Behavioral Interview: 11 Questions and Answers You Need to Know

During your job interview, your prospective employer is likely to ask you some behavioral questions. Unlike job-related questions that focus on past performance, behavioral questions help the employer get a better feel for who you are and how you’ll carry yourself on the job.

Here are some of the common behavioral interview questions you can expect, with advice and examples to help you answer them.

Ability to Work and Play Well With Others

1Tell me about a time you had to work closely with someone whose personality or work style clashed with yours.

It’s okay to be honest here, but don’t bash your former colleague. It’s important to show that you can be flexible and overcome challenges.

“I had a supervisor who was ultra-creative, and so he had a creative person’s impulse-driven approach to projects. I need more structure, so we worked together to develop an Asana project where he could add creative input when inspiration struck, and I had a central place for project notes to keep me on task.”

2Talk about a time when you made a mistake that affected a colleague. How did you handle it and what was the outcome?

The employer wants to see that you own your mistakes rather than mounting a defense or deflecting blame. Admit something you did, and explain how you corrected the mistake.

“I contacted a lead that my colleague was already working with and ended up taking his sale. When I caught the error, I realized that I’d forgotten to check the client database before reaching out to the lead. I apologized to my colleague and split the commission with him. Then I put some measures in place so that I’d always remember to check the database before getting too enthusiastic about client outreach.”

3Let’s say you need something important from a coworker and that person isn’t responding. How would you deal with this?

It’s important to show that you’re persistent and able to follow through. Just be careful not to give the impression that you’d be unreasonable or belligerent.

“Things fall through the cracks sometimes. I’d follow up with my coworker by email or Slack, and if that didn’t work I’d check in with him personally. If the problem grew to a point where it was going to be detrimental to the project, I’d ask a supervisor for an assist.”

Time Management Chops

4Tell me about a time when you had to manage multiple responsibilities. How did you handle that?

If you’re a great multitasker, you may be tempted to brag. Resist the urge. Instead of trying to make yourself sound like a superhero, try showing your capacity to learn.

“My partner left for a new job right in the middle of a major project and her responsibilities fell to me. It was a huge challenge! I spent a day prioritizing the project steps and created a timeline for keeping everything on track. I ended up putting in some extra hours, but the project was completed by deadline.”

5Let’s say you’re working on a major project and you’re in the weeds. How do you find your way out?

We all end up in the weeds now and then, so don’t blow off this question by saying it’s never happened to you. Even the most productive rockstar can think of a time when things went south.

“I’ve worked hard to get good at time management, so I’m usually in good shape. But I did once get overwhelmed when I was working on my department’s annual report. I had too much information to compile, and I was overthinking it. I called in a couple of my colleagues to help me sort and prioritize, and we got the report finished on time.”

Professionalism and Client-Oriented Skills

6Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond to deliver exceptional customer service.

Saying that you go above and beyond every day is a cop-out. Think of a story you can relate here that will demonstrate how much you care about providing great customer service.

“We were preparing to give a video presentation to a potential new client when I learned that someone on their team was deaf. The presentation was scheduled for the following morning, so I stayed late captioning the video so she’d be able to experience it. The client was impressed by our attention to detail and we landed the account.”

7We all deal with difficult customers from time to time. Tell me about a challenging client-facing situation and how you handled it.

The employer wants to see that you can keep a calm head when difficult situations arise, so share a narrative that shows your ability to resolve conflicts.

“We had a customer who complained frequently and was becoming hostile toward customer service reps. I did some investigating and discovered that our CS agents were repeating the same templated scripts to him and he felt as though his complaints weren’t being heard. I helped devise an escalation system so that this endless CS loop wouldn’t happen again. Then I contacted the customer personally to apologize and thank him for helping us find and fix a glitch in our process.”

Flexibility

8Sometimes we have an all-hands-on-deck situation that may require everyone to work extra hours. How would you handle that?

