Behavioral Interview Guide
Overview:
Throughout an interview process, you will likely have one or more behavioral interviews
with a company of interest. If you are ever unsure of the type of interview you are
scheduled for, you can ask your recruiter for clarity in advance. Behavioral Interviews
allow recruiters and members of a hiring team to assess how and if your past
experiences, behaviors, and skills demonstrate the key characteristics and competencies
they have deemed essential for the role for which you are interviewing and/or the
company. They also allow the hiring team to delve further into the experiences listed
throughout your resume, and in some cases, learn more about you outside of what you
have included on that document.
Before the Interview:
• Spend time thoroughly researching the company. You will likely be asked why you are
interested in the company, and you want to be able to connect your interests back
to the organization’s mission, values, and past/current work.
• Familiarize yourself with the job description. You want to be able to draw correlations
between your past experiences, skills and overall qualifications and the position
requirements. Highlight the most important qualifications from the job description,
and then mark up your resume with those words to begin to identify what you will
talk about in the interview.
• Draft 3-5 questions for each interview. If you have several interviews within one day,
make sure that you have questions prepared for each person you’ll be speaking
with. These questions should be authentic to your curiosities and should not be
easily answered by searching the internet or the company’s website. If you know
the names of the people you are interviewing with, it is a good idea to tailor your
questions to that person’s background and work that they do within the company.
• Prepare responses to classic interview questions. These can be questions about
yourself and your interests and about your background/experience as it pertains
to the job description. You should not write out a script for these responses, as you
may come across as sounding too rehearsed. Instead, it will be particularly helpful
to practice your responses aloud or write a few bullet points per question to help
you to remember what you would like to say.
o Tell me about yourself. You will be asked some version of this question in
every interview. Take 1.5-2 minutes to provide the employer with relevant
details about your present, past and future. Include specifics about your
current work/area of study (present), highlight 2-3 related projects/work
experiences (past), and explain how these skills, qualifications and
experiences align to the position/make you a strong fit (future).
(Prepare responses to classic interview questions cont.)
o General Interview Questions: Prior to formal behavioral interview questions, an interview
may ask you general questions that can include follow-up questions regarding content on
your resume, your skill sets, your interest in the company, etc.
o Behavioral Questions: These questions center around your experience and align closely to
the job description. Always respond using the STAR response method to ensure you are
providing the full context of your experience to the employer. To learn more about the
STAR response method or question examples, read ahead to the “During the Interview” and
“Examples of Behavioral Interview Question” sections.
During the Interview:
• Arrive early and dress professionally. When in person, you should arrive 10-15 minutes before your
scheduled arrival time and for video meetings, you should arrive 5 minutes early. For most phone
interviews, the employer will call you, but if you are initiating the call, do so right at the agreed
upon time. Be sure to dress appropriately, whether you are talking in-person or virtually.
o Typically, this means business professional or business casual. If you are unsure of the
company’s dress code/interview attire expectations, ask your Career Consultant or the
recruiter you’ve been working with throughout the process. For additional guidance you
can turn to the Professional Attire Guide in Canvas.
• Remember to smile and stay confident! You have been selected for this interview because you are a
capable and qualified candidate. Smiling throughout the interview will not only show the
interviewer that you are interested in the opportunity, but it will also relax you.
• Respond thoroughly using the STAR response method. If you are unfamiliar with the STAR method, it
stands for Situation, Task, Action and Results, and helps you ensure that you are providing the
interviewer with all of the relevant information in response to their question.
o SITUATION: What was the context? Who was involved? Where were you working?
o TASK: What were you asked to do? What problem were you trying to solve?
o ACTION: What steps did you take to complete the task, or solve the problem? Who did you
collaborate with? What skills or tools did you use? What were your behaviors and actions?
o RESULTS: What was the outcome? What lesson did you learn? How did others react?
After the Interview:
• Follow-up and thank the people with whom you interviewed. During the interview, be sure to ask your
contacts for their email addresses, and within 24-hours of your interview, send each interviewer a
personalized thank you note. In the note, emphasize your qualifications and skillset in relation to
the position. Try to mention something you and the person talked about that made this a
memorable or enjoyable experience. Send separate thank you notes to each individual you
interviewed with, and make sure they are different from one another.
