3 Steps Towards Answering Negative Behavioral Questions

Perhaps the most difficult type of behavioral question to answer are those that ask you to say something negative about yourself, such as a weakness or a mistake or a period of poor judgment. You cannot pretend that you are perfect. If you do, the interviewer is going to find themself annoyed with you, and possibly distrust your other answers.

You need to give the interviewer an actual answer, and though you should never pick a negative that will drastically affect your employment (“I once stole ten million dollars”), even a small negative may harm your chances a little bit if supplied incorrectly. So when you are asked to say something negative about yourself, use the following three step process to answer the question and minimize the damage it does to your chances.

Step 1: Background

First you should set up the story for the interviewer without focusing on the negative aspects of your decision. For example “The company had recently gone through some layoffs, so I was placed in charge of the responsibilities of many of the open positions. While working on one of their projects, I was asked to…”

Step 2: Brief Mistake

Next, mention the mistake briefly, without focusing on your error or trying to defend yourself. If you picked a non-egregious error like you should have, it shouldn’t be too hard to simply mention it briefly, like “I did not realize the person the phone was a client, so I quickly hung up when they appeared to rude.”

Step 3: Minimize

The third step in any negative behavioral interview question is to make it appear as though the negative thing may not happen again if they give you employment. You do this by talking about what you have done since to ensure it does not happen again, such as “Since then, I have treated every unknown phone call like they may be a client, because you never know who is on the other end of the phone.”

Following these three steps will ensure that the mistakes you made will not seem as terrible to the interviewer, and since you explained what you have done since to minimize the damage, it is less likely the interviewer will hold these negative items against you.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Give non-negative background information.
• Briefly state the negative item.
• Follow it up with information that minimizes the damage.

7 Types of Behavioral Interview Categories

There is no comprehensive list of behavioral interview questions, because anything can be a behavioral interview question. “Describe a time where you really had to scratch your crotch in public but couldn’t” is a behavioral interview question. “Tell me about a time that you had spinach – not lettuce, but spinach – in your teeth and no one told you until later in the day…” is a behavioral interview question.

Because there are so many, you cannot prepare for every possible behavioral interview question the hiring manager may throw at you. What you can do, however, is prepare answers for types of interview questions; answers that will satisfy different types of questions provided they fall under these categories.

Behavioral Interview Question Categories

• Leadership

Leadership questions are common, especially for management jobs. Questions may involve “Describe a time you had to motivate an employee,” for example. Come up with examples of your leadership ahead so that you are prepared for leadership category questions.

• Negativity

Behavioral questions about what you didn’t like about people or the company are not uncommon. I tis a good idea to draft out answers ahead of time so that you don’t actually say something negative.

• Decision Making

Decision making behavioral questions are very common. You will be asked about both good and bad decisions. Prepare several answers for each, making sure to pick things that aren’t too negative.

• Professional Priorities

There will be questions about your greatest achievements or questions about what you consider a professional regret, etc. These questions are not only about your work history, but are also designed to gauge what you consider important in your professional life.

• Problem Solving

Problem solving behavioral questions are looking at the process you used to make a decision. The end result is not as important as the process used to get to that result. Questions may also include how you organize, since organization is a part of problem solving.

• Teamwork

Your ability to work as a team is important for almost any job. Teamwork questions are going to ask you about your history of working with others, how you worked independently, etc.

• Communication

Your ability to communicate effectively is important for the role. You may be asked behavioral questions that fall under this category as well.

Unlimited Questions, Fewer Categories

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but the vast majority of behavioral interview questions fall under these categories. If you can come up with answers that satisfy the types of questions that may come up under these categories, you should put yourself in a much better position to answer them effectively.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Prepare several answers for each category.
• Brainstorm questions on your own.

5 Keys to Beating the Behavioral Interview

Remember that one time that you brought your dog to work and it ended up urinating on the monthly reports? How about that time that you got into an argument with a coworker and ended up smashing his face in with your dog, injuring both your coworker and your dog? How about the time you cleaned up after the injured mess with lighter fluid that you thought was just dirty water, only to light the entire building on fire with a match that you were only using to erase the smell of the fart that you just let out in fear once you realized you knocked your dog unconscious by throwing it into your coworker’s face?

Behavioral interview questions often ask you things like “What is your greatest professional regret” and, if you don’t know how to answer this question correctly, you might end up sharing this story, and chances are you won’t find employment. So to help you answer behavioral interview questions, here is a brief list of the five most important things to remember.

Behavioral Interview Tips

• Plan your answers

It is vital that you plan several answers before the interview to some of the more difficult interview questions. The more answers you have ready, the fewer bad answers you will give.

• Don’t lie

There may be times that you stretch the truth, but you should not lie. Lying leads to mistakes, and mistakes lead to not getting the job. Lying with behavioral interviews is difficult and pointless.

• Who are you again?

