Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Behavior-Based Interview
How to Get the Job You Want
Terry L. Fitzwater
Terry L. Fitzwater
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ISBN 1-56052-643-2
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2001090684
Printed in Canada by Transcontinental Printing
2 3 4 5 PM 06 05
iv
Preface
Preparing for the Behavior-Based Interview is your guide to handling your job applications
and interviews in ways that will increase your chances of being hired by your employer of choice. In this book, youll find a step-by-step, get-that-job plan, including
the initial steps of researching a company, composing and sending a cover letter and
rsum, interview preparation, and anticipating and responding to behavior-based
interview questions. You'll be prepared for any interview with any organization.
Terry L. Fitzwater
vi
Contents
Introduction
The Behavior-Based Interview Process .................................................................. 3
Employer Objectives ............................................................................................... 5
What Are Behavior-Based Questions? ................................................................... 7
Phase 1: Preparation
Making a Good Initial Impression ....................................................................... 11
Researching the Company .................................................................................... 12
Understanding the Position Description .............................................................. 15
Writing Your Cover Letter ................................................................................... 17
Developing Your Rsum ..................................................................................... 23
Elements of an Effective Rsum ......................................................................... 26
vii
Phase 4: Following Up
Closing the Interview ............................................................................................ 71
Response Options ................................................................................................. 72
Writing a Follow-Up Letter .................................................................................. 73
Final Checklist ....................................................................................................... 76
Appendix
Internet Resources ................................................................................................ 79
Action Verb Statements ......................................................................................... 80
Questions to Ask the Interviewer ......................................................................... 82
Additional Reading ............................................................................................... 83
viii
I N T R O D U C T I O N
PHASE 1: Preparation
PHASE 2: Polishing Your Image
PHASE 3: Responding to Questions
PHASE 4: Following Up
What to do after the interview to encourage your selection for the job.
Following these steps will help you present yourself and your skills and abilities
in the best possible way. This is of prime importance because your interview time
is limited. How you use the time allotted to you can make the difference between
an offer of employment to youor to the next interviewee.
Employer Objectives
Have you ever stopped to think about what the employers are trying to achieve
in a job interview with you? They are trying to:
gauge your skills and abilities in relation to the essential job criteria and
requirements
gauge your skills and abilities in relation to everyone else competing for
the same job
How you meet each objective determines your likelihood of success in achieving
your ultimate goal: employment. And not just any employment, but a job that is
satisfying with a desirable company.
Behavior-Based Interviewing: Selecting the Right Person for the Job is a companion book
to this one. In it, employers are trained to conduct job interviews in a way that
results in finding the right person for a position, while this book assists applicants
by describing a targeted approach for answering interview questions. The key to
success is to understand what the interviewer is seeking.
When the unemployment rate is low, some job hunters operate under the perception that they have the luxury of picking and choosing among a plethora of
available jobs. But the warm body theorythat is, placing unqualified or almost
qualified applicants in positions just to fill themis an accident waiting to happen
for both parties. Eventually, the new employee may fail and turnover or termination is the result. No one wants to fail at an inappropriate job. And no organization desires charges of discrimination, wrongful discharge lawsuits, costly turnover, or the potential of a negligent hire. The bottom line: Even in a tight job
market you need to put your best foot forward to win the interview race.
Interview Grid
Every interview is fraught with the potential for mistakes. As an applicant, you
must try to minimize this potential as a means of maximizing your candidacy.
Here are eight common interview landmines and their respective remedies. Each
will be discussed later in this book.
Interview Errors
Lack of preparation
Research
Failure to rehearse
Practice
Depth of response
Nonprofessional appearance
Image
Question misinterpretation
Recognition
Rsum style
Formatting
Expressed interest
Follow up
The only questions allowed under todays strict employment laws are
those related directly to the position.
There are standard questions that most employers ask in every interview and
they are the ones you should rehearse now. You know them. Youve been asked
them before. In preparation, think of some you know are likely to make the
interview list and write them down here. Dont worry about your responses for
now, as they may change as you learn this process and the importance of this
word: M-A-T-T-E-R. Plan on revisiting this section later.