Like it or not, we’re working more hours these days. Although you don’t want to become a slave to the office, if your prospective employer has asked you this question, you can be sure she’s going to need you to be a team player.

“I try to keep a good work/life balance, so I’d do my best to help my team meet project goals during working hours. That said, crunch times happen. I’m dedicated to putting in the extra hours when they become necessary.”

9Everyone starts somewhere. Talk about a time when you were new on the job and had a lot to learn. How did you manage that?

Here’s your opportunity to show that you’re eager to learn and keep learning.

“I love being a newbie! It’s exhilarating to learn new things. When I was new to marketing, I immersed myself in the many great blogs, video presentations, and books available about current trends. In fact, I still do that. Things change rapidly in this industry, so I make a point to stay informed.”

Aspirations and Values

10I’m interested in how you recharge when you’re not working. What do you do with your downtime?

Try to mesh your leisure activities with the company’s values, which you will have researched before your interview. Let’s say the company has an active, energetic culture. Talk about your most active leisure pursuits. If the company has more traditional values, talk up things like volunteer activities.

“I love to recharge with a good long hike on the weekends. Your company culture webpage said that your company went on a team-building kayaking excursion last year. I’d definitely be on board for something like that!”

11Give me an example of how you set goals for yourself.

The employer wants to know that you’re focused on goals and what process you use to achieve them. Prepare an example that illustrates the steps you took to accomplish something in your career.

“When I wanted to move from staff writing to content management, I started by breaking that goal down into manageable steps. I looked for an entry level position where I could learn the ropes for a couple of years. I worked hard, went to workshops and conferences, and was promoted in my department within the first year. Now I’m here, ready to take it to the next level!”

Creative People Will Want to Know These 4 Tips from JJ Abrams

If you’re a fan of film, television, or lens flare, you’ve probably heard of JJ Abrams. He’s the Emmy award–winning writer-director-producer who brought us Alias, Felicity, Lost, Super 8, Mission Impossible III, Cloverfield, and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Oh yeah . . . and he rebooted two of the greatest sci-fi franchises of all time, Star Trek and Star Wars. No big deal, y’all!

If you’re ready to make your own creative mark on the world, listen up—JJ’s got some advice for you. Here are four tips on creativity from the “Spielberg” of this generation.

via GIPHY

1Emotional Connection Is Everything

I love larger than life, kind of spectacle moments. But what’s important to me is that the characters are at the center, that emotionally you know where you are, and you’re tracking characters that are taking you through those spectacular moments. And that to me is the most important thing, that balance of the intimacy with the spectacle and the sort of hyper reality.

JJ knows the bottom line: your audience has to care. If they’re not emotionally invested in what’s going on, it doesn’t matter how shiny or bombastic you make something. That climactic moment you worked so hard to create will feel hollow if it’s lacking an emotional core for your audience to connect with.

2Be Open to the Best Idea

via GIPHY

If you’re not open to the best idea, whether it’s a scene for a movie, an episode or a story arc for a series, you’re closed to the possibilities . . . to look at it like a job or a project that is delineated by the expectations, to me limits the possibilities. Some of the great inventions were not intended.

JJ likens the creative process to “driving in the fog.” You have “the big idea” of where a project is going, but you’re also giving your work the space to organically evolve.

The Lost character Ben Linus was originally written for a single episode. When actor Michael Emerson showed up (and was brilliant), the Lost creators realized the character could be far more important to the story, and Ben Linus became a central character.

Are you willing to scrap your original idea for the best idea?

3Your Voice Matters

via GIPHY

. . . what I kind of learned early on is that your voice is as important as anyone else’s. You may not always be right and you shouldn’t be cocky about it but I felt that I needed to learn that the ideas that I had were as good as anyone else’s ideas. . . . That thing that you feel, if you really feel it, other people do too.

We all struggle with imposter syndrome and second-guessing ourselves. But if you’ve got an idea that excites you, don’t write it off. It may not always pan out, but if you don’t give yourself a chance, who will?