While lying may be bad, forgetfulness is okay. If you are asked to say something terrible about your previous coworker, it is okay to “forget” any instances of real disagreement. You still need to answer the question though, which leads us to….

• Minimize

You still need to answer behavioral questions. You cannot simply pretend you don’t have an answer and expect the employer to move on. Instead, try your best to minimize anything that reflects poorly on you. There are three ways to do this. First, if asked something negative about yourself, you can share a story that, while still a mistake, doesn’t reflect too badly on you, and then add what you have done since to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Second, if asked to say something bad about a coworker or employer, you can pretend nothing ever occurred but discuss what you would do if something did occur, or you can pick something that isn’t much of a problem that all employers will agree with.

• Take a Second to Think

Don’t start talking without a plan in mind. Think about your answer so that you do not start rambling about something unrelated to the question and end up poorly answering this type of question.

Behavioral interviews can be surprisingly difficult, due to the nature of behavioral questions and the difficulties most people have coming up with a good response. Good planning, though, will certainly give you a great opportunity to succeed.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Think about your answers.
• Answer clearly.
• Forget things if necessary.

What is the Difference Between a Behavioral Interview and a Situational Interview?

Interviews come in all shapes and sizes. There are fat interviews, thin interviews, short interviews, ginormous interviews, square interviews, triangle interviews. Some of those may be imaginary. Short interviews probably exist though. Hey, a play on words!

Two interview types with a lot of similarities are behavioral interviews and situational interviews. Despite their similarities, these interviews are considerably different, with completely separate philosophies and completely different difficulties.

Behavioral Interviews

Behavioral interviews ask you to describe stories in your past that exhibit the behaviors the interviewer is discussing. For example:

• Describe a time where you had to make a critical decision.
• Describe a time you disagreed with a supervisor.
• Describe your biggest professional mistake.

All of these ask you about situations in your past. You have to search your memory for adequate examples to use for these questions. Your answer tells the interviewer:

-          How well you prepared for the question (rambling is bad).

-          Your thought process (what do you consider a mistake?).

-          Your past behaviors (which are believed to indicate your future behaviors).

However, they have problems as well. The applicant selects the answers they choose to select. The may be lying or minimizing what really happened. Or they may ignore a worse story in favor of one that looks better on them as a candidate.

Situational Interviews

Situational interviews look at the future. Rather than “Tell me about a time…” you will be asked “What would you do if…” You are presented with a potential problem, and you supply what you would do in that situation. Employers are testing your:

-          Ability to solve the problems they give you.

-          Intelligence and knowledge.

-          Expertise in the field.

Situational interviews are more reliable indicators about how you will handle situations in the future, because chances are that if you supply an answer that will adequately solve the problem, you would also perform that same action if put in that situation. The only real issues with situational questions are that they do not give the interviewer insight as to your past work history, nor do they show the interviewer how you value your answers. For example, if you are asked a behavioral question about your greatest professional mistake, and you talk about how you mouthed off to a supervisor, that will tell the interviewer that you consider how you treat coworkers as more important than whether or not you made a mistake on a project.

These days, employers do not often use one type of interview question throughout the interview. Most likely you will experience some behavioral, some situational, and some standard interview questions. That is why it is important that you prepare for all types of interview questions, including both situational and behavioral.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Situational interviews are about the future.
• Behavioral interviews are about the past.

What is a Situational Job Interview?

Companies are always looking for new ways to find out if an applicant is a good fit for the job. Standard interviews are useful, but they do not always tell you if the individual knows how to handle the specific tasks, or if they simply were able to come up with an answer that makes them look more impressive than they really are.

So companies started using behavioral interviews. Behavioral interviews worked under the assumption that the behaviors you displayed in the past will adequately reflect how you handle the same situations in the future. However, these are prone to problems as well, as the stories the applicant shares are going to be hand selected to reflect well on the candidate.

These deficiencies have caused hiring managers to seek out another type of interview – the situational job interview.

Situational Job Interview

Situational job interviews look at questions and answers from a forward thinking perspective. While most interview questions tend to focus on past behaviors and experiences, situational questions deal primarily with hypothetical situations. For example:

• The network is crashing. What are the steps you take to troubleshoot it?
• A client tells you they are no longer happy with the product. What do you do?
• You are provided a budget of $500 to run a marketing campaign. How do you allocate your resources?

These questions ask you to describe what you would do, rather than what you have done in the past. Presumably, this gives the interviewer insight into how the applicant will handle real life situations.

Effectiveness of Situational Interview Questions

Situational interview questions are an effective way to judge an applicant’s viability, because the answer they provide probably is the action they would take in a given situation. Applicants that know the “right” thing to do in those situations are just as likely to perform those correct actions. Situational interview questions are like putting you in the role, without actually forcing you to do any work. Currently not a lot of companies employ situational interviews, with the exception of one or two questions during the standard interview, however it would not be a surprise if this technique shows itself to be very effective and used more often in the future.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Situational interview questions may be used more often in the future.