1. Where would you like to be in five years?
2. Why are you leaving your current employer?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Preparation
10
11
Your rsum
Together, these elements paint a picture of the skills and qualifications an organization seeks for its vacant position. Your presentation and knowledge in each area
can tip the balance between you and another applicant. Then, during the interview your job is to help the employer understand that you are exactly the person
for the position.
12
What We Believe
We strive to constantly
improve by involving our
staff, our customers,
and our community.
13
This mission statement contains a lot of information that can benefit a job seeker.
Several points deal with customers, employees, quality of goods and services, and
involvement of employees and customers in decision-making. If this is an accurate assessment of what the company values, it can serve the job applicant as a
roadmap to the kinds of interview questions to anticipate and rehearse. Following
are some examples.
Anticipated Questions
About Customers
How would you deal with an unhappy or unsatisfied customer?
How would you find out if our products are what the customer needs?
What process would you use to solicit customer input concerning our products?
About Employees
We value the input of our employees. As a human resources professional, how have you
demonstrated this same philosophy where you currently work?
How do you foster respect among the employees of your work unit?
How do you encourage employees to make their own decisions?
Preparing for the Behavior-Based Interview
14
OUR MISSION
The mission of our medical center is to promote and provide high-quality,
cost-effective health care for the people in the communities we serve.
Through our best efforts and collaboration with our colleagues, we strive
to relieve suffering, cure illness, and promote wellness.
15
BASIC FUNCTION
This position provides technical support to the manufacturing division.
The divisions are at three locations within the city of Sacramento. The
position is matrixed and provides expertise to the research and development department to ensure proper instrument development.
This tells job applicants that:
The position supports two organizations, manufacturing and research
and development.
As a result, you expect a certain line of questions. Here are just a few:
Tell me about your prior experience working in an organization where manufacturing
and R&D worked in conjunction with one another.
Tell me about your technical background specifically as it pertains to instrumentation
development.
16
After reading this, can you guess what questions you might get in an interview?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
17
18
Your goal is to produce an application that is no more than three pages: a onepage cover letter and two pages of rsum. More than that is a book and the
person pre-screening rsums doesnt want to read the next great American novel
in your presentation.
Lets look at an ad from Sundays newspaper to decide how a cover letter might
unfold.
19
Skills Grid
Advertised Needs
My Credentials
Healthcare experience
Manufacturing experience
3 years in manufacturing
12+ years
High growth
International familiarity
Masters degree
It isolates the skills that will be emphasized in the cover letter. Using
this matrix, the letter practically writes itself.
Look at the following cover letter written to target the above employer-required
criteria using information from the My Credentials column.
20
Mark Jobsearch
100 Hill Road
Sacramento, CA 95825
530-546-9876
mjobsearch@ISP.com
August 6, 2002
Sandy Cheshire Smith
Recruitment Manager
Acme Healthcare
1000 Brosnan Street
San Francisco, CA 95811
Dear Ms. Smith:
I am forwarding my rsum in response to your advertisement for a
Director of Human Resources.
a
Briefly, I have twelve years of broad human resources experience with
high-tech, international healthcare organization that is listed in the
Fortune 500. AHS, named one of the best companies to work for in
America, has been cited on numerous occasions for its human resource
practices and innovations. I currently hold the position of Director of
Human Resources-West for two manufacturing divisions. A fast-paced
environment coupled with double-digit growth required strategic
initiatives and unique solutions to complex change.
My experience is supplemented with considerable business acumen, an
undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a masters in
Organization Development. I have developed and delivered a number
of programs that emphasize both business and employee growth and
development: advanced coaching skills, performance management,
positive discipline, and documentation and strategic human resource
planning.
If I can provide you with any additional information, please let me
know. I look forward to hearing from you.
My best regards,
Mark Jobsearch
21
Notice how the letter reflects the Skills Grid. Each item from the grid is underlined to demonstrate to you how to work the employers requirements into the
text. Any employer reading the letter can easily determine that the writer matches
a number of the required qualifications and will want to read the rsum as a
result.
Now look at another advertisement. Circle the key words you would emphasize
to the employer.
22
Now, use your skills list to make a Skills Grid for the ad you found earlier. Draft
a practice cover letter on a separate sheet of paper. When youre finished, move
on to next section where youll take a look at your rsum.
