behavioural based interview questions

Before the Interview

Review and familiarise yourself with the appropriate Job Description.

Review this interview guide, so that the competencies being evaluated are firmly in your mind.

Read the instructions fully before commencing the interview.

Read and review the position description so responses may be seen in the context of background and experience that will be necessary.

Typically as least two people will be present at the interview.

MANAGING WORK Quickly establishing courses of action for self

and others to ensure that work is completed

efficiently and effectively, while appropriately

monitoring outcomes.

KEY ACTIONSa) Quickly determines tasks and

resources b) Schedules workc) Develops time linesd) Co-ordinates resourcese) Manages planf) Ensures consistent outcomes

Competency Questions

Tell me about a time when you had to coordinate other people and resources to accomplish a complex project or task? What did you do? What was the result?

We have all had times when we could not meet the time lines on our accountabilities. Tell me about a time when this has happened to you? Why did this occur? What did you do?

Tell me about either a long or short-term plan you have implemented for your department?

Key Action Questions

Quickly determines tasks and resources:

Describe how you determine what tasks and resources are required to complete complex tasks or projects? Provide specific example/s.

Schedules work:

Describe how you schedule/organise your own and others work? Provide specific example/s.

Develops time lines:

Describe how you develop project time lines to complete complex tasks or projects? Provide specific example/s.

Coordinates resources:

Describe how you take advantage of available resources (individuals, processes, departments, and tools) to complete work efficiently? Provide specific example/s.

Manages plan:

Describe some recent plans you have had to manage/ implement? Were you able to meet your proposed plan or project criteria (cost, time, quality etc)? How you did you ensure the effective completion of work?

Ensures consistent outcomes:

What processes and systems do you use to track and monitor the implementation of projects or tasks? How effective are these? How do you know? Provide specific example/s.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT KEY ACTIONSa) Handles a rapidly changing

Interview Guide 2 07/04/23

Continuously seeking, and encouraging

others to seek, opportunities for innovative

approaches to meet organisational

opportunities and problems; advocating the

need for self and others to seek a better way

to address work process issues; trying

different and novel ways to appropriately

deal with work issues.

business environmentb) Challenges assumptionsc) Recognises organisational

opportunitiesd) Thinks expansivelye) Changes the gamef) Frees up business systemsg) Encourages new approaches


Can you describe the most creative idea that you have developed and applied to the work place? How long ago was it? How did you arrive at it? What was the result of implementing this in the work place?

Tell me about a time you enabled others to create a new approach to a problem or opportunity? What was the change? What did you do?


Challenges assumptions:

We all strike situations where traditional approaches/assumptions don’t work. When has this happened to you? How have you approached these situations? What has been the result? Please provide specific examples.

Recognises organisational opportunities:

Describe a time when you recognised an organisational problem as an opportunity for process improvement?

Thinks expansively:

Describe a time when you have thought about/approached a problem, opportunity or issue from a different or unique perspective ie thinking outside the square? What approach did you use? What was the result?

Frees up business systems:

People often are resistant to change. What steps have you taken to overcome resistance to change? Give me an example.

What systems/process have you initiated, improved or eliminated to help promote change in the organisation or your business unit? Provide examples.

Encourages new approaches:

What strategies have you used to encourage others to challenge established business assumptions/approaches or develop new ideas/strategies?


SELF DEVELOPMENT Actively identifying new areas for own

learning; regularly creating and taking

advantage of learning opportunities; using

newly gained knowledge and skill on the job

and learning through their application

KEY ACTIONSa) Targets learning needsb) Maximises learning optionsc) Creates opportunities to learnd) Takes risks in learning e) Develops knowledge or skill


Because of all the changes in processes, procedures, and technology, it’s often difficult to keep up with everything there is to know about our job/role. How do you determine appropriate areas to target for learning?

What was the most difficult task you have had to learn in your working life? How did you go about learning it?

In any new job, there are some things we pick up quickly and other things that take more time to learn. In your last job, tell me about something you picked up quickly and something that took more time to learn.

Key Action QuestionsTargets learning needs:

Describe a time when you have sort and used feedback and/or other sources of information to identify appropriate areas for learning? How did you get this information? What was your response to it? Provide specific example/s?

Maximises learning options:

Describe a time when you have identified and participated in appropriate learning activities (eg. courses, self-study, coaching, critically analysing information, experiential learning) to help fulfil learning needs. What was the most important thing that you learnt? How did you apply this learning?

Creates opportunities to learn:

When, if ever, have you pro-actively set up or identified situations to further your own learning? Provide example/s.

Takes risks in learning:

Have you ever put yourself in unfamiliar/uncomfortable situation; or taken on challenging or unfamiliar assignments in order to learn or develop specific skills or knowledge. Provide a specific example.

Have you ever moved for a job or a role? How did you decide whether or not to make the move? How has it helped you?

Develops knowledge or skill: When have you been able to further develop new knowledge or skill by putting them

to practical use on the job? What was the situation? How did you approach it? What was the result?


What other steps have you taken to further develop or reinforce newly acquired knowledge or skills?

VALUING DIVERSITY Showing appreciation of the insights, ideas

and motivations of all individuals and

supporting all others’ diverse styles and

abilities.

KEY ACTIONSa) Takes actions that appreciate

diversityb) Treats others fairlyc) Listens and acts non-

judgementallyd) Seeks understandinge) Confronts inappropriate behaviour


What types of ‘diversity’ issues have you had to deal with in your work environment? What has been your role/s in relation to these issues? How have you approached them? What has been the result? Provide some specific examples.

What are some of the main ‘diversity’ challenges currently facing your business unit? What steps have you taken to address these? Provide some specific example/s.


