional stakes for all parties.  Company interviewers want to portray the job in a positive light while accurately assessing candidate qualifications, experiences, and personalities. Candidates want to sell themselves as a good fit while trying to uncover if the job and company culture matches their career aspirations.

Behavioral interviewing is a structured interviewing approach that uses past on-the-job behavior to help predict future on-the-job behavior.  It is rooted in the 1970s work of industrial psychologist Bill Owens who postulated that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. In a behavioral interview, candidates are asked “Give me an example” questions so that interviewers can assess targeted competency levels and behaviors in specific situations based upon concrete past examples.

The research says that behavioral-based interviews offer a better chance at predicting how an employee might fit in than the traditional approach of discussing goals, strengths, weaknesses, etc. While this is true, “Give me an example” questions come with their own set of faults.

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