Understanding Great Behavioral Interviewing Questions

Summary

Great behavioral interviewing questions ask candidates to describe specific past experiences that demonstrate the skills and behaviors required for a role. When interviewers ask consistent, job-relevant questions and probe for complete examples, they can gather stronger evidence to compare candidates and make more objective hiring decisions.

Behavioral interviewing questions have gotten a bad rap.

Although behavioral interviewing is a key element of one of the most valid, evidence-based methods for gathering information to make a hiring decision, some people don’t like to use it. As someone who has trained hundreds of leaders in behavioral interviewing skills, I’ve heard every objection. This is too much structure. I’ve got great intuition about people, so I don’t need this. It feels too scripted.

But relying primarily on intuition can make it harder to evaluate candidates consistently. The questions interviewers ask—and the evidence they gather from the answers—provide a more structured way to understand whether someone has demonstrated the skills needed for the job.

That matters when hiring the right people remains a significant challenge. DDI research shows that 58% of leaders say hiring the right talent is their toughest challenge.

So what makes a behavioral interviewing question effective? Let’s look at what these questions are designed to uncover, how to make them relevant to the role, and how to evaluate the evidence candidates provide.

What Are Behavioral Interviewing Questions?

Behavioral interviewing questions are used in structured interviews to get candidates to provide specific examples of their past job behavior. This is based on the premise that past behavior predicts future behavior.              

Effective behavioral questions focus on a specific competency or behavior required for success in the role. Rather than asking what a candidate would do, they ask for evidence of what the person has done.

In addition, some people confuse behavioral interviewing questions with situational interview questions. While both focus on how someone approaches a specific scenario, they differ in one important way: Behavioral questions focus on what a candidate has done, while situational questions ask what a candidate would do in a hypothetical situation.

Situational questions can help you understand how a candidate thinks through a scenario or whether they know what to do. But behavioral questions give you evidence of how the candidate has actually responded in the past.

That also gives interviewers more to evaluate. Instead of judging only whether an answer sounds good in theory, you can look at the situation the candidate faced, the actions they took, and the results they achieved. For example:

• Situational: “What would you do if a team member resisted a major change?”
• Behavioral: “Tell me about a time you had to gain buy-in from someone who resisted a major change. What did you do?”

A situational question can reveal whether a candidate knows what they should do, while a behavioral question gives you an actual example of what they did. Interviewers can then evaluate the actions the candidate took and the results they achieved.

Why Structured Behavioral Interviewing Questions Matter

Most of us like to think we’re good at sizing up other people. But interviews can make it easy to overestimate how much we can learn from first impressions or conversational chemistry.

Someone who is outgoing and confident may immediately seem like a strong fit, while someone who is more reserved or nervous may make a less favorable first impression. But neither tells us how that person has actually performed in situations relevant to the job.

Behavioral questions also give candidates the opportunity to tell the story of their relevant experiences. By listening to how they handled challenges, made decisions, worked with others, or adapted to change, interviewers can better understand the behaviors a candidate has demonstrated and the results they achieved.

And because the questions are structured around the role's requirements, the interview can feel more focused and purposeful for both the interviewer and the candidate. Rather than relying on broad questions like “Tell me about yourself,” interviewers can spend their time gathering information that is directly relevant to the hiring decision.

What Makes a Great Behavioral Interviewing Question?

This is where behavioral interviewing questions can help. By asking probing questions about a candidate’s past behavior, you give them an opportunity to tell the story of their job-relevant experiences. By listening to those stories, you can see how they’ve behaved in a variety of situations and gather specific evidence about their skills and approach.

When you ask behavioral questions skillfully, you also create a more structured experience for candidates. They have a chance to share relevant examples of their work and understand which skills and behaviors matter for the role. A focused interview also makes better use of everyone’s time. Rather than relying heavily on broad questions, interviewers can use the conversation to gather information directly related to the job's requirements.

Above all, the way you interview signals to candidates the kind of organization they’ll be joining. A thoughtful, deliberate behavioral interviewing process shows that you take hiring seriously, and that you value the candidate’s time and experience.

Common Behavioral Interview Questions

A behavioral interview question often starts with phrasing like “Tell me about a time when…” or “Think of a situation where you….” But the best question depends on the competency you need to assess. 

Here are several behavioral interviewing question examples tied to common workplace competencies:

You should make your behavioral interview questions as specific to the role as possible. Remember, you’re trying to gather examples that are similar to what the candidate will experience on the job.

