Benefits of behavioral interviewing

SelfDeterminationTheory

Incorporating behavioral interviewing questions in hiring process has several benefits. Behavioral interviews are based on the fact that the past performance of any applicant is the best predictor for his or her future performances.

Questions that are asked in behavioral interviews are designed in such a manner that they can help in revealing the extent to which an applicant possesses the much needed core competency or characteristics which are desired by the employees. Hence questions asked in the behavioral interviews are more specific, pointing and probing in nature than traditional interview questions. They are geared towards exploring the applicant’s demonstrated behaviors in his previous works.

In other words instead of asking the candidate as to how he would behave, the behavioral interview questions asks the candidate as to how he did behave.

Questioning an applicant in this manner allows the interviewer to not just hear what the candidate accomplished in the past, but also as to how the candidate went about reaching a goal.

Here are some of the major benefits of behavioral interviewing a person.

Helps in finding out integrity

Questions asked during behavioral interviewing a candidate helps the interviewer to understand the integrity of the applicant. While the candidate talks about his past actions, the interviewer can understand the truthfulness of the story and thus check upon the integrity of the applicant.

Helps in finding out leadership qualities

When the candidate answers to behavioral interviewing questions, the interviewer can judge upon, if the applicant has leadership qualities, which can be easily identified by his or her past actions. This helps the interviewer to assess the candidate if he or she is capable of performing managerial tasks.

Aids in finding out initiative

When a candidate is reviewed for selection in an organization using behavioral interviewing techniques, it becomes easier for the interviewer to understand whether or not the applicant had initiative to accomplish his or her jobs in a self-motivated manner. It helps the interviewer to find out if the candidate is a “go getter’ or if he or she is not.

Helps in assessing communication skills

Since behavioral interviewing answers are more of telling stories about what the candidate has done in the past, hence it becomes easier for the interviewer to understand the level of communicational skills the candidate possess while he or she illustrates his or her past actions.

Helps in understanding problem solving skills

During behavioral interviewing a candidate as the questions that are asked are asked in a fashion whereby the candidates need to describe the situation that they were in or the task that they needed to accomplish, hence unlike traditional interviews, this interviewing technique helps the interviewer to understand better the candidate’s problem solving skills.

Helps in measuring adaptability

As during behavioral interviewing the candidates need to recall recent situations that shows favorable behavior or actions, this type of interviewing helps in gauging the candidate’s adaptability skills.

Apart from the above stated benefits behavioral interviewing also helps the interviewer to understand the candidate’s interpersonal skills, before making him or her pass through the interview.

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