Interviews
Use behavioural questions that uncover decisions, not scripts
Use behavioural questions to reconstruct how a candidate handled a relevant situation. Ask for a specific example, then clarify the context, personal ownership, options considered, decision, consequence, and learning. Keep the core prompt consistent across candidates while following the evidence. Judge the quality and relevance of the work, not fluency with an interview formula.
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Choose the behaviour precisely
Tie each question to a scorecard criterion and the role’s actual environment. Instead of ask about leadership, ask about aligning teams when priorities conflict or improving a process without formal authority. A precise behaviour helps candidates choose a relevant example and helps interviewers recognise evidence. Avoid combining several competencies in one long prompt.
Ask for one real event
Invite the candidate to select a specific situation rather than describe what they usually do. Give them a moment to think and allow clarification of the question. A recent example may be easier to recall, but an older highly relevant event can still be useful. Do not require confidential names, numbers, or employer information to make the story credible.
Follow the decision trail
Explore what was known, who was involved, what the candidate personally owned, which alternatives they considered, and why they chose one. Ask what happened and what they learned. If the example uses we throughout, politely isolate their contribution. Follow-ups should deepen evidence, not lead the candidate toward the answer the interviewer wants.
Evaluate substance separately from delivery
Some people answer in a neat sequence; others need prompts to organise memory. Unless concise spontaneous presentation is central to the role, use follow-ups to obtain comparable evidence. Record the underlying judgment, action, and reflection before noting communication relevant to the work.
- Specific situation selected
- Personal ownership separated
- Alternatives and tradeoff explored
- Learning grounded in the result
Recover a generic answer
Illustrative example: asked about conflict, a candidate says they communicate openly and seek alignment. The interviewer asks for the last disagreement that changed a project, what each person wanted, and which decision the candidate made. The candidate describes delaying a launch to correct a support gap. The panel can now assess tradeoff judgment rather than reward a polished principle.
Train with follow-up practice
Give interviewers sample answers and ask them to write neutral probes. Compare whether questions clarify or accuse, and whether they reveal the criterion. Watch for hypothetical detours, rapid-fire questioning, and confirmation bias after an early strong answer. In debriefs, require evidence from the example rather than the interviewer’s summary label. This keeps behavioural interviewing a method, not a slogan. Prepare a route when a candidate has no exact example. Ask for the closest comparable situation and examine the difference; do not silently switch to a hypothetical that receives a different evidence standard. Record the limitation so the panel understands what was and was not established.
Next step
For one interview criterion, write a precise behavioural prompt and six neutral probes covering context, ownership, options, choice, consequence, and learning.