Behavioral Interviews Archives - Palladian Career Resources

Behavioral Interview Questions for Warehousing Professionals

Behavioral interviewing is common among the Fortune 500 and continues to be used by more and more companies. In retail and manufacturing, behavioral interviews are common. If you are a warehousing or distribution professional, it is very likely you will encounter behavioral interviews in your career, both in job searches and in internal interviews for promotions.

Behavioral interviewing is common among the Fortune 500, and it continues to be used by more and more companies. In retail and manufacturing, behavioral interviews are common. If you are a warehousing or distribution professional, it is very likely you will encounter behavioral interviews in your career, both in job searches and in internal interviews for promotions. Preparing for a behavioral interview is critical for you to succeed. You need to have very detailed examples from your background. Completing one or more mock interviews is another essential step.

The reason so many firms have adopted behavioral interviewing is that past performance is often the best predictor of future performance. Now, assessing past performance in a behavioral interview is not looking at overall success in a position, although this is an important component. Behavioral interviewing assesses the success of the job seeker in a variety of common situations they will face in a job. If the job seeker can demonstrate past success in each of the individual tasks, the job seeker should be able to be successful in the role.

The goal of a behavioral interview is to try to get the job seeker to describe their background in sufficient detail so the hiring manager can picture how the job seeker performs. This style of interview requires the job seeker to answer open-ended questions and tell stories. General answers will not work. To be successful, you must prepare.

The first step in preparing for a behavioral interview is to review your background and start writing some stories about your experiences. To help you think of a few stories to tell, I’ve compiled a number of common interview questions for warehousing positions:

Tell me about a time when you took over an under-performing team.
Tell me about a time when you failed to hit your distribution plan.
Tell me about a time when you were understaffed for the daily plan.
Tell me about a time when you were overstaffed for the daily plan.
Tell me about a time when you adopted new technology.
Tell me about a time when you addressed a safety issue.
Tell me about a time when you improved the productivity of a team.
Tell me about a time when you improved the quality of a team.
Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a peer.
Tell me about a time when you dealt with a conflict between two people on your team.
Tell me about a time when you hired and trained a large group of new employees at once.
Tell me about a time when you were overstaffed and needed to downsize.
Tell me about a time when you coached someone working for you on their performance.
Tell me about a time when you missed your budget goals.
Tell me about a time when you adapted to unforeseen events in order to stay on pace to hit your budget.

This list of questions is just a starting point. There are thousands of potential questions you could be asked. Although it may seem impossible to prepare for all of them, you can prepare for the different types of questions you might encounter. For example, in the list above, there are questions about improving productivity, safety and quality, adapting staffing levels to the plan, utilizing new technology, dealing with conflict, and budge issues. This selection of topics will give you a good start and covers some of the most common interview topics for warehousing careers.

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Applying Behavioral Interview Techniques to Your Resume

Behavioral interviews ask situation based questions and focus on getting the job seeker to talk about specific examples of their performance. The technique was developed because past performance is the best indicator of future performance. If a hiring manager can assess how you performed in a number of key situations relevant to the job, they will be able to better assess your potential in that job.

The behavior techniques provide a great opportunity for a job seeker to set themselves apart from their competition. Creating this same impression in your resume can help propel you to the top of the pile. Right now, companies are receiving hundreds of resumes for every position. The vast majority of resumes look alike and do nothing to differentiate the job seeker. You can use the lessons from behavioral interviewing to upgrade your resume and make a powerful impression.

Focus on Accomplishments: The cornerstone of a successful behavioral interview is showing the hiring manager past successes. You need to do this on your resume too. The focus of your resume needs to be your successes and contributions in past positions.

Be Specific: Behavioral interviews ask questions designed to get the candidate to tell specific stories from their experience. Be specific on your resume too. A few very detailed stories of your past success will make the best impression.

Keep it Simple: The most important aspect of showing your accomplishments is not showing the biggest impact. The key element is making it easy for the hiring manager to picture what you did. This requires explaining the basic and providing simple, easy to understand examples.

Detailed Results: For an accomplishment to be impressive, you need to show the results you achieved. This requires specific numbers demonstrating the scope of the accomplishment.

Make it memorable: The accomplishments on your resume are the short highlight film clips that summarize your career. How are your favorite actors and athletes remembered? Often, an actor who starred in dozens of movies will be remembered for one movie, and possibly one scene from that movie. An athlete is often summarized by a single play. These isolated events create a power memory that makes it easy to remember the person. Most job seekers have completely forgettable resumes. A single accomplishment that creates a strong, specific image can make you memorable and give you an edge in your job search.

