Be on your best behavior

If you want to know how someone is going to act in a particular situation, one of the best ways to predict that is to learn what they have done in similar situations in the past. For example, if your potential employer wants to know how you will handle a particular situation, they will ask how you behaved in a similar situation in the past. This is the basis of behavioral-based interviewing: asking nontechnical questions to not only probe your soft skills but to get a sense of what you will be like to work with.

Recognize the question. Most behavioral questions will start with, “Tell me about a time you . . .” or “Have you ever . . . ?” These are not yes or no questions, and the interviewer is looking for a story—a specific example of a time you handled a situation of the kind described. They want to know what you did, not what you think you would do if you were in that situation. Ideally your examples will be from your professional life, but one or two can be from your personal life if they are more directly relevant.

Understand the ask. Take a few seconds to think about what they are trying to ask. “Tell me about a time you disagreed with your supervisor” is likely probing your interpersonal skills and how you handle conflict. “I did it my way, and it worked” might indicate to your potential supervisor that you are a maverick who does things your own way, without regard for what you were told. “I did some research and then had a discussion with my supervisor, who agreed to let me try my way first” would be a more collaborative answer—and hopefully true!

Be a STAR. Many career consultants recommend framing your answer as a “STAR”—situation, task, actions, results. Start with a brief background, and then explain what your specific task was, the actions you took, and finally the outcome and how it affected your behavior going forward. To prepare, recall your most significant professional accomplishments; how can you turn them into engaging stories?

Customize. Once you have identified the small number of accomplishments you want to highlight, think about the different ways you can tell those stories. Was there a conflict with a coworker, exceptional teamwork, or competing priorities? Most stories can be framed in several different ways, and preparing ahead enables you to present the details of your most significant accomplishments in response to whichever questions the interviewer chooses to ask.

Practice. By far the most important thing you can do is practice your answers. Practice out loud, ideally with other people listening. If you can’t get an audience, you can practice in front of a mirror, stuffed animals, or anything that simulates an audience. While you don’t want to memorize a story word for word (you will always need to tailor it), practicing out loud can help you figure out phrasing, recall details, and ultimately feel more confident when providing your answers.

Answering questions in an interview can be stressful, but telling stories about your career highlights might even be fun. Investing some time up front in planning, preparing, and practicing can pay big dividends when you are actually in an interview situation.

Get involved in the discussion. The ACS Career Tips column is published monthly in C&EN. Send your comments and ideas for topics for future columns to [email protected].