4The Only Thing Stopping You Is You

You want to write? Make movies? JJ’s advice is to go do it!

I used to say . . . to someone who wants to write, “Go! Write! Do your thing.” It’s free, you don’t need permission. But now I can say, “Go make your movie!” There’s nothing stopping you from going out there and getting the technology. You can lease, rent, buy stuff off the shelf that is . . . just as good, as the stuff that’s being used by the . . . “legit people.”

. . . the technology has been democratized, everyone has access to the ability to be a filmmaker, and if you want to do it, the only thing stopping you is you.

via GIPHY

Disinterested vs. Uninterested—Are They the Same?

• Disinterested means “without a vested interest.”
• Uninterested means “not showing interest.”

---

The words disinterested and uninterested are sometimes used as if they have the same meaning. But there is a difference, and to avoid confusion, you should be aware of what that difference is.

What Does Disinterested Mean?

When someone doesn’t have a vested interest in a matter, or doesn’t have a horse in that race, we can say that this person is disinterested. To be disinterested means to be impartial, which explains why this word, in its traditional sense, is often used in legal or business contexts:

Is the judge disinterested regarding this case or does she need to recuse herself?

However, writers sometimes use disinterested when uninterested would be more accurate:

He seemed disinterested in what was going on around him.

But, to avoid confusion, it’s best to preserve the distinction between these two words.

What Does Uninterested Mean?

If someone is bored, doesn’t care about something, or isn’t showing an interest in something, we can use the word uninterested to describe them:

He seemed uninterested in what was going on around him.

Sheila was uninterested in learning math; she preferred social studies.

Examples

The directors who consider the bid must be disinterested and not receive a benefit from the transaction, and they must be governed by an overarching duty of care owed to the association.

The Los Angeles Times

Criticism, in this light, is neither a mode of revelation nor of disinterested judgment.

The Brooklyn Rail

Unfortunately for City Hall’s exterminators, they also seemed totally uninterested in recently laid traps baited with poison.

New Zealand Herald

But we’re comparatively uninterested in buying health and beauty products online, despite spending 18 percent more this November.

Chicago Tribune

Canceled or Cancelled?

This word is a student’s best friend and a concert-goer’s most dreaded nightmare. Take these two signs:

Snow day: school canceled.

Drummer has food poisoning: performance cancelled.

So, which spelling is correct? The answer depends on where you call home.

Canceled or cancelled is the past tense of the verb to cancel. Both spellings are correct; Americans favor canceled (one L), while cancelled (two Ls) is preferred in British English and other dialects. However, there is only one correct spelling of the word cancellation, no matter where you are. For a more in-depth explanation of spelling and the exceptions, keep reading.

Here’s a tip: American English is all about one L, and British English goes for two.

Why Cancelled and Canceled are Different

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty. Way back when, a man named Noah Webster (of Webster’s Dictionary fame) decided that some words could get along just fine without as many letters as our friends the Brits put in them. That’s why many American spellings look different from their British counterparts: think color/colour, honor/honour, rumor/rumour.

For similar word-shortening reasons, Mr. Webster decided to chop the past tense of “cancel” down to one L. This variation first showed up in the Webster’s 1898 Dictionary, though it didn’t fully beat out the double-L spelling until about the 1980s. It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but it’s the accepted form in American English to this day.

Cancelled vs. Canceled: American Examples

The route with the highest percentage of canceled flights last year was New York LaGuardia to Washington’s Dulles International.

The Wall Street Journal

Is your favorite TV show canceled? A guide to what’s renewed and what’s in trouble.

The Washington Post

And some extra American examples:

Mom and Pop couldn’t muster enough apples to bake a nice warm apple pie, so they went ahead and canceled the county barbecue.

The dudes running the show in Hollywood would never think of canceling the next blockbuster superhero film.

Since the automatic canceler stopped all electronic signals as soon as the tornado started up, it looks like we’ll have to go surfing instead.

However, for any British chap, cancelled has two Ls and always will.