• Be patient as you wait for next steps and decisions. We recommend waiting to check-in on the status
of your application until 1-2 weeks after your interview, unless you have been given a different
timeline, longer or shorter, by the employer.
Examples of Behavioral Interview Questions:
Examples
• TellofmeQuestions to Ask:
about a time when you worked with someone who was difficult. Employers may ask this
To explore career paths and learn about work…
question to gain an understanding your ability to work effectively with others. For those hiring for
• What inspired you to work in this field?
a team, they may want to ensure that you can build professional relationships and overcome any
• How have you
obstacles enjoyed
in the workingprocess.
collaborative for your company?
•• Can
Giveyou
metellan me aboutof
example some
a timeof the
thatprojects youor
you failed have
madeworked on? This question allows employers
a mistake.
• What
to seewas your
if you interview
are willing toand applicationmistakes
acknowledge process like
thatwhen you were
you have made,trying to enter
but also to seethe field?
how youHow
did you prepare?
recover from them or what you have learned. Your emphasis should be on these learnings instead
• What
of dwellingthe
were on most impactful
the mistake things that you did prior to graduating that have helped you
itself.
• throughout
Tell me about your career?
one of the most challenging problems you have had to solve while on a team.
• What is the most rewarding thing about working
Evaluating your teamwork, collaboration in this industry?
and resiliency The
is essential formost
thosechallenging?
hiring for a team.
To expand your professional network…
Your interviewer wants to know that in challenging times, you can effectively communicate and
• Iswork
there anyone
well else you’d
with others recommend
on your I speak
team to find with in the field?
solutions.
•• I’m gettingastarted
Describe withproject
long-term my jobyou search—what
worked on—howrecommendations
did you stay would
on topyou give to someone
of deadlines? in my
An employer
position?
may ask you this question to understand your time/project management skills, as well as how you
• May I keep
operate in touch
under as I continue
pressure. The employermy jobwants
search?
to ensure that you can work efficiently/effectively
To communicate professionally…
and be accountable.
• What’s your opinion on [exciting development in the industry]?
• I recently
Additional Supportcompleted research on [enter field of study], and I am interested in continuing to find
Resources:
• solutions for [insert
Big Interview: Allowsproblem area]—can
you to practice you tell me
key questions byabout how your
recording organization
and reviewing yourhas prioritized
responses.
• this
Mockkind of work?Interviews: Schedule a 40-minute appointment with your Career Consultant, and
Behavioral
mark “Mock Interview” as your note. These allow you to practice popular interview questions
Examples of Connection and Conversation Request Messages:
and/or prepare for a specific interview and receive immediate, constructive feedback from a
Old Colleague, LinkedIn Request: Hello Anish, I hope your new position at Google is going well! I’d like to
member of the CPDC.
stay connected with you on LinkedIn and look forward to chatting again soon.
Unknown Connection or Alumni, LinkedIn Request: Hello Mr. Gupta, I recently started my master’s program
Questions?
at Carnegie Mellon University,
• Appointments with yourand saw your
Career talk oncan
Consultant Machine [Link]
be scheduled I wouldHandshake.
love the opportunity to
speak with o
youHandshake
more about→your experience at CMU and
Career Center → Appointmentscareer path.
Conversation Request: Hi Robert – Hope all has been well. I am closing out my master’s program at
Carnegie Mellon University, where I have been working on research around automated driving. I noticed
you’ve been doing similar work at [Link]. I would love to hear about your transition into the autonomous
vehicle industry after graduating from your master’s program, as well as more about your current work.
Would you have 15-20 minutes to connect sometime this month? I’m happy to meet in-person or talk
over the phone.
Conversation Request: Hello Mr. Smith - Thank you for accepting my LinkedIn request to connect. As I
mentioned previously, I am currently getting my master’s in Computer Vision at Carnegie Mellon, with an
interest in spherical CNNs. I am very interested in learning more about your work across the artificial
intelligence industry. Would you have 15 minutes of time in the coming weeks to set up a phone
conversation so I might be able to tell you a little more about my research and ask you some questions
regarding your work?