Skills Grid
Advertised Needs
My Credentials
23
Are any of these more important than another? Not really. But the Skills Grid
combined with your preparation and research might lead you to emphasize
particular attributes. For example, if an advertisement begins with Ph.D. required, its an obvious hint to highlight that accomplishment. Likewise, if your
research leads you to the conclusion that experience in a specific area will be
highly valued, e.g., high tech, you will want to highlight it in both your rsum
and your cover letter.
be grammatically correct
24
Rsum Elements
Review the following sample rsum. The key elements are discussed in more
detail in the pages to follow.
Gregg Miller
1000 Alhambra
Granite Bay, CA 95746
Objective:
916-291-7903 HM
916-231-0713 WK
Employment History:
1996 to Present
Provide consulting services with a focus on organizational change and strategic human
resource planning, including mergers, acquisitions, divestiture due diligence, and organization development with an emphasis on restructuring, team formation, and core competency
development. Focus on employee relations programs such as coaching, non-punitive
discipline, conflict and complaint resolution, opinion surveys, 360-degree feedback, performance management, harassment prevention and investigation, and other employmentrelated issues.
Key Accomplishments:
Developed and installed a non-punitive discipline system/program for a 3000employee division of a Fortune 200 organization.
1979 to 1996
Factor, Inc.
Vice President of Human Resources
Executive leadership team member responsible for formulating strategy and directing global
human resource activities for three divisions and managing employee relations for global
business operations. Sites were fully integrated and included sales, marketing, distribution,
customer service, finance, quality assurance, research and development, software and
hardware engineering and design, and information technology.
25
Key Accomplishments:
Managed due diligence for the acquisition and divestiture process relating to
policies, practices, procedures, compensation and benefits and employee
relations.
Managed all employee relations and employment law issues including union
avoidance, harassment prevention and all matters pertaining to charges of
discrimination and/or wrongful discharge issues.
Cola Inc.
Personnel Manager
Human resource generalist responsibility for corporate research and development, engineering, and three pilot manufacturing plants.
Human resource generalist responsibility for two food processing plants with a total employee population of 1500.
Education:
University of South Florida
College of Business Administration
Major: Management
University of San Francisco
College of Professional Studies
Major: Human Resources and Organization
Food Co.
Human Resources Manager
26
Details education
Grammatically correct
27
Career Objective
A career objective is a succinct statement positioned at the top of your rsum.
Any statement of more than two sentences is too long. To be effective, the career
objective must:
Basically, it clarifies why you are a good fit for the job opening at their company.
You may wish to create a general objective, then tailor it to individual employers
every time you submit an application.
Lets take a look at two distinct career objectives:
Objective: To apply my existing human resources skills working for a company
known for innovative human resources policies, and to continue my personal
development by reaching for new responsibilities in the areas of employee
training and retention.
Objective: To combine my fluency in written and verbal Japanese with my
background in technical manufacturing, providing translation and quality
control for an international company known for its breakthrough designs
and programming.
Objective: _________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Reread the advertisement you used to write a practice cover letter. Use the
following space to develop a career objective for the rsum you would submit to
that employer.
28
Statement of Qualifications
As an alternative to a Career Objective, you can begin a rsum with a Statement
of Qualifications. This is a brief summary of the skills you would bring to the
hiring organization. Lets look at an example for clarification.
Statement of Qualifications: Fluency in written and verbal Japanese combined with a bachelors degree in business and four years experience in technical manufacturing. Background includes technical writing for international
clients.
29
30
Outline of Accomplishments
Each of the jobs listed in your Work History should be accompanied by a short
paragraph that gives a broad-brush description of your essential job duties for the
positions held. This is the time to blow your own horn.
Think of times when you saved your employer money, developed new or improved procedures, trained others, proposed new or improved products, brought
in a new technology, trained workers independently or as part of a team, and so
on.
Broad-Brush Description
Here is an example of a broad-brush description for an editor who worked at
Acme Publications for five years:
1997-Present
Associate Editor for Extra! Magazine
Acme Publications
Primary liaison with all contributing writers and photographers for weekly
magazine covering breaking political news. Administer contracts and
licensing agreements, coordinate with section editors, and schedule
production work. Conduct fact checking and supplementary writing in a
high-paced, quality-driven environment.
In addition to the broad-brush description, bullet points are a smart way to
emphasize major accomplishments. A key to writing effective bullet points is to
begin each sentence with an action verb. Action verbs command attention and
add instant credibility to your skills portfolio.
