TOP 6 BEHAVIOURAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS & ANSWERS! (How to ANSWER Behavioural Interview Questions!)

SITUATION: I was at work one day, when a client called to complain about a project a co-worker had delivered for them. Unfortunately, my co-worker was on leave, so I was unable to pass on the complaint to them.

 TASK: It was my task to listen to the client, get an understanding of the problem, and decide what to do moving forward.

 ACTION: The client explained that the standard of work was not what they expected, and even though the project had been delivered on time, they were dissatisfied. After careful consideration, I decided to take on the project myself and redo the work to the client’s expected standard. I took this decision because the company’s reputation was at risk, and I did not want the client to be unhappy.

RESULT: After two days working on the project, I redelivered the project and the client was more than satisfied. I then spoke to my co-worker about the complaint when they returned to work, and they thanked me for resolving the problem on their behalf.

SITUATION: A co-worker and I were tasked with updating the company’s website. We both disagreed on the best way to update it. I suggested we keep the website professional-looking, simple, and easy to navigate, whereas my co-worker wanted to make it more colourful, with lots of pages and blog-focused.

TASK: My task was to find an amicable way forward that was in the company’s best interest, and one that enabled us to collaborate on the project without conflict.

 ACTION: After listening to my co-worker’s ideas and putting forward my own, I suggested we create two versions of the website and run a test to see which one had the most visitors, engagement, and sales conversions.

By using this approach, we could test both ideas, and the company would get the best results possible. My co-worker agreed this was a great idea.

 RESULT: After creating two versions of the website and running comprehensive testing, my idea yielded the most substantial returns for the company.

SITUATION: A customer came in to the store one morning to pay for a product they had seen listed on our website. When I went to retrieve the product from our store, it had sold out. Understandably, the customer was irate.

TASK: It was my responsibility to resolve the situation and put things right for the customer.

ACTION: I immediately apologized, stated I would feel the same if the situation had happened to me, and then investigated our online inventory system to see what had gone wrong. The system had incorrectly allocated the product to our shop, when in fact it was located at our main distribution centre. I contacted the distribution manager and requested he dispatch the product immediately to the customer’s home address on a 24-hour urgent delivery notice. I then asked my store manager for permission to give the customer a fifty percent refund due to the inconvenience caused, to which he agreed.

RESULT: After apologising to the customer again, and informing her of my actions, she thanked me for my prompt action and excellent customer service skills. Finally, I contacted our IT department and asked them to ensure the same system error never happened again.

SITUATION: In my last role, my manager asked me to take up the duties of a co-worker who had to take a leave of absence due to personal reasons. I was already working on a time-sensitive task of my own, but I agreed to do the additional work requested.

 TASK: It was my task to reprioritize my workload to include the additional tasks, and get everything finished on time.

 ACTION: I created a new list of all my responsibilities, and used a color-coded system to determine which tasks should be completed first. Red tasks were urgent, amber tasks came second, and green tasks last. I then blocked out my diary, rescheduled several appointments, and set to work.

 RESULT: By being highly organized, methodical when prioritizing tasks, and utilizing my time carefully, I was able to get all my duties completed to an exceptional standard.

SITUATION: My supervisor wanted to launch a new company product by advertising in local stores and supermarkets. I didn’t feel this was the best way to get the greatest return from the launch.  

 TASK: It felt it was important to disagree with my supervisor and explain, in a professional manner, the reasons why.

 ACTION: I spoke to my supervisor in private and said that my research showed we could potentially get a greater return from our product launch by allocating all of the budget to online adverts, including Facebook and Instagram. By using this method, we could target a specific audience based on age, gender, and interests. My supervisor was intrigued by my suggestion, and she agreed to trial 50% of the budget to online advertising for one week.

 RESULT: After the one-week trial was over, the online advertising had yielded a far greater return, and my supervisor decided to allocate 100% of the budget to this new method.

SITUATION: When I started work in my first job, my supervisor asked for a volunteer to go and work the following week in a different department because one of their key workers was off sick. I volunteered.

 TASK: I saw this as an opportunity for me to learn more about the company and diversify my skills.

 ACTION: Unfortunately, I failed to write down the change of department in my diary, and when the following week arrived, the head of department complained to my manager that I had not turned up. I felt awful and embarrassed because I had let my manager and the other department down. I immediately apologized, and rushed over to the new department to commence my work.

RESULT: I learned a lot from that mistake. I now make sure I place all appointments and responsibilities in my paper diary and my smartphone too, so they are never missed.