Treats others fairly:

Have you ever received feedback on how fairly you treat others? What have you been told? Please be specific.

In dealing with others in your team/business unit/organisation how do balance their individual needs/requirements? What do you do? What has been the impact of this approach? Examples

Seeks understanding:

When working with people from different cultures or backgrounds, how did you approach these situations? What steps/actions, if any, did you take to be more effective in these situations? What was the result?

Confronts inappropriate behaviour:

Can you tell me about the last time you saw some inappropriate behaviour in the workplace? What happened? What did you do?


DECISION MAKING Securing operational information and

identifying key issues and relationships

relevant to achieving medium term goals;

developing alternative courses of action

based on logic and the impact on people;

after creatively considering the options while

balancing the risks and opportunities,

committing to the best course of action.

KEY ACTIONSa) Seeks informationb) Evaluates informationc) Understands risk/opportunity

balanced) Develops and considers

alternativese) Makes decisionf) Implements continuous

improvements


Please describe one of the most difficult/challenging work problems you have ever had to solve? Explain how you approached the problem and reached a decision.

Describe a situation in which you had to determine the best course of action to address a work issue/opportunity. Explain what you did and why.

Think about a recent ‘good’ decision you made and a recent decision that wasn’t as ‘good’. Describe the process you used to make both decisions.


Seeks information:

Describe a time you recognised the need for additional information to better understand an issue, problem, or opportunity. How did you determine what information you needed? What did you do to get it? What was the result?

Understands risk/opportunity balance:

Describe a time when you have had to make a decision based on balancing the opportunities and risks associated with the situation? What were the ‘opportunity’ and ‘risk’ factors? How did you select your ultimate option?

Makes decision:

Describe a course of action you selected to achieve a medium term goal or vision? How did you select this action? What was the result?

Implements continuous improvements:

What types of decisions do you review? How do you determine whether the decision has been effective or not? How have you responded to these reviews? Provide specific examples.


PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Developing and maintaining collaborative

relationships with all potential business

partners and stakeholders to facilitate the

accomplishment of business goals; working

within the business environment to facilitate

sales.

KEY ACTIONSa) Establishes approachb) Seeks opportunityc) Clarifies the current situationd) Develops ideas collaborativelye) Shows respectf) Facilitates agreementg) Follows through

Key Competency Questions

Working with business partners/stakeholders usually involves some give and take. Describe a time when you worked out an agreement with a business partner/stakeholder or got them to support a particular project or activity? What did you do? What was the result?

Sometimes it can be difficult and frustrating to get necessary information from business partners/ stakeholders so that you can solve a problem or accomplish your goals. Please describe a situation you’ve had like this. What did you do?

Describe a situation when you needed to resolve conflicting ideas/needs with business partners/stakeholders in order to facilitate the accomplishment of work goals.

Key Action QuestionsEstablishes approach:

Describe a time when you have consciously developed an approach to win support of key decision-makers for a solution or project you wanted/needed to implement? What did you do? What was the result?

Clarifies the current situation: Describe a time you recognised the need to collect information to better understand a

business partners’ or stakeholders’ situation or requirements. How did you determine what information you needed? How did you get it? What was the result?

Develops ideas collaboratively:

In dealing with business partners or stakeholders they often have their own ideas as to what a solution should look like or how it will be implemented. Sometimes these will be different to your proposed approach. Provide an example of when this has happened to you. How did you deal with this? What did the final solution look like?

Follows through

Often it is difficult to cover all requirements in one meeting. Can you think of a situation where you were required to follow-up some information or action for a business partner/key stakeholder. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the result? Any other examples?


TEAMWORKUsing appropriate methods and a flexible

interpersonal style to actively contribute to a

cohesive team; facilitating the completion of

team goals.

KEY ACTIONSa) Treats others with respectb) Communicates fully, openly and

honestlyc) Balances all needsd) Facilitates goal accomplishmente) Clarifies structuref) Actively collaboratesg) Accepts the final decision


What has been your most satisfying team experience? What was the situation? What was your role? What did you do to contribute to team success?

We have all had less than perfect results working as part of a team? Can you describe a situation when this happened to you? What was the problem? What was your role and how did you approach it?

Key Action QuestionsTreats others with respect:

What feedback have you had about the way you encourage others to contribute their opinions and/or experience. Please provide examples.

Provide example/s of how you have maintained and/or not maintained others perception of self worth? What did you say/do? How did they respond/react?

Communicates fully openly and honestly:

Describe a time when you had information that would benefit the team or group that no one else on the team had. What did you do? What was the result?

Describe a time/s when you have shared your views with other team members; even when you thought they would be unpopular. What did you say? What was the outcome?

Balances all needs:

How do you prioritise the different and sometimes conflicting goals of the organisation, team, and self? What criteria do you uses? What has been the result of this approach?

Facilitates goal accomplishment:

Tell me about a time when a team you were on got stalled and was not functioning effectively. What was the problem? What did you do?

Actively collaborates:

Tell me about a time when you encouraged the less active team members to get more involved? What did you do? What was the result?

Teams are comprised of a variety of people with diverse perspectives. Tell me about a time when you encouraged others to share their ideas?


SELF CONDUCT Displaying loyalty to the organisation and

others; acting professionally even when

events cause anger and frustration; behaving

in line with organisational values.

KEY ACTIONSa) Is loyal to the organisationb) Demonstrates honestyc) Behaves ethicallyd) Handles frustratione) Maintains a ‘whole life balance’

Competency Questions How would you describe your general self-conduct? What would you see as you’re main

strengths and possible development needs in this area? Can you be specific? Give me some