Present Your Best Self
The STARR Method
When asking you interview questions, interviewers are looking to know that you have specific experience to call upon, whether it was effective or not and if not, whether you learned from it. They are also looking to know as much as possible in a short time frame. The STAR method is a well-known strategy for answering questions succinctly. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result, Reflection. While providing your response, try to provide the situation that was presented to you, the task required, the action that you took, and the result, including what you may have learned from the experience (reflection).
Challenging Prompts For Behavioral Interviews
Behavioral interviews are often considered "easy" but some questions can catch you off guard or test you on your leadership skills. Here are some examples:
Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a team member.
Tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work.
Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone whose personality was very different from yours.
Tell me about a time when you had too much work to do.
Tell me about your proudest professional accomplishment.
How do you manage stress on the job?
Tell me about a time when you made an unpopular decision.
Tell me about a time when something unexpectedly derailed your work.
Tell me about a time when you lead a project or team or used leadership skills to accomplish a goal.
Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision.
Tell me about a time when you identified a problem and how you came up with a solution.
What are the three things most important to you in a job?
What's the biggest misconception your coworkers have about you and why do they think that?
Tell me about a time when you were communicating with someone and they did not understand you. What did you do?
Describe a situation when you disagreed with your supervisor.
Categories Of Behavioral Interviews
Behavioral interviews come in many forms. Sometimes, they are a cursory check for culture fit by a recruiter, sometimes a deeper check for teamwork experience by a hiring manager, or a leadership deep-dive from a director or a founder.
Types Of Technical Screens
Basic Programming
Data Structures & Algorithms
SQL
System Design
API Design
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, equity, and inclusion or DEI are quickly becoming focus areas for many companies and for good reason. It's best to familiarize yourself not only with the types of questions and responses but more importantly, why you should also care.