Behavioral Interviews
Behavioral interviews are becoming increasingly popular for interviews. A behavioral interview required the applicant to cite how they have handled different situations. The interviewer may ask for the applicant to tell the committee about a time they had to deal with a certain situation (describe a time you had a disagreement with a co-worker) or the applicant may be given a specific scenario to explain.
An example:
Interviewer says:
“A student becomes very upset because their financial aid has been delayed or cancelled. How would you handle the situation?”
To answer a behavioral question, know the 5 steps of problem solving. They will work in any situation.
- Listen to the issue or problem. Just listening can often help solve the issue.
- Define the issue or problem. What is going on? Why is the student upset? What caused the problem?
- Identify possible solutions. How can the problem be solved? Who can help solve the problem? How can the student get information from this source?
- Make a plan to implement the solution. Help the student formulate the steps in goal planning.
- Question if the solution solves the problem. Is the student still upset? What else can be done?
If there is no obvious solution referrer to a supervisor. For students this may mean walking them to the supervisor to get their questions answered.
