Behavioral Interviewing

Selecting Quality
Employees for a Quality
Organization

How Do You Identify

the Best People?

Behavioral Interviewing
Using Past Behavior to
Predict Future Behavior

Ten Steps to Better Selections

1

Analyze the Position to be Filled to

Identify Essential Qualities

Determine What Additional Job

Related Information is Needed

Determine Sources of Information

Develop Behavioral Questions for

the Position

Ten Steps to Better Selections

5

Review Questions/Applications and

Resumes

Determine Interview Format: Who &

How

Interview Candidates

Interview Supervisors

TenStepstoBetterSelections
9

Decide Which Candidate Best Meets

the Established Criteria

10 Select the Best Candidate

Analyze the Position

to be Filled

Skills
Knowledge
Abilities
Attitudes
Experience

Skills
Persuasive
Able

to Handle Difficult People

Computer Skills
What Skills Are You Looking?
Use the position description and your knowledge of the
job to identify the 4 or 5 most important skills needed to
be outstanding in this position.

Knowledge
Formal

Education

High School, BA, MA, PhD.?

Discipline

Specific

EKG interpretation, contracting warrant, CNA?

Organizational
Performance improvement, ethical-legal issues?

What

Knowledge Are You Looking?

Use the position description and your knowledge of the job to

identify the 4 to 5 most important areas of knowledge needed to be
outstanding in this position.

Abilities
Leadership
Mentoring, Facilitation

Self

Directed
Creative
Organized
Able to establish priorities

Use the position description and your knowledge of the job to

identify the 2 to 3 most important abilities needed to be outstanding
in this position.

Attitudes
Positive
Tolerant
Friendly
Responsible

What Attitudes Are You Looking?

Use the position description and your knowledge of
the job to identify the 2 to 3 most important abilities
needed to be outstanding in this position.

Experience
Previously Done

the Work
Previously Performed Critical Aspects of the
Work
No Experience - Can Provide Necessary OJT
What Experience Are You Looking?
Use the position description and your knowledge of the job to identify
the level of experience necessary to be outstanding in this position
OR decide if you can support the learning process necessary to
become outstanding.

Determine What Additional

Job-Related Information is Needed
Education

Records
Licensure/Certification
Special Awards
References
What information in additional to skills, knowledge, abilities, attitude,
and experience do you need to select the applicant most likely to be
a superior employee? Identify 3 to 4 items that are most important.

Education
How Much?

High School, 2-year, 4-year, graduate

What Kind?

Technical, liberal arts, business,

nursing, respiratory therapy

How Successful?

Is GPA important, special

honors, recognized for
leadership

Education

Assess the job.

Make a list of the educational requirements for this

position.

What level of education is needed? What kind? How

specialized? Is the education needed to prepare them to do
the job, or to provide background knowledge and skills?

Example: 4-year degree, a 4-year degree with major in a

specific field of study or a technical certificate or degree.

Is a transcript needed?

(Will As in accounting be more indicative of a successful

performer than Cs?)

References
Who to Contact? Prepare a list of the previous 2 or 3
supervisors. Always plan to contact the last immediate supervisor.
Also plan to contact at least one manager above the immediate
supervisory level.
What

to Ask?

Prepare probing questions that will elicit

information on what a supervisor has observed about the
candidates performance, as it relates to the skills, knowledge,
abilities and attitudes desired. Seek to confirm, or dispute
candidates statements about what they did in previous positions.
Does the managers view support the supervisors view? Are the
candidates statements supported by both? Ask about areas for
improvement and strengths. Ask the re-hire question?

References
When to Ask?
Contact references on top 2 to 3
candidates after the interviews
are completed.

Information Sources
Application
Review each application for
information on the knowledge
skills, abilities, attitudes and
experience identified when
position was analyzed.

Transcript
Check for classes related to
identified knowledge and
skills. Review the grades for
these classes!

Interview

References

Develop behavioral questions

to use in determining whether
candidates have the identified
knowledge, skills, abilities,
attitudes, and experience.

Develop questions for references

designed to verify the responses
from the applicant regarding the
knowledge, skills, abilities,
attitudes and experience needed.
Ask the rehire question!

Develop Behavioral Questions

Premise:
Past performance can be the best
predictor of future performance

Develop Behavioral Questions

Objective:

Ask applicant to describe specific past

performance
In specific areas you have identified as important
to success in the position

Develop Behavioral Questions

Behavioral Questions Ask For:

Specific Situations
Experiences
Specific Actions
Outcomes

Develop Behavioral Questions

Questions Focus On:
What

Why

When

How

Where

Who

Develop Behavioral Questions

Select a skill, knowledge, ability,
attitude or experience about which to
write the question.
From your analysis of the position you have a list of
skills, knowledge, abilities, attitudes and experience that
you identified as important to success in the position.
You will be writing questions for each of those areas.

