How to prepare for behavioural interview questions

WE'VE all been there - sitting in an interview you thought you were prepared for when the dreaded words, “Tell me about a time when ...” comes out of the interviewer's mouth.

- ALI O'REILLY

Suddenly your memory fails you and you can't think of a single impressive story to tell this person, who is basically deciding your fate. You may have even prepared for behaviour-based questions, but you simply can’t think of a story that fits their particular question.

When caught off-guard by this type of question, most people panic and either tell a story sprinkled with some half-truths or they simply can't come up with an answer at all. Neither option is ideal, right? So when I learned about the “story circle” method, I started teaching it to every client who came to me for interview coaching.

Story circle is a method that allows you to memorise just seven to 10 stories or scenarios, while being prepared for 35 to 50 different behaviour-based questions. Here are the steps needed to implement this innovative method:

Practice questions

A behaviour-based question asks you to tell a story about something you've done in the past. Start by thinking of a common behaviour-based question for your field. A simple Google search will usually give you a great start, but here are some quick examples:

Project manager ~ “Tell us about a time you improved a process or system. How did you go about this and what was the result?

Graphic designer/videographer - “Tell us about a time you worked with a client who had unreasonable expectations for turnaround time. How did you manage the situation?”