Master Tricky Behavioral Questions
Behavioral interviews are such a grey area. This is my attempt to turn them to white and make it easier.
Behavioral Interviews are grey areas. And they can be super tricky. Its important to answer them in a way that ensures you show your strengths. And also the humility and ability to learn. Demonstrating those qualities can help you get a job because this shows your mastery in soft skills
First things first. The pre-requisite. Answer each question in STAR format.
Also, preparing for each of Amazon’s 14 leadership principles is the best way to master behavioral questions and they cover every type of question.
I have listed 9 questions below and the aim is to provide template answers which you can modify.
What’s a professional mistake you’ve made that you haven’t included on your resume?
On my first job, I created an ETL pipeline for a data visualization project. While it handled the data I was given very well, because, it was my first project, I hadn’t encompassed for unstructured data in production. As a result, I didn’t have a staging environment to mirror production. As a result, when the code was pushed to production, it immediately ran into issues and had to be rolled back. There was 1 key mistake: lack of staging environment which would have allowed me to test the code before. This could have avoided the entire mishap in production. So, I learnt from this and ensured I tested the ETL pipeline in staging before the next launch, fixed the issues before eventually rolling it out successfully in production. This is something I have kept in mind during my tenure and always ensure that the code has a staging environment before going to production.
If I called your former manager, what do you think they’d say you need to work on?
At my current job, I have an eye for detail and this means sometimes, I spent to much time on certain topics without realizing the need to zoom out and thing about the bigger picture. It also led me to spend more time than usual. So, I had a conversation with manager about this and have been actively working on it. I use a priortization process called Eisen hower matrix to ensure my time is spent in a more valuable manner and that I can dive into details on only topics that need the attention. This also ensures, I have more expediency in my work.
Have you ever disagreed with someone ? How did you resolve it ?
In my consulting job, my manager put me on a contracting job to write queries. This was a great opportunity to make money for hours worked. However, I saw this as an opportunity to also pitch a product we were working with. My manager was initially hesitant to do this because we were already doing well with the opportunity. So, I created a demo, where I showed the clear benefits of using our product. This gave him confidence with my decision and we had a meeting with merchant who loved the demo as well and now we have a SaaS agreement making us more revenue while directly benefiting the client.
Tell me something that is not on your resume
This could be anything positive :
Work at an NGO
Any passion project you are pursuing.
Paint yourself in a positive light.
If you get another job offer which is better, what would you do?
I evaluate a job offer on four main values. :
Company Mission
Company Work Culture
Alignment of my work and experience with the role offered.
Growth opportunity.
Currently, your company fulfills all of those criterias which is why I am excited to work for this role. If there is a company that fulfills all the above which is incredibly hard, then at that time, I would need to evaluate it carefully. However, I am someone who invests in a company fully and as long as the core 4 values align, I would more likely continue working here.
Tell me about a time you had too many responsibilities. How did you prioritize?
I think having too many responsibilities and managing them is a part of the job. I priortize them by using Eisenhower matrix. If its urgent and important, do it first. If its urgent but not important, delegate if I can. If its important and not urgent, put it on my to do list. If its neither urgent nor important, I can put it on my roadmap to when it needs to be done.
What’s a decision you regret in your career, and what did you learn from it?
I think every decision is a learning. I don’t necessarily have regrets. I decided to pursue Product Management and while I did well in the role, i realized , its not for me.I also realized I thrived in roles which involved selling more than building. The experience in PM was exhausting but I am thankful for the opportunity because it made me realize what I was good at and gave me clear decision for my career.
Why are you looking for a change ?
I am currently saturated with my role and not learning. This opportunity :
offers me chance to learn and grow
aligns with my education and experience ensuring I can hit the ground running.
Am impressed with company culture and like the values it stands for.
Resources :
Most asked behavioral questions : Link
20 most commonly asked Behavioral questions : Link
I provide all my resources and information for free and I hope that even 1% of this can help you in your career. At the same time, I do this all by myself and don’t have anyone to help or any marketing budget to work with. So, if you found this article helpful, consider supporting me by making a donation through buymeacoffee , becoming a paid member of substack or susbcribing to my Youtube page.