Behavioural Interviewing

Behavioural interviewing is an interview style that asks candidates for specific past examples rather than hypothetical future responses. The premise is that previous actions, decisions, and outcomes provide better evidence than abstract claims about what someone might do.

Key points

• Behavioural questions ask what a candidate has already achieved, learned, or demonstrated ^[src-014]
• They often start with prompts such as examples of difficult stakeholders, adversity, business challenges, or exceeding customer expectations ^[src-014]
• Strong answers avoid hypothetical scenarios and focus on actual behaviours and outcomes ^[src-014]
• If an example did not go as planned, the answer should include the reason and the learning ^[src-014]
• Candidates can pause and check whether the interviewer wants more detail on the situation, task, action, or result ^[src-014]
• Quantifiable evidence improves the answer because it shows scale and impact rather than relying on adjectives ^[src-014]

Related entities

• Amazon — uses behavioural questions to gather data and facts about candidate experience

Related concepts

• STAR Method

Source references

• ^[src-014] Inside Amazon — “STAR Method – How to Ace Your Amazon Interview” (2024-01-26)