Behavioral-Based Interviewing: Training Your Organization to Hire the Best People
School Advisor, 2007 Issue No. 1  

Research indicates that untrained interviewers take four minutes to reach a hiring decision about a candidate. As you might guess, their decisions are often based on the firmness of a handshake, the directness of eye contact, or just liking the way a candidate looks. Simply put, interviewers are making a decision based on their first impressions or gut reactions to a candidate. While these factors can be important to success on the job, many factors related to job success are left unexplored.

The good news is that interviewers can be easily trained to improve their skills! Behavioral-based interviewing provides a blueprint for hiring the best people.

Behavioral-based interviewing is derived from the principle that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. First, it focuses on those behaviors that are most important to success on the job; then, questions are created that probe for specific examples of when the candidate did or did not display these behaviors. The behavioral-based interviewing technique pinpoints the exact qualities needed for a job and focuses questions on those critical behaviors. Consequently, decision making is based on data directly related to success on the job rather than first impressions.

What is Behavioral-Based Interviewing Skills Training?

The behavioral-based interviewing skills training process involves the following five steps:

1. Participants are taught to identify the key behaviors necessary for job success.
2. Participants learn to develop specific questions related to these behavioral success factors. These questions also take into consideration the organizational culture and the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities important to succeed in specific jobs.
3. Participants receive training on how to avoid common interviewing errors.
4. Participants receive training on effective interviewing techniques. This includes asking probing follow-up questions, controlling the pace of the interview, and setting the tone for an effective interview.
5. Participants practice what they’ve learned and receive feedback on their interviewing skills.

If you are interested in learning more about this process, plan on attending our workshop at the April MSBO Conference.