The 33 Best Questions to Ask in a Behavioral Interview

Interviewing candidates is about getting to know them and assessing their fit for a role. For that reason, it’s important to ask questions that will show who the candidate is beyond their resume. That’s where behavioral interview questions come in.

Behavioral interview questions are an important part of the hiring process. They help the interviewer evaluate the candidate’s work experience and work style. As an interviewer, you need to know which behavioral questions to ask — and as a candidate, you should think about how to answer them.

In this article, we’re delving into behavioral interview questions. We’ll cover:

• What are behavioral interview questions?
• The benefits of asking behavioral interview questions
• Top 33 behavioral interview questions to ask candidates

Let’s get into it.

What are behavioral interview questions?

Behavioral interview questions are questions that allow candidates to share how they’ve handled specific past situations. These questions typically delve into how candidates have used certain knowledge and skills — particularly soft skills — to navigate different situations in prior work environments.

As explained by The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), “Behavioral-based interviewing is a technique which focuses on a candidate's past experiences, behaviors, knowledge, skills and abilities.”

Behavioral questions typically begin with statements such as, “Tell me about a situation…” or, “Give me an example of a time...” To respond, interviewees must dig into their background and give specific examples and details from their past experiences.

Want to know more about interviewing candidates? Check out our article: “Common Interview Questions”

The benefits of asking behavioral interview questions

Behavioral interview questions help interviewers get a sense of a candidate’s ability to perform in the role they’re interviewing for.

By reviewing examples from a candidate’s past work experience and performance, interviewers can get a more realistic and nuanced sense of the candidate, including:

• How the candidate works
• How the candidate responds to specific situations
• What the candidate is capable of accomplishing in a new role

Looking at a candidate’s past behavior, skills, and critical thinking experience in this way can reveal if the candidate has the attributes necessary to match the job requirements of the role.

Top 33 behavioral interview questions to ask candidates

Behavioral interview questions can be difficult to respond to as a candidate, but they’re also hard to come up with on the fly as an interviewer. It’s also a best practice to determine the behavioral interview questions you’ll ask every candidate ahead of time and keep them consistent for all candidates. This will help you best evaluate the different candidates for a role.

To help you prepare for the interview, we’ve compiled a list of 33 behavioral interview questions that can be tailored to specific organizations and roles. If you have an interview coming up, we recommend that you study up on these questions — regardless of whether you’re a hiring manager or a candidate interviewing for a job.

The best answers will include a description of the situation (the specific context a candidate found themself in and who was involved), the action (the specific action(s) the candidate took and why), and the result (a clear description of the outcomes the candidate achieved).

To make the list a little easier for you to navigate, we’ve sorted the questions into the following categories:

• Adaptability
• Career and growth
• Communication skills
• Ethics and integrity
• Leadership skills
• Prioritization
• Teamwork

Adaptability

1. Describe a time when you made a mistake or overlooked a solution to a problem and learned from it. What did you learn?
2. Tell me about a time where you did everything you could think of, but still failed to achieve your desired outcome. What happened, and why were you unsuccessful?
3. Tell me about a time when you were given a task outside your normal responsibilities. How did you handle the assignment? Describe the outcome.
4. Talk about a task you worked on that had a major obstacle. How did you get around that obstacle to complete the task? Was your approach successful?
5. Tell me about a time when you discovered new information that affected a decision you had already made. How did you proceed?
6. Describe a time when you had to adapt to using a new system, technology, or way of thinking. What was the outcome?

Career and growth

1. What is a big career goal or milestone that you’ve achieved recently?
2. When was the last occasion you asked for direct feedback from your manager? Why did you ask for their feedback?
3. Tell me about a situation in which you had to make a tough decision that normally would have been escalated to your manager. How did you handle the decision-making process? What happened?
4. Think about the most exciting and motivating aspect of your current or most recent position. What did you specifically enjoy about it? Why?

Communication skills

1. Can you talk about a time when you were unable to get your point across effectively? What contributed to this? How have your communication skills changed or improved since then?
2. Describe a time when you had to deal with a difficult client or customer. How did you handle the situation?
3. Tell me about a time when you had to deliver bad news to someone. How did you prepare, and what was the outcome?
4. Give an example of when you persuaded someone at work towards your point of view. What made you successful in persuading them?

Ethics and integrity

1. Describe a time when you were asked to perform a task or lead an initiative that went against your values. What did you do? What was the outcome?
2. Tell me about a time when you went the extra mile when it would have been as acceptable to do the bare minimum. Why did you exert the effort? What was the outcome?
3. Talk about a situation when you followed a rule that you disagreed with. Why did you choose to follow that rule? Explain how you felt.

Leadership skills

1. Describe a time when you had to step up and demonstrate leadership skills.
2. Tell me about a time when an employee approached you with concerns. How did you handle the situation?
3. Describe a project you planned. Explain how you organized and managed the project.
4. Tell me about a time when a project’s priorities had to change. Explain the steps you took to shift the project’s priorities.
5. Talk about a situation that challenged you as a leader. Did this change your way of thinking? Did it improve your leadership abilities?
6. Tell me about a time when you were able to delegate an important task that succeeded.

Prioritization

1. How do you prioritize projects under pressure?
2. Have you ever worked on multiple projects at the same time? How did you manage your time and prioritize the work?
3. Tell me about a time when you had too much to do, but not enough resources. How did you handle the pressure, overcome the deficit, or achieve your goals?
4. How do you estimate a reasonable time to complete a task? Give an example.

Teamwork

1. Tell me about a time when you had to work closely with someone whose personality was different from yours.
2. Talk about a situation when your team members disagreed with you. How did you handle it?
3. Give an example of a time you faced a conflict with a coworker. How did you handle that conflict?
4. Tell me about a time when you worked as part of a team on a project. What was your role within the team, and what did you do to contribute to the team?
5. Tell me about a time you needed to get information from someone who wasn’t very responsive. What did you do?
6. Tell me about a time you made a mistake and wish you’d handled a situation with a colleague differently.