Highly relevant behavioral interview questions also help with internal stakeholder buy-in. If you encounter resistance to behavioral interviewing, it might signal that hiring managers think the questions are too generic. If behavioral interview questions don’t address the job's challenges, managers will be less likely to use this approach. So if someone applies for a sales position, for instance, “Tell me about the most challenging sale you ever made. What obstacles did you have to overcome?” is a much better question than “Tell me about a time you overcame a challenge at work.”

The goal isn’t to build a massive library of generic questions; it’s to identify what matters most for success in the role and ask questions that give candidates an opportunity to demonstrate those behaviors.

How to Ask Behavioral Interviewing Questions Effectively

Having the right behavioral interviewing questions is only part of the equation. How you ask them—and how closely you listen to the answers—determines the quality of the information you gather.

Interviewers need to give candidates enough time to think through their experiences while listening for specific details about what they personally did. And when an answer is incomplete, the right follow-up questions can uncover missing information without leading the candidate toward a particular response.

To get the most useful evidence from each candidate, focus on these behavioral interviewing best practices:

• Ask the same core questions consistently. Using a common set of job-related questions makes it easier to compare evidence across candidates.
• Give candidates time to think. Behavioral questions ask people to recall specific experiences, so don't assume a brief pause means they don't have a good example.
• Listen for specific behavior. Pay attention to what the candidate personally did rather than only what the team accomplished.
• Probe when information is missing. The first answer rarely contains every detail you need. Follow-up questions help you understand the candidate’s role, reasoning, actions, and results.

This is where interviewer training becomes critical. Anyone can read a question from an interview guide. Skilled interviewers know how to listen closely and probe without leading the candidate toward a preferred answer.

How to Assess Candidate Responses in a Behavioral Interview

Once a candidate answers, determine whether you have a specific behavioral example and enough information to understand what happened. DDI’s STAR model provides a useful framework for gathering that evidence:

• Situation/Task: What was happening, and what needed to be accomplished?
• Action: What did the candidate specifically do?
• Result: What happened as a result of those actions?

Candidates may prepare for a behavioral interview by identifying relevant experiences and practicing how to communicate them using STAR. But even a prepared answer may not give you all the information you need to evaluate the example.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of accepting an incomplete response. If they describe what sounds like an effective action, we may check the box and move on to the next question. But did they share a result? By doing a little probing, you may find the action wasn’t as effective as it sounded. Or perhaps it was even more effective than it sounded.

The real skill in behavioral interviewing isn’t asking the prepared questions. It’s asking smart follow-up questions. If you don’t gather all elements of the STAR, you miss critical information. Candidates often get off track and give general statements instead of a specific example. Train yourself to listen for phrases like:

• “I would…”
• “I believe…”
• “I generally…”

These are all clues that what the candidate is about to say is not about specific past behavior. The candidate may be describing a belief, typical approach, or hypothetical response instead. A well-placed follow-up question can redirect the conversation toward a specific past example.

How to Ask Effective Follow-Up Questions

If a job candidate says, “I believe all members of the team should have a voice in decisions that impact them,” I would respond with, “Great! I believe that too. Tell me about a time you gathered input from multiple team members to make a decision that affected them.”

Other useful follow-up questions include:

• “What was your specific role?”
• “What did you do next?”
• “How did you decide on that approach?”
• “What alternatives did you consider?”
• “How did the other person respond?”
• “What was the result?”
• “What did you learn from the experience?”

Another tip is to avoid accepting “we” statements at face value. If a candidate talks about something “we” did, ask them what their role was.

Most importantly, evaluate the evidence rather than the polish of the answer. A compelling storyteller isn’t automatically the strongest candidate. Interviewers should consider what each example demonstrates about the competency being assessed and evaluate it using consistent criteria. Then, bring the evidence together across interviewers. Rather than relying on general impressions like “She seems great” or “I don’t think he’s a good fit,” interviewers should share the most relevant examples they gathered so the hiring manager has a more complete picture to inform the final decision.

Behavioral Interviewing Questions Are Just the Start

The right questions are essential to an effective behavioral interview, but they're only the start. Interviewers also need the skills to listen for specific behavior, probe for complete examples, evaluate responses consistently, and integrate evidence across the interview team. When questions tie directly to job requirements, and organizations evaluate every candidate against consistent criteria, they build a stronger foundation for objective, evidence-based hiring decisions.

And as hiring challenges continue, that discipline matters. Rather than relying on who interviews best or makes the strongest first impression, behavioral interviewing helps organizations focus on the evidence that matters most: what candidates have actually demonstrated in situations relevant to the job.