Avoid the Wrong Hire: How to Use Behavioral Interviews to Spot Future Issues
You want quality hires. Now, behavioral interviewing is reshaping the way companies identify and evaluate talent. Incorporate behavioral interviews into your hiring process today. When you do, you may quickly distinguish the cream of the crop from all other job candidates. From here, you’ll be well-equipped to make fast, informed hiring decisions. Plus, you can minimize the risk of bad hires.
What Is a Behavioral Interview?
With behavioral interviewing, you focus on a job candidate’s past experiences. With each question you ask, you can understand how a candidate has used their skills to succeed in past roles. Thus, you can learn about this individual’s behaviors and how they relate to the role you want to fill. If a candidate seems like a potential fit, you can move them forward in the interview process.
Behavioral interviews let you assess candidates consistently. During these interviews, you can ask screening questions that give you a glimpse into how candidates will handle challenges they will face if they land a job with your company. Common behavioral interview questions include:
- Tell me about a time when you failed to achieve a goal.
- Share an example of a time when you assumed a leadership role on a team.
- What is your approach to solving problems?
- What would you do if you disagreed with a coworker about something?
- Discuss a conflict you faced in a past role and how you dealt with it.
As you consider popular interview questions and answers and various ways to improve your hiring process, review your options carefully. Ultimately, behavioral interviews can supplement your hiring efforts. Many companies are using these interviews. Your business could do the same and reap the benefits of your decision to do so long into the future.
Why Should You Use Behavioral Interviews?
There’s a lot to like about behavioral interviewing. Key reasons why companies are increasingly using behavioral interviews include:
Cost Savings
The true cost of a bad hire can be substantial. If your company commits significant time and resources to vet a candidate who proves to be less than what you want, your business will likely have to deal with the financial ramifications of this decision for months or years.
With a behavioral interview, you can reduce the risk of making a poor hiring decision in the first place. You can see how a candidate will handle myriad problems in a particular role. In addition, you can see how this individual will fit within your company culture. This can help you determine if a candidate has what it takes to thrive in a role with your company. On top of this, you could avoid the steep costs that come with a bad hire.
In-Depth Assessment of a Candidate’s Abilities
You are focused on future-proofing your workforce. Yet, when you evaluate candidates based on their resumes, cover letters, and other application materials, this becomes exceedingly difficult. You can only learn so much from applicant submissions. If you ask candidates questions relating to the materials they share, you may only validate the information that they provided without getting additional insights to understand if they can succeed in a role with your business.
When you rely on behavioral interviews, you can take a step beyond a candidate’s application materials. You can provide real- world scenarios this individual will face if they join your company and find out how they will respond to them. The candidate’s responses paint a picture of what this individual brings to the table. They can be used to help you decide if a candidate i’s the right fit for your business.
Prediction of a Candidate’s Future Behaviors
A candidate’s past is often a predictor of their future success. Just because a candidate has experience in many roles does not guarantee they will hit the ground running in a job with your company. To evaluate an individual’s future, it helps to learn about their past job behaviors and how these have led them to where they are today.
Thanks to a behavioral interview, you can get insights into a candidate’s past and future. For instance, you can ask questions about different ways an individual has approached work tasks in prior jobs. These tasks may align with those you expect them to tackle in a role with your business. If the candidate addresses tasks with precision and care, they may be an excellent addition to your team.
Now that you know about behavioral interviewing and its benefits, incorporate this interview style into your hiring process. With the right approach, you can get the most value out of your behavioral interviews.
5 Can’t-Miss Behavioral Interview Tips
It’s simple to integrate behavioral interviews into your hiring process. Use these five tips to help you get started.
1. Follow the STAR Method
Make a list of questions that will help you analyze candidates’ behaviors as they relate to your job vacancy. Using the STAR method can be beneficial. This method emphasizes the following components:
- Situation: Have a candidate describe a situation that they encountered.
- Task: Explain the situation in detail and what you want the candidate to tell you about their experience with it.
- Action: Allow the candidate to describe their actions in the situation and what they would do if they were faced with similar circumstances in the future.
- Result: Encourage the candidate to share details about the situation’s results and what they may do differently to achieve a different outcome.
With this method, be specific. Remember, your goal is to obtain ample information that you can use to weigh the pros and cons of hiring this candidate versus someone else. If you probe a candidate about a wide range of situations, you can gather a wealth of insights. At this point, you could decide if this candidate is a viable choice to fill your vacancy.
2. Ask Follow-Up Questions
Use follow-up questions to transform your behavioral interview into a genuine conversation between you and a candidate. If you are unsure of what a candidate means about something as they answer a question, ask for clarification. Or, if you want more information from a candidate about a particular topic, let them know.
Ideally, a candidate will be open and honest as you ask them questions. If a candidate struggles with certain questions, this may be a red flag. In this situation, continue with the interview as best as you can. If a candidate falls short of what you want, keep searching for top talent who meet your expectations.
3. Gather Plenty of Evidence
Don’t hesitate to veer from your list of interview questions based on a candidate’s responses. Listen to what a candidate has to say and share questions as warranted. With each question you ask, you can collect evidence that highlights distinct behavioral patterns. As you learn about these patterns, you’ll better understand if the way a candidate works lines up with the way your company operates.
When you’re asking questions, account for a candidate’s soft skills as well. For example, a candidate could provide details about instances in which they performed at or above expected levels in different jobs. This shows that the candidate is adaptable to a variety of work environments. Therefore, this individual may be able to make adjustments to ensure that they can perform well within your team.
4. Get into Specifics
Have a candidate back up their claims with data whenever possible. As an example, a candidate could say that they modified their work approach, which led to an increase in business sales. In this situation, find out how much sales rose after the candidate changed their approach. If the candidate is unable to provide specifics, ask them why. This could help you understand the candidate’s character and determine if what they are saying is valid and true.
Comparatively, if a candidate provides stats and other data to support their claims, this is a positive sign. This individual is proving that they have no qualms about discussing their prior work experiences and the results that they achieved. Therefore, they could prove to be a valuable addition to your team.
5. Stay on Track Throughout the Interview Process
Remain organized and keep in mind that the time you have with a candidate is limited. If a candidate’s answers don’t align with the questions you’re asking, steer them back toward the original queries. In a situation where a candidate is ready to move on from a question, proceed to the next query, and note that this individual had nothing further to add in regards to the original one.
Of course, you could have opportunities to engage with a candidate once again following a behavioral interview. If you find you want additional information from a candidate after an initial meeting, reach out to them. That way, you can obtain sufficient information to help you make a data-driven hiring decision.
Take Advantage of Behavioral Interviews
Your company follows a standard interview process. To date, this process leaves much to be desired. Thankfully, behavioral interviewing provides a terrific alternative. And, it could help you spot future issues before they lead to a subpar hiring decision.
Incorporate behavioral interviews into your hiring process to evaluate job candidates like never before. These interviews can help you assess a candidate’s past behaviors and how they could impact this individual’s ability to handle a role with your company. They could provide you with the insights you need to make outstanding hiring decisions now and in the future.
At PrideStaff, we can help you with behavioral interviews. Our professional recruiters understand what it takes to identify top candidates in a competitive job market. We can connect you with exceptional candidates, guide you through the interview process, and help you make great hiring decisions.
Our team is available to assist you with all of your hiring needs. Get in touch with us, and we can help you solve your staffing challenges.
