So you have applied for a job and the employer has called and wants to interview you.  Now what?  The interview process can be intimidating and confusing if you have never been through it. 

Types of Interviews

Traditional and behavioral are the two most common interview formats employers use when interviewing candidates for a job. Each of these formats is used in a different way to assess a candidate’s skills and abilities.  The differences in these two formats are described below:

Traditional interviews tend to focus on your resume.  Interviews use your resume as a guide to explore your decisions and achievements through academics, work, campus, and community involvement.  The interview questions focus on you beliefs, attitudes, professional or management styles, interactions with others, and how you would handle or behave in hypothetical situations

• Always answer the question directly.  If the interviewer asks you how you feel about an issue in the workplace, be sure to give a clear and concise answer to the question. 
• Have your one-minute commercial ready.  Many times an interviewer will ask you to describe yourself.  By using a one-minute commercial you summarize your abilities, skills, goals, accomplishments, and interests.  You also want to highlight your background and different types of experience.  The goal of the one-minute commercial is to give the interviewer enough information that they will want to learn more about you and what you can offer the company.  Some items to highlight in your commercial are:
• Your name
• Your major
• Type of position you are seeking
• Work experience
• Class projects’
• Community involvement
• How you background and goals fit in the company/organization’s needs
• Try not to ramble.  Many times when interviewers ask open ended questions, you may feel the urge to give long wordy answers.  Remember to give clear, concise answers that are directly related to the questions the interviewer asked.
• If the interviewer doesn’t ask you for specific examples of situations, try to give examples when they are appropriate for the question.  By giving examples that support your beliefs, you are showing analytical skills that will only strengthen your presentation.

Behavioral interviews focus on actions and behaviors and not on hypothetical situations.  The purpose of this type of interviewing is to evaluate past behaviors and use them as predictors of future behavior.  Instead of concentrating on how you would handle a situation, the interviewer focuses on how you did handle the situation.  They will ask you about details and not generalizations concerning events.  Typically, interviewers who conduct behavioral interviews are trying to collect and evaluate information about behaviors that are needed to be successful on the job. 

In these types of interviews, you will be asked to give examples of how you handled certain situations.  These questions may range from, “Tell me about a time you were in conflict with a co-worker” or “Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership skills.”  When you are asked questions of that nature, remember to use the STAR* technique. 

STAR stands for:

• Situation- Define the situation or “set the stage”
• Task- Identify the task or the problem that needs action
• Action- Describe the action that you took, illustrating the skills you used
• Result- Summarize the outcome of the situation

Below is an example of how you might use the STAR technique to answer the question, “Tell me about a situation in which you demonstrated leadership skills.”

• Situation- “Last year my fraternity sponsored a fund-rising project for a local after school program.”
• Task- “I was asked to organize the project.”
• Action- “I recruited and chaired a committee of eight.  We had to work under deadlines, which we successfully met.  We also developed a fund-rising plan, which included a budget.  We proposed this plan to the Student Activities Board for approval.”
• Result-“Our plan was approved and the campaign generated over $3,000 for the after school program.  Because the plan worked so well, I was asked to be the chair of the Interfraternity Council fund-raising campaign next fall.

You may also use this technique when addressing tough questions like, “Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a manager or co-worker”, or “Tell me about a time you made a mistake in the classroom or on the job.”  Bu describing what you learned in the Results step, you may be able to demonstrate how you turned a negative situation into a positive one. 

*Development Dimensions International, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, claims the STAR technique as their “Copyrighted Intellectual Property.”

Interviewing Do’s and Dont’s 

Questions asked by employers

Questions to ask employers