Develop Behavioral Questions

Phrase a question that begins:
Tell

me about a specific situation . . .

OR
Explain

your experience in . . .

OR
Give

an example to illustrate how you . . .

Develop Behavioral Questions

Next, add a phrase to:
Elicit past performance specific to the knowledge, skill, ability, and
attitude identified as important to the position.

Example:
Tell me about a specific situation where you had to be persuasive.

Develop Behavioral Questions

Finally, ask for:

Specific Circumstances
Actions
Outcomes

Example:
Tell me about a specific situation where you had to
be persuasive. Who was involved in the situation?
What actions did you take? What was the outcome?

Develop Behavioral Questions

Example:
Tell me about a specific time
when you resolved a difficult
customer complaint. Describe
your actions. What was the
outcome?

Develop Behavioral
Questions
Practice writing questions for each:

Skill
Knowledge

Ability
Attitude

Write 2 or 3 questions for each identified skill, knowledge, ability and

attitude. Select 1 or 2 of the questions you think will best get the
information you need from each area. The most important areas
might merit as many as 3 questions.

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Select Best Questions
Review the questions you developed to select at least one for each skill,
knowledge, ability, attitude or type of experience identified. The more
important areas might merit more than one question.
Remember, the intent of the interview is to get a clear picture of the
candidates past performance, so select those questions which best give a
balanced view of the candidate.
Past
Performance

Future
Needs

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Decide if the Question is Legal
Questions about family, child care, marital status, age, race, religious
preferences or practices, arrests (as opposed to felony convictions
which you can ask about), and clubs or social organizations are likely to
result in discrimination charges from unsuccessful candidates. Review
your questions to insure they do not impinge on these protected areas.

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Look for information
related to the identified
knowledge, skills, abilities,
attitudes and experience

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes

Make notes on any

experience that may relate to
experience you want.
Look for information on skills
you need. It may be
mentioned in a description of
a previous job, it may be
listed under an educational
experience.

Knowledge you want may be

indicated by a class attended
or presented. Formulate a
question that tests whether
that knowledge has been
used recently, and how
successfully they have been
using it.
If not used, some skills and
knowledge tends to fade, and
be less useful.

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Look for gaps in
employment history

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Gaps in employment history can
indicate several things:

Time to complete an education.

Time to spend with a sick relative, have a family, or do full-time
volunteer work.
Serious illness, or prison time.
An inability to find work due to various reasons.

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Identify each employment gap and formulate
questions addressing those gaps. Look for
job hopping, a succession of jobs, of
relatively short duration, which needs to be
addressed in the interview.

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Look for names and phone
numbers of previous
supervisors
Reviewing the application, resume, or personnel folder is a good time to
make notes on previous supervisors names and phone numbers. Following
the interviews with the candidates, talk with 2 or 3 previous supervisors of
the best 2 or 3 candidates before making a final selection. During the
interview also ask candidates about their relationship with those
supervisors. A glowing reference from a supervisor when the candidate
tells you they did not get along, should be a red flag, and merit further
investigation.

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Look for Disciplinary Actions
Occasionally a personnel folder will contain a
disciplinary action, or an application will reference a
felony conviction. Make special note of these and
formulate questions to discuss the circumstances
surrounding them. As the selecting official, you will
have to determine whether they are sufficiently
serious to warrant a non-selection. You will need to
have as much information as possible from the
applicant. When the supervisor is interviewed, the
incident will require further discussion.

Review Questions/
Applications & Resumes
Look for Awards
Look for awards, letters of appreciation,
participation in special projects, and other
indications of excellence. Make note for
future reference. You may want to ask
specific questions about the
circumstances that led to some of the
awards or letters of appreciation.

ReviewQuestions/
Applications&Resumes
Look for Safety History

Look for documentation of accidents in the personnel folder. Evaluate the

seriousness of the accidents . . . some applicants may have had several
accidents, but all are of a minor nature, indicating they are careful to
document. Others may have had numerous accidents of a more serious
nature, perhaps indicating failure to remain focused while working. Are they
appropriate to the positions they have held?

Decide Which Candidate Best

Meets the Established Criteria
Review all of the information gathered from:
Applications/resumes

Transcripts
Interviews
Supervisors

Decide Which Candidate Best

Meets the Established Criteria
Decide if you have a suitable candidate.
If so . . .

Select the Best

Select the Best
Orient and Train Them
Mentor and Grow Them
They Will Succeed
. . . and so will you!!