A few accomplishments explained in detail can set your resume apart from your competition. Most job seekers fail to show accomplishments on their resume. Adding a few accomplishments will greatly improve the success of your job search.

As important as it is to include examples of your accomplishments, you also need to tailor them to the position. List a few accomplishments that directly relate to the job you are applying for. Ideally, you will provide answers to the top two or three questions a hiring manager would ask in an interview.

Our book on Interview Preparation teaches behavioral interview techniques in a quick, easy to learn style. The book is set up with short chapters that each cover one step in the preparation process. Each chapter is followed by exercises for you to complete that move you toward your goal of mastering behavioral interviewing. Get our book on behavioral interviewing.

Behavioral Interview Questions for Training and Mentoring

A Behavioral Question asks the candidate do describe how they acted in a specific situation. This technique uses this past performance of the candidate to predict how they will perform in the future. Included are a selection of behavioral questions targeting training and mentoring responsibilities.

Developing employees is critical to the success of an organization. Almost every position in a company will train or mentor someone else in the company at some point. Some positions have only minor training responsibilities, while other positions are full time training roles. In either case, you may encounter questions about your experience training or mentoring.

Behavioral interview questions provide a good way to ask about training and mentoring skills. A Behavioral Question asks the candidate to describe how they acted in a specific situation. This technique uses the past performance of the candidate to predict how they will perform in the future. Below is a selection of behavioral questions targeting training and mentoring responsibilities:

Tell me about a time when you trained a new hire.
Tell me about a time when you retrained someone who was struggling in their job.
Tell me about a time when you mentored a coworker successfully.
Tell me when you trained a superior.
Tell me about a time when you mentored coworker but failed to help them improve.
Tell me about a time when you delegated a task for developmental reasons.
Tell me about a time when you brought in an outside expert to train your team.
Tell me about a time when you taught a group in a seminar.
Tell me about a time when you utilized interactive training techniques.
Tell me about a time when you overcame disruptive behavior from a seminar participant.
Tell me about the greatest training challenge you have faced.
Tell me about a time you had to train a group on a topic you were not an expert in.
Tell me about a time when you implemented new technology to facilitate training.
Tell me about a time when you identified a training need in an organization that had been unmet.
Tell me about a time when the training you delivered resulted in significant bottom line results in the organization.
Tell me how you would train me to do… (insert a common task or topic in your industry).

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Behavioral Interview Questions for Project Engineers

Project engineers identify, plan and implement projects with organizations. The scope of this field is extremely broad. There are a number of common elements to project engineering roles, and these elements are often assessed with behavioral interview questions.

A behavioral interview targets specific situations the job seeker is likely to encounter in the role and asks for examples of a similar experiences. The questions usually follow a “Tell me about a time when you…” format.

Tell me about a time when you led a large capital improvement project.
Tell me about a time when you managed the acquisition of new equipment.
Tell me about a time when you planned a facility expansion.
Tell me about a time when you redesigned a process.
Tell me about a time when you made improvements to the plant layout.
Tell me about a time when you designed a new product.
Tell me about a time when you redesigned the packaging of a product.
Tell me about a time when you added automation to a process.
Tell me about a time when you had trouble debugging a new piece of equipment.
Tell me about a time when you reduced the utility costs in a facility.
Tell me about a time when you changed a process to reduce material handling.
Tell me about a time when you managed a project that came in under budget.
Tell me about a time when you managed a project that exceed budget.
Tell me about a time when you led a project that fell behind schedule.
Tell me about a time when you delivered a project ahead of schedule.
Tell me about the most successful project you managed.
Tell me about a project that was a major failure.
Tell me about a time when you failed to plan an essential step in a project.
Tell me about a time when you delegated effectively.

To be prepared to answer these questions in an interview, you need have examples of specific projects you have managed. You do not need a project for every question. A selection of projects touching on a range of experiences will allow you to adapt to almost any question.

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Behavioral Interview Questions for Nonprofit Careers

Working for a nonprofit organization has a lot of similarities to other industries, but there are some significant differences. Behavioral interview questions are a good tool to assess a job candidate for the specific skills required in a nonprofit. This makes these questions common in interviews with nonprofit organizations.

Behavioral interview questions are a good tool to assess a job candidate for the specific skills required in a nonprofit. This makes these questions common in interviews with nonprofit organizations.