7 Different Types of Job Interviews

Like people, job interviews come in all shapes and sizes. Like people, job interviews can be difficult. Like people, job interviews can suffer from massive amounts of body odor. Whether you know the type of interview ahead of time or not, it is a good idea to brush up on the types of job interviews that are available to employers so that you can be ready for whatever is thrown at you during your job search.

Job Interview Tips

• Traditional

Everyone knows the traditional interview. There are a number of standard questions like “tell me about yourself” and “why should we hire you,” and these questions lead to a judgment about your overall ability to do your job.

• Group Interviews

Group interviews are similar to traditional interviews, except they tend to take place in front of a group of interviewers, which means that you are at risk of having your answers interpreted differently by different people. They may also be panel interviews, where the questions are more free flowing and based largely on your answers.

• Phone Interviews

Phone interviews are a faster, less personal, less effective type of traditional interview. They are less effective because phone interviews are generally on a tight timeline, body language plays less of a role, and in many cases there are a number of applicants going through the interview, so the interviewer’s goal is to look for flaws rather than strengths.

• Behavioral Interviews

It is said that the best way to tell how well you would do at your next position is by the behaviors you showed at your previous position. In these types of interviews, employers ask you to describe a time where you did something in your past. For example, “describe a time where you had to make a difficult decision that turned out wrong.” Then you need to search your memory for an example of such a time and give the answer. These interviews can be pretty tough.

• Testing Interviews

In rare cases, there will be job interviews that will test your ability to do your job. For example, if you need to know how to design webpages, you will be asked to design a webpage. These types of job interviews are uncommon, but with the prevalence of lying during job interviews and the need for productive employees, there is a chance they will make a rise in the future.

• Second Interviews

Second interviews are a form of traditional interview. They are given to candidates that have done a fairly good job impressing the employer, and they are brought back to see if those beliefs are justified. Second interviews contain several standard interview questions, but they are also about your personality – they will introduce you to staff members and try to make sure your personality fits.

• Out of Office Interviews

Off campus/out of office/dinner interviews are becoming more and more common. Employers take the applicant to a restaurant or coffee shop and talk to them in a less professional setting. These are also a type of traditional interview, except the relaxed environment often changes the way the applicant acts.

Employers will almost always let you know which type of interview you are going to experience before they give it to you, but it may be useful to recognize these interview styles so that you can adjust your preparation and expectations accordingly.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Several types of interviews exist.

Additional Links

• Bukisa article on types of job interviews
• Business training article for hiring managers on job interview types -

Sample Behavioral Interview Question – Describe a Time You Made a Risky Decision

Behavioral interview questions should be some of the easiest questions to answer. Unlike other job interview questions where you are asked things you may not know the answer to (such as “What do you know about this company?), behavioral interview questions are about things that have already happened.

Yet behavioral questions are some of the toughest to answer. This is due to a number of different factors:

• You have to sit and think about a time where you encountered the situation.
• You have to describe in detail what may have been a simple event.
• You have to make sure that your answer is actually a good answer, and one that reflects well on your candidacy. .

All of these can make it very hard to answer each question. That is why interviewers ask them, and that is also why you need to practice behavioral interview questions so you can be prepared with a great answer any time an employer asks.

Behavioral Question #1: Describe a Time You Made a Risky Decision

From an employer perspective, this is a great question. You may fall into the trap of discussing something you should not have done at work. Don’t fall for it. When describing a risky decision always make sure that:

• Both options make you appear to be a great employee. For example, whether to put funds towards an online marketing campaign or a direct marketing campaign.
• You have a reason behind your decision. Make one up if you don’t. All risky decisions should have reasoning behind them, because the situation you are describing should be 100% business related. The risk should not be “will I get in trouble.” The risk should be “Was this the right use of our resources.”
• If the situation did not turn out well, mention the steps you undertook to fix them and/or what you learned from the experience that makes you a stronger employee.

The key is to avoid sounding like a poor worker with the decision you are describing. An example would be “This one time my boss told me to try to give one of my potential clients a 5% discount in order to save a deal that had gone south. But I felt that there was still a chance I could win the client for full price, and wanted to take that risk. In the end, I was able to win over the client for full cost.”

This may sound like a good answer. You took a risk, and you came out ahead. However, this can also be a risky answer, because you are essentially telling the employer that you disobeyed your boss, you said yourself that your potential client was going south (implying you were not doing a good job selling them on the product), and you almost lost potential business over what sounds like a small amount of money. Your best answer will be one that the risk was in time spent, and preferably one where you came out ahead.

Avoid any answer that makes it look the choices were “Will I get in trouble or will something great happen” and stick with answers that are “This option looked worthwhile, this option also looked worthwhile, I chose the latter option for these reasons…”

Take Away Interview Tips

• Practice answering behavioral interview questions.
• Make sure you are representing yourself well with your answer.