31
Established
Produced
Challenged
Exercised
Provided
Controlled
Expanded
Redesigned
Coordinated
Facilitated
Reduced
Created
Implemented
Resolved
Delivered
Improved
Restructured
Demonstrated
Increased
Strategized
Designed
Managed
Supervised
Developed
Orchestrated
Targeted
Directed
Organized
Take a look at your rsum and rewrite your broad-brush descriptions and bullet
points as necessary using action verbs.
32
33
Educational Background
Your rsum should conclude with a section on your educational background. It
is a good practice to mention the schools attended, your major, and any degrees
conferred. There is no need to mention grade point averages or school activities.
Most employers only want to know if you have the requisite degree. If they
require additional information they will probe for it in a telephone pre-screening
or during the interview.
Heres one way to display and describe educational background:
EDUCATION:
University of South Florida
BSCollege of Business Administration
Major: Management
University of San Francisco
MSCollege of Professional Studies
Major: Human Resources and Organization Development
Your final producta job application that gets noticedshould be a cover letter
and rsum, together no more than three pages. If developed properly, your
presentation will encourage the hiring authority to move on to the next step:
inviting you to an interview.
Preparing for the Behavior-Based Interview
34
Polishing
Your Image
36
37
Appearance
If the interviewer is introduced to someone with an unkempt appearance
wrinkled clothes, unruly hair, scruffy shoesor to someone dressed inappropriately for the positiontrendy street clothes in a conservative corporate environmentthe candidates true talents may be overlooked. People do judge books by
their covers. The way to get the full benefit from an interview is to show the
interviewer you are prepared on the outside as well as the inside. Always dress
for the occasion. A suit or dress is usually in order, even at a company that
promotes casual dress.
Your company research can help you know what to wear. If possible, get advice
from someone who works there.
In addition to a professional appearance, two other factors help garner a favorable first impression: poise and rapport. Here is a good way to remember all
three. Think of the word P-A-R.
Poise
A ppearance
R apport
38
Poise
Poise is important, but what is it? Heres the definition from Merriam-Websters
dictionary:
Poise easy self-possessed assurance of manner : gracious tact in coping or
handling, also : the pleasantly tranquil interaction between persons of poise
b : a particular way of carrying oneself.
In the initial meeting, expect the interviewer to break the ice prior to beginning
the formal interview. This may include an exchange of pleasantries, an offer of a
cup of coffee or a soft drink, questions about your trip to the facility, etc. Why?
To give you time to adjust to the environment and to give you an opportunity to
calm down. If you are like most people, you will be a little nervous. This is
natural. Dont expect to be Mr. or Ms. Cool. This is your time to display poise
under pressure and it gives you the opportunity to collect yourself. Take advantage of the time and keep in mind Websters definition.
What should you do during this period? Here is a checklist. Remember it as you
prepare for any interview.
39
Rapport
If you have used the poise checklist, you are well on your way to making a good
first impression. But here is something important to remember: Job offers are
sometimes won or lost because of inadequate relationship skills. This is especially
true if the position requires interaction with a variety of individuals, departments,
and organizational levels.
Good relationship skills can be demonstrated by establishing a positive rapport
with the interviewer. To meet this goal, you should:
40
Poise
Appearance
R apport
Thoroughness of response
Note your surroundings
Express yourself clearly
R eflect on the good and the not so good
Thoroughness of Response
This involves letting your stream of consciousness bring you to your answer
naturally. Never sell yourself short with too short answers. Interviewers want to
hear responses that answer every aspect of a question. Image is built through
communication and a complete, concise, well thought-out answer will put you in
a more favorable light.
Respond in detail
41
TIP: Know that you will dominate the conversation by doing approximately
80% of the talking. This is expected, so do not hesitate to take all the time you
need to explain your skills and abilities and why you are the best person for the
job. The interviewer has a limited amount of time to analyze whether you can do
the job, so maximize that effort with detailed responses.
Honest answers will enhance your image. Not every work situation youve
experienced was favorable. Not every performance review was outstanding. If
you are asked about these kinds of situations, answer them honestly. If they were
positive say so; if not, say that, too, but cautiously. Youll be given some pointers
in the next chapters for answering these kinds of tough questions.