Preparing for a behavioral interview is essential for success. You need to be able to discuss very specific examples from your background. Without adequate preparation, your performance will suffer. To prepare, look at each of the questions below and develop a 2 to 3 minute story from your background to answer the question. Then, practice the stories. Once you know stories inside and out, try to apply them to other questions. This will help you learn how to answer questions you don’t expect. As you get better, complete a few mock interviews. The more practice you get, the better you will preform. Unfortunately, most job seekers improve their interview skills by going on a lot of interviews. They use their failures to teach them. A better way is to work with a coach and complete mock interviews so that you improve prior to a real interview.

Below is a selection of questions you may encounter:

Fundraising

Tell me about a time when you led a successful fundraising campaign.
Tell me about a time when you missed a fundraising goal.
Tell me about a time when you tried a new approach to fundraising.
Tell me about your most successful fundraising effort.
Tell me about the most innovative fundraising activity you have utilized.
Tell me about the most challenging target group you have approached for fundraising.
Tell me about the biggest donation you have ever obtained.
Tell me about a time when you recognized the contributions of donors.
Tell me about a time when you wrote a grant proposal.

Marketing

Tell me about a time when raised community awareness for your organization.
Tell me about a time when you developed a marketing plan.
Tell me about a time when you expanded the client base you served.
Tell me about a time when you increase public support for your organization.
Tell me about a time when you lobbied a government entity.
Tell me about a time when you recruited new volunteers.
Tell me about a time when you improved volunteer retention.
Tell me about a time when you recruited new board members.
Tell me about a time when you managed a community outreach effort.

Operations

Tell me about a time when you cut costs.
Tell me about a time when you developed a budget.
Tell me about a time when you had a budget shortfall.
Tell me about a time when you improved the efficiency of the organization.
Tell me about a time when you changed a process.
Tell me about a time when you made a significant change in policy.
Tell me about a time when you implemented a new technology.

Virtually any work situation can be assessed with a behavioral question. This makes preparation essential. You need specific examples from your experience that you can discuss and adapt to a wide range of questions. Use the behavioral interview questions above to help identify examples you can talk about in an interview.

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Behavioral Interview Questions About Personal Accountability

Behavioral interview questions focus on assessing your performance in past situations. One common topic for behavioral questions is personal accountability. These questions focus on a candidate’s past failures and the candidate’s willingness to admit their mistakes.

Tell me about a time when you took responsibility for a failure.
Tell me about the last time you made a mistake.
Tell me about your biggest failure in your career.
Tell me about your greatest weakness.
Tell me about a time you did something you regret.
Tell me about a time when you received negative feedback from your boss.
Tell me about a time when you learned from a mistake.
Tell me about a time when you failed to meet a commitment you had made.

To be successful with a behavioral question about failure, you need to give a specific example and acknowledge your responsibility for the failure. Some individuals always have an excuse for their mistakes. Trying to deflect responsibility in an interview will usually make a very poor impression. To be successful with an answer about a failure, include a discussion of what you learned from the experience.

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Behavioral Interview Questions About Organizational Skills

Organizational skills are an important factor in a person’s career and are a common interview topic. There are a wide variety of behavioral interview questions about your organization skills that you could see in an interview.

Tell me about a time when you managed a complicated project.
Tell me about a time when you worked under a tight deadline.
Tell me about a time when you had to multitask.
Tell me about a time when your organizational skills helped you succeed.
Tell me about a time when your planning led to positive results.
Tell me about a time when you missed an important deadline.
Tell me about a time when you went the extra mile to get a project done.
Tell me about a time when you felt overwhelmed by your workload.
Tell me about a time when you took on more than you could handle.
Tell me about a time when you failed to delegate effectively.
Tell me about a time when you delegated an important task successfully.

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Behavioral Questions About Values

Behavioral questions can target any potential situation at work. Included are a selection of questions that target a job candidate’s values, attitude and personal courage.

Behavioral questions ask the job candidate to provide details of a specific situation they have encountered. The interviewer assesses the candidate based on how they performed, since past performance can be an excellent indicator of future performance.

Behavioral questions can target any potential situation at work. Below are a selection of questions that target a job candidate’s values, attitude and personal courage.

Tell me about time when made an unpopular decision.
Tell me about a time when you stood up for your values.
Tell me about a time when you confronted a superior about something they were doing.
Tell me about a time when you took a risk that worked out.
Tell me about a time when you took a risk that didn’t work out.
Tell me about a time when you did something outside your comfort zone.
Tell me about the most embarrassing thing you have done at work.
Tell me about a time when you didn’t stand up for your values and you wish you had.
Tell me about a time when you had a confrontation with a coworker.
Tell me about a time when you took responsibility for a failure.
Tell me about a time when you discovered a coworker was doing something dishonest.
Tell me about a time when you made a decision you knew would make someone mad.

