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Behavioral Interviewing

June 22, 2009 by niblick Leave a Comment

Let’s face it.  Whether you are looking to become the next VP of Marketing at Thecompany.com, or the newest programmer at your dream computer company, interviewing for any new job pretty much stinks.  Sure, it can be an exciting time, but the actual interview itself is stressful, awkward and usually something you would rather just avoid.

We all approach looking for work with a weird mix of excitement and anxiety. It is a challenge that leaves us feeling not quite in control of the result. Why, because we’re not in control because ultimately the decision to hire is in the hands of others. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t have some control as well.

There are certain truths about every interview. First, you will always be the novice in an interview. The person doing the interview may come off as a “good old boy” who isn’t very good at these “interview things”, but rest assured they know more about how to interview you than you do about how to be interviewed.

Second, recent research on over 40,000 workers reveals that you are naturally at a disadvantage in the interview process.  According to a 2004-2005 study, the average person is only 59% accurate at assessing their own strengths and weaknesses but is 89% accurate when it comes to understanding the abilities of others.

Finally, a recent poll of 1,300 hiring managers showed that level or preparation for the actual interview is now just as significant as are your history, resume and experience combined. What constitutes preparation, however, has changed.  It doesn’t just mean a clean resume and well pressed suit anymore.  As companies become more sophisticated in their hiring techniques more emphasis is being placed on qualifying a candidate’s “soft skills” (e.g., thinking styles, natural talents, attitudes, etc.).  If today’s employers are paying more attention to your soft skills, you should be too.

Behavioral Interviewing 101

One of those important soft skills is understanding how to communicate with the interviewer. How you present information may completely resonate with certain styles and completely alienate others. The trick is to be able to understand which kind of behavioral style your interviewer has, then tailor your communications to that style.

According to one of the most accepted behavioral theory in the world, created by Harvard researcher William Marston, there are four primary types of behavior: Dominance, Influencing, Steadiness and Compliance. This DISC Behavioral theory argues that each of us has all four of these dimensions, but we also each develop our own unique preference for using them – our own behavioral style.

Here’s a short course on how to identify the behavioral style of your interviewer and how that affects your interview with them.

For the full story go here (Behavioral Interviewing Guide Genius File #6)

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