Ask Amanda: How Do I Pass a Behavioral Interview?

Each week, TopResume's career advice expert, Amanda Augustine, answers user questions on Quora like the one below. We'll be republishing those answers here. A certified professional career coach (CPCC) and resume writer (CPRW), Amanda has been helping professionals improve their careers for over 10 years. Have a question for Amanda? Submit it here.

Q: How do I pass a behavioral interview?

A: Before I go into the specifics on how to pass a behavioral interview, let me start by explaining what a behavioral-based interview question is and how you can spot on during your next job interview.

Behavioral interview questions typically start out with the recruiter or hiring manager saying, “Tell me about a time…”

Whenever you're faced with this type of question, the interviewer is looking for concrete examples of how you've used your skills and abilities to solve problems or achieve results for an employer. In other words, they want an example.

My advice is to use the STAR approach to structure your response to any behavioral interview question:

• Describe a

  Situation or

  Task you handled in the past.

• Explain what

  Actions you took to resolve the issue or tackle the challenge

• Then, summarize the

  Results of your actions - how did this benefit your employer? Did you cut costs, increase revenue, reduce employee turnover, improve customer satisfaction, etc.

In order to prepare some of these succinct STAR stories for your next interview, take a second look at the job description for the role, paying close attention to the core skills and experience required to do the job. Then, use these core requirements as fodder to brainstorm relevant stories from your work history to demonstrate your abilities.

Read Amanda Augustine's answer to "How do I pass a behavioral interview?" on Quora.

Recommended Reading:

• The Complete List of Essential Interview Questions to Ask

• How to Explain Being Fired During an Interview

• Things You Should Do Right After a Job Interview