To be successful answering behavioral questions, you need to be specific. General answers will not be effective. The best answer will provide a clear, specific example from your experience.

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Behavioral Interview Questions For Leadership Skills

Hiring managers often focus on assessing the leadership skills of job seekers. To do this, many use Behavioral Interview Questions. A behavioral interview question asks the job seeker to tell a specific story from their experience, illustrating how they acted and the results they achieved in the past. The goal of a behavioral question is to predict how the job seeker will preform based on their past performance.

Below are a selection of questions targeting leadership skills:

Tell me about a time when you led a team with low morale.
Tell me about a time when you managed two people that did not get along.
Tell me about a time when you fired someone that was very well liked at the company.
Tell me about a time when you helped someone improve their performance.
Tell me about a time when you had to get your team to make a major change that they disagreed with.
Tell me about a time when you recognized the achievement of someone you managed.
Tell me about a time when you hired someone that didn’t work out.
Tell me about the most challenging leadership situation you have faced.
Tell me about a time when you delegated effectively.
Tell me about a time when you made an unpopular decision.
Tell me about a time when you took over an under-performing team.
Tell me about the biggest leadership mistake you have made.
Tell me about a time when you had to adapt your leadership style to meet a challenge.

These questions touch on some of the aspects of leadership. There thousands of potential questions, and it is unlikely you will hear any of these specifically. If you prepare for these, though, you should be able to adapt to a wide range of leadership questions.

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Behavioral Interview Answers for Sourcing Careers

Answering behavioral interview questions can be challenging due the level of detail required. Behavioral interview questions assess past performance of a job candidate in order to predict how the individual will perform in the future. To impress a hiring manager, answers need to be specific and detailed.

Behavioral interview questions require the candidate to tell a story. The questions cannot be answered with a yes or no. The best answers will give a detailed example that frames the situation, details the actions taken and gives the results of those actions. Providing an answer with these elements will allow the hiring manager to picture how the candidate performed in the past, leaving a strong, memorable impression.

Many candidates answer in generalities when posed behavioral questions. This is a big mistake. General answers do little to differentiate the candidate, leaving an impression that the candidate is average and ordinary. Instead, a focused example, with clear results, will make the best impact.

Below is a behavioral question followed by two answers. The first answer is a typical general answer many candidates give. The second answer provides a detailed example. Following each answer is an assessment of the effectiveness of the answer.

Example Question: Tell me about a time when a major supplier had significant quality issues with materials shipped to you.

General Answer: Managing supplier quality is a constant challenge. We have supplier scorecards we use to track quality, and perform quality audits on a routine basis. When a major quality problem occurs, we contact the vendor and work to the resolve the problem quickly. This includes traveling to the vendor or having the vendor travel to our facility to work on resolving the problem.

General Answer Assessment: This answer fails to answer the question. It describes how quality problems are dealt with, but does not provide a specific example. Many job seekers make this mistake with behavioral questions. For questions about routine activities, the candidate discusses activity in generalities. Answers like this will not be remembered and will not help sell the candidate to the hiring manager.

Specific Example Answer: Managing supplier quality is a constant challenge. Usually, we can resolve quality issues quickly, without affecting production schedules. One situation I encountered proved to be especially challenging. We had a key raw material with very high quality specifications. Any deviation from these specs made it impossible for us to produce a product to our customer’s requirements. The key vendor we used was located outside of New Orleans. After Katrina hit, it was a major priority to get them up and running. Within a week of the storm hitting, I relocated to their location to monitor the plant restart. The storm damaged some key equipment, leading to fluctuations in quality. It was clear that fixing their problems was not going to happen overnight. I traveled to potential vendors in six countries over a two week period and found two suppliers that could provide this key raw material within our specifications. We expedited shipment and only lost eight production days due to the supply interruption. Today, we divide our purchasing between our original supplier and the two new suppliers, mitigating any risk we might face from a situation like this in the future.

Specific Example Answer Assessment: This answer is specific and addresses the question directly. The example is easy to follow and demonstrates exactly what the job candidate did to solve the problem. In addition, the answer discusses how the supply interruption led to sourcing changes (adding additional suppliers) to ensure that this situation is never repeated.

When preparing for a behavioral interview, develop a number of stories from your experience you can tell. This will allow you to adapt to a wide range of questions. Providing specific examples will also make your answers more memorable.

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Other Great Books to help you prepare for Behavioral Interviews: