Behavioral interview questions ask candidates to describe real situations from their past. The premise: past behavior predicts future behavior better than hypotheticals or self-assessments.
This guide organizes questions by the competency they assess, with evaluation criteria for each. Use 2-4 questions per interview, chosen based on the role's requirements.
What Makes a Behavioral Question?
Behavioral questions start with phrases like:
- "Tell me about a time when..."
- "Describe a situation where..."
- "Give me an example of..."
- "Walk me through how you handled..."
They're designed to elicit specific, real examples - not hypotheticals about what someone "would" do. The difference matters:
"How would you handle a disagreement with your manager?"
"Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager's decision. What did you do?"
Hypothetical questions test how well candidates can imagine an ideal response. Behavioral questions test what they actually did when it mattered.
The STAR Framework
Evaluate behavioral answers using the STAR framework. Strong candidates naturally structure their answers this way. If they don't, use follow-up questions to fill gaps.
Situation
What was the context? The setting, players, and constraints. Look for enough detail to understand the stakes.
Follow-up: "Can you give me more context on what was happening at the time?"Task
What was their specific responsibility? What were they trying to accomplish? Clarify their role vs. the team's.
Follow-up: "What was your specific role in this?"Action
What did they actually do? This is the core. Look for specific steps, not vague descriptions. Use "I" not "we."
Follow-up: "Walk me through exactly what you did step by step."Result
What happened? Quantify if possible. Include what they learned, even from failures.
Follow-up: "What was the outcome? What did you learn?"How to Score
Rate each answer 1-4 based on how well the candidate demonstrated the target competency:
A score of 3 means the candidate meets expectations for the role level. A 4 indicates they exceeded what you'd expect. Don't inflate - most good candidates score 3s.
Leadership
Assesses: Ability to guide, motivate, and develop others. Decision-making under uncertainty. Taking ownership of outcomes.
Tell me about a time you had to lead a project or initiative without formal authority.
What to Look For
- How they built buy-in and influence
- Specific tactics for alignment (not just "I convinced them")
- Ownership of the outcome, not just the process
- Awareness of stakeholder motivations
Red Flags
- Blames others for lack of authority
- Waited for permission instead of acting
- Can't articulate how they influenced others
- Takes credit for team outcomes
Follow-up Questions
"How did you handle pushback from people who didn't want to participate?"
"What would you do differently if you had to do it again?"
Describe a difficult decision you made that was unpopular with your team.
What to Look For
- Clear reasoning behind the decision
- How they communicated the "why"
- Empathy for those affected
- Willingness to make hard calls
Red Flags
- Can't name a specific decision
- Avoided the conflict entirely
- Dismissive of others' concerns
- Changed course due to pressure, not new information
Follow-up Questions
"How did you communicate this decision to the team?"
"What was the aftermath? Would you make the same decision today?"
Tell me about a time you helped someone on your team develop or grow.
What to Look For
- Specific development actions (not just "I mentored them")
- Understanding of the person's goals and gaps
- Follow-through over time
- Pride in others' success
Red Flags
- Generic mentorship claims without specifics
- Only helped when explicitly asked
- Focus on what they taught vs. what the person learned
- Can't describe the person's growth trajectory
Follow-up Questions
"What was your approach? How often did you meet?"
"How did you know the development was working?"
Problem Solving
Assesses: Analytical thinking, creativity in finding solutions, ability to break down complex problems, and judgment in ambiguous situations.
Walk me through how you diagnosed and solved a complex problem at work.
What to Look For
- Structured approach to diagnosis
- How they gathered information
- Considered multiple solutions before deciding
- Validated the solution actually worked
Red Flags
- Jumped to solution without diagnosis
- Didn't consider alternatives
- Can't explain the reasoning behind their approach
- No follow-up to confirm the problem was solved
Follow-up Questions
"What other approaches did you consider? Why did you choose this one?"
"How did you know you'd actually solved the root cause?"
Tell me about a time you had to make a decision with incomplete information.
What to Look For
- Acknowledged what they didn't know
- Found ways to reduce uncertainty
- Made a clear decision despite ambiguity
- Created contingency plans
Red Flags
- Waited for perfect information (analysis paralysis)
- Made decision without acknowledging risks
- Blamed the outcome on lack of information
- No framework for decision-making
Follow-up Questions
"What information did you wish you had? How did you work around not having it?"
"If you had more time, what would you have done differently?"
Describe a time when your initial solution to a problem didn't work. What happened next?
What to Look For
- Quickly recognized the failure
- Analyzed why the first approach failed
- Adapted strategy based on learning
- Ultimately reached a working solution
Red Flags
- Denies having failed approaches
- Kept trying the same thing
- Blamed the failure on external factors
- Didn't learn from the experience
Follow-up Questions
"How quickly did you realize the first approach wasn't working?"
"What signals told you to change course?"
Collaboration
Assesses: Ability to work effectively with others, contribute to team success, share credit, and navigate cross-functional relationships.
Tell me about a successful collaboration with someone whose working style was very different from yours.
What to Look For
- Recognizes and values different styles
- Adapted their approach to work better together
- Focused on shared goals despite differences
- Built a sustainable working relationship
Red Flags
- Only talks about their own style preferences
- Expected the other person to adapt entirely
- Framed differences as the other person's problem
- Minimal effort to understand the other perspective
Follow-up Questions
"What specifically did you do differently to work with this person?"
"What did you learn about yourself from this collaboration?"
Describe a time when you needed to get buy-in from stakeholders who had competing priorities.
What to Look For
- Understood each stakeholder's priorities
- Found common ground or win-win framing
- Communicated value in terms they cared about
- Navigated politics without manipulation
Red Flags
- Went around stakeholders instead of through them
- Assumed their priority should be everyone's priority
- Used positional authority instead of persuasion
- Burned bridges to get short-term wins
Follow-up Questions
"How did you figure out what each stakeholder cared about?"
"Were there any stakeholders you couldn't get on board? How did you handle that?"
Give me an example of a time you helped a struggling teammate or colleague.
What to Look For
- Proactively noticed someone needed help
- Offered support without being asked
- Helped in a way that built their capability
- Respected their dignity in the process
Red Flags
- Only helped when it benefited them
- Took over instead of teaching
- Made the person feel worse about struggling
- Complained to others about having to help
Follow-up Questions
"How did you approach them? Did they ask for help or did you offer?"
"What was the outcome for them in the longer term?"
Communication
Assesses: Clarity in verbal and written communication, ability to adapt message to audience, active listening, and handling difficult conversations.
Tell me about a time you had to explain something complex to someone without technical background.
What to Look For
- Assessed the audience's knowledge level
- Used analogies, examples, or visuals
- Checked for understanding along the way
- Adjusted based on feedback
Red Flags
- Used jargon despite knowing the audience
- Blamed the listener for not understanding
- Didn't simplify - just repeated louder
- Showed impatience with questions
Follow-up Questions
"How did you know when they understood? What signals did you look for?"
"What approach did you take to make it accessible?"
Describe a time you gave someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?
What to Look For
- Delivered feedback directly but kindly
- Focused on behavior, not personality
- Had specific examples ready
- Offered support for improvement
Red Flags
- Avoided giving the feedback at all
- Delivered via email to avoid confrontation
- Made it personal or attacked character
- No follow-up after the conversation
Follow-up Questions
"How did they receive it? What was the conversation like?"
"Did their behavior change? How did you follow up?"
Tell me about a time when you received feedback that was hard to hear. What did you do with it?
What to Look For
- Accepted the feedback without defensiveness
- Sought to understand the feedback fully
- Took concrete action to address it
- Showed genuine growth from the experience
Red Flags
- Claims to never have received negative feedback
- Immediately defensive or dismissive
- Blamed the feedback giver
- No evidence of actual change
Follow-up Questions
"What was your initial reaction? How did you process it?"
"What specifically did you change as a result?"
Adaptability
Assesses: Ability to handle change, adjust to new situations, stay productive under shifting priorities, and thrive in ambiguity.
Tell me about a time when priorities shifted significantly mid-project. How did you handle it?
What to Look For
- Accepted the change constructively
- Quickly reassessed and reprioritized
- Communicated changes to stakeholders
- Maintained quality despite disruption
Red Flags
- Complained extensively about the change
- Continued with the original plan regardless
- Blamed leadership for shifting priorities
- Quality suffered significantly
Follow-up Questions
"What was your initial reaction when you learned about the change?"
"How did you decide what to deprioritize?"
Describe a situation where you had to learn something new quickly to complete a task.
What to Look For
- Proactive approach to learning
- Resourceful in finding information
- Applied learning effectively under pressure
- Acknowledged gaps honestly
Red Flags
- Waited for someone to teach them
- Claimed to already know everything needed
- Refused tasks outside comfort zone
- Didn't retain or apply the learning
Follow-up Questions
"What was your learning strategy? What resources did you use?"
"How did you know when you'd learned enough to proceed?"
Tell me about a time you had to work effectively with minimal direction.
What to Look For
- Self-directed without being reckless
- Sought clarity on outcomes, not steps
- Made reasonable assumptions and validated them
- Kept stakeholders informed proactively
Red Flags
- Paralyzed without detailed instructions
- Made major decisions without any check-ins
- Complained about lack of direction
- Needed constant validation to proceed
Follow-up Questions
"How did you decide what to prioritize without explicit guidance?"
"How did you keep your manager or team informed?"
Initiative
Assesses: Proactiveness, self-motivation, ability to identify opportunities and act on them without being asked.
Tell me about something you did at work that wasn't asked of you but that you thought needed doing.
What to Look For
- Identified a real gap or opportunity
- Took action proactively
- Aligned the effort with team/company goals
- Followed through to completion
Red Flags
- Can't think of any examples
- Initiative was actually assigned by someone
- Effort was misaligned with priorities
- Started but didn't finish
Follow-up Questions
"How did you identify this as something worth doing?"
"How did your manager or team respond?"
Describe a time you saw an opportunity to improve a process. What did you do?
What to Look For
- Specific improvement with measurable impact
- Built consensus before implementing
- Considered potential downsides
- Documented or shared the improvement
Red Flags
- Improvement was trivial or hypothetical
- Implemented without buy-in, causing problems
- Can't quantify or describe the impact
- Only complained, didn't act
Follow-up Questions
"What was the impact? How did you measure it?"
"Did you face any resistance? How did you handle it?"
Tell me about a time you went above and beyond what was expected of you.
What to Look For
- Clear understanding of baseline expectations
- Genuine extra effort with purpose
- Impact beyond just working more hours
- Intrinsic motivation, not just seeking praise
Red Flags
- Confuses long hours with going above and beyond
- Extra effort wasn't valuable to anyone
- Expects recognition for doing their job
- Burned out from unsustainable patterns
Follow-up Questions
"What motivated you to put in that extra effort?"
"How did it affect your other responsibilities?"
Conflict Resolution
Assesses: Ability to navigate disagreements constructively, address interpersonal tensions, and find resolutions that preserve relationships.
Tell me about a significant disagreement you had with a colleague. How was it resolved?
What to Look For
- Addressed the conflict directly
- Sought to understand the other perspective
- Found a constructive resolution
- Maintained or improved the relationship
Red Flags
- Claims to never have disagreements
- Avoided the person or issue entirely
- Escalated before trying to resolve directly
- Still clearly holds resentment
Follow-up Questions
"What did you understand their position to be?"
"What's your relationship with that person like now?"
Describe a time when you mediated a conflict between others.
What to Look For
- Stayed neutral and objective
- Listened to both sides fully
- Helped parties find common ground
- Conflict was actually resolved, not suppressed
Red Flags
- Took sides overtly
- Imposed a solution rather than facilitating
- Conflict continued or escalated
- Made the situation about themselves
Follow-up Questions
"How did you maintain neutrality?"
"What made you get involved in the first place?"
Tell me about a time you had to push back on something your manager asked you to do.
What to Look For
- Had valid reasons for pushing back
- Communicated respectfully but clearly
- Offered alternatives when possible
- Accepted the final decision gracefully
Red Flags
- Never pushes back on anything
- Pushback was disrespectful or insubordinate
- Continued to resist after decision was made
- Complained to others instead of addressing directly
Follow-up Questions
"How did your manager respond?"
"What happened after you pushed back?"
Growth Mindset
Assesses: Openness to learning, ability to reflect on failures, commitment to continuous improvement, and resilience after setbacks.
Tell me about a significant mistake you made at work. What happened and what did you learn?
What to Look For
- Owns the mistake without excessive excuses
- Took responsibility for fixing it
- Clearly articulates what they learned
- Changed behavior as a result
Red Flags
- Can't recall any mistakes
- Blames others or circumstances entirely
- Mistake was actually a humble-brag
- No evidence of learning or change
Follow-up Questions
"What would you do differently if faced with the same situation?"
"How did you communicate the mistake to others?"
Describe a skill or area where you've significantly improved over the last few years.
What to Look For
- Specific, measurable improvement
- Intentional development strategy
- Can describe what "before" and "after" looked like
- Continues to develop, not resting on laurels
Red Flags
- Vague claims without evidence
- Improvement was just natural experience
- Can't describe how they improved
- No ongoing development plans
Follow-up Questions
"What specifically did you do to improve?"
"How do you know you've improved? What evidence do you have?"
Tell me about a time you failed to achieve a goal you set for yourself.
What to Look For
- Set ambitious goals in the first place
- Reflects honestly on why they fell short
- Shows resilience - didn't give up entirely
- Applied learnings to future goals
Red Flags
- Claims to always achieve their goals
- Goal was too easy to be meaningful
- Gave up completely after the failure
- Blames the goal rather than their approach
Follow-up Questions
"What did you take away from that experience?"
"How did it affect your approach to goal-setting afterward?"
Quick Reference: More Questions by Competency
Leadership (additional)
- Tell me about a time you had to delegate something important.
- Describe a situation where you had to motivate a disengaged team member.
- Give me an example of a time you led through uncertainty or crisis.
Problem Solving (additional)
- Tell me about a time you identified a problem before anyone else noticed.
- Describe a creative solution you developed to an unusual problem.
- Walk me through how you approach prioritizing multiple urgent issues.
Collaboration (additional)
- Tell me about a time you had to work with a team that was geographically distributed.
- Describe a successful cross-functional project you contributed to.
- Give me an example of how you've built relationships with people in other departments.
Time Management (additional)
- Tell me about a time you had to manage multiple competing deadlines.
- Describe how you've handled a situation where you had more work than you could complete.
- Give me an example of a time you said "no" to a request because of competing priorities.
Customer/Client Focus (additional)
- Tell me about a time you went out of your way for a customer or client.
- Describe a situation where you had to deliver bad news to a customer.
- Give me an example of how you've incorporated customer feedback into your work.
Integrity (additional)
- Tell me about a time you saw something unethical at work. What did you do?
- Describe a situation where being honest cost you something.
- Give me an example of a time you had to make an unpopular decision because it was the right thing to do.
Tips for Interviewers
Ask the Same Core Questions
Every candidate for the same role should get the same behavioral questions. This enables fair comparison and reduces bias. Vary follow-ups, not core questions.
Let Silence Work for You
Don't rush to fill silence. Candidates often need time to think of specific examples. Comfortable pauses lead to better, more thoughtful answers.
Probe for Specifics
If an answer is vague ("I'm a team player"), ask for a specific example. If they say "we," ask what specifically they did. Details reveal truth.
Note Immediately
Write notes during the interview, not after. Memory is unreliable, and details matter for fair scoring. Jot key phrases, not full transcripts.
Score Before Discussing
Complete your scorecard independently before debriefing with other interviewers. This prevents groupthink and ensures diverse perspectives are captured.
Don't Help Them Answer
Resist the urge to suggest examples or rephrase questions to make them easier. How candidates handle difficulty is valuable signal.
A Note on Fairness
Behavioral interviews are more predictive than unstructured conversations, but they still favor candidates who've had opportunities to accumulate relevant experiences. Be mindful of experience gaps due to background, not ability. A less-polished answer from someone with less experience may indicate equal or greater potential than a polished answer from someone who's simply done it more times.
Focus on the quality of reasoning and learning - not just impressive stories.