Cancelled vs. Canceled: British Examples

The Beatles never cancelled a gig, even when they didn’t get a nice cup of tea beforehand.

The blokes at the theatre will be cancelling the programme today due to the Queen’s visit.

Since the neighbour’s pyjama party was cancelled, let’s queue for some fish and chips at the pub, mate.

At the end of one of its most difficult weeks of the year, British Airways cancelled 50 flights to and from London on Saturday, the vast majority at Heathrow Terminal 5.

The Independent

Downton Abbey will not be cancelled after fifth season, producer confirms.

The Independent

Brilliant, eh?

Spelling Exception: “Cancellation”

Now that we’ve traveled (and not travelled, thanks to the same rule) through the spelling rules of British vs. American English, let’s look at the exception. Yes, there’s always an exception.

Here’s a tip: The word cancellation is solidly spelled with two Ls, no matter where you are.

So:

Because sugar makes students too hyper, the principal has called for the cancellation of cotton candy sales before classes.

As sugar makes students a wee bit barmy, the headmaster has demanded the cancellation of candy floss purchases prior to modules.

Flight cancellations have piled up deeper than snow drifts this winter.

The Wall Street Journal

Think of it like this. When you turn the verb “cancel” into past tense, the word stays the same number of syllables (two), so it’s a matter of location whether you use two L’s or one. The -ation that turns the word into a noun, on the other hand, puts a whole new syllable (in fact, two) after the L. The double-L is a like a bridge to those new syllables. At least, that’s one way to keep your Ls in line.

Now you can consider your confusion about those words canceled. Cheers!

Funner vs. More Fun

• As a noun, fun means enjoyment.
• Fun is not universally accepted as an adjective. People who do accept it as an adjective seem to prefer more fun and most fun over funner and funnest.

---

Whether fun or more fun is correct seems like a simple question, but the answer isn’t exactly straightforward. To understand, you must examine the background of the word fun. Let’s get started.

Fun, the Noun

Fun is enjoyment, or something that provides amusement. If you have fun in a greater quantity, you have more fun. Some people say that fun can function only as a noun. Before we address that issue, let’s look at some examples of fun as a noun.

She has the most fun when she is dancing.

He had more fun dancing than he anticipated.

Fun, the Adjective

As early as the 1900s, people were using fun as an adjective in speech and informal writing. People use it to describe things or people relating to fun. Sometimes, it describes things that are whimsical. Many people, perhaps most people, strongly prefer more fun and most fun as the comparative and superlative forms of fun. Still, plenty of others label things funner and funnest. Many dictionaries acknowledge this use, but still label the adjective form as informal. Here are some examples of fun used as an adjective.

Morris is a fun guy.

Keith is more fun than Bjorn.

Keith is funner than Bjorn.

Gregory is the most fun man I ever met.

Gregory is the funnest man I ever met.

If you’re not sure which way to go, remember that more fun and most fun will raise fewer eyebrows than funner and funnest.

Examples

For Ben Mendelsohn, playing a villain on-screen in the new Star Wars film was a career highlight. “They’re pretty fun,” the actor said today on ‘GMA.’ “Bad guys have more fun.”

ABC News

“Scheduling a fun event for your leisure time ruins it, removing the enjoyment from the activity as surely as if you had to be at the office instead,” says Sorrel, citing research by Ohio State University professor Selin Malkoc.

Successful Meetings

“If you have a guy wide open, he has to get the ball. It builds guys’ confidence, it makes the game funner. If we’re not playing the right way, it’s frustrating.”

NBA.COM

It takes an entire community and a whole state to make this all turn into one of the funnest events of the year,” said Jim Balamaci, the president and CEO of Special Olympics Alaska.

KTVA.com

If you think fun belongs only in the noun category, then “more fun” is the only choice for you. Do you accept fun as an adjective? If you do, you can also embrace funner and funnest in informal writing. If enough people do so, it will probably become accepted as standard before long. Speaking of fun, why not learn whether you are using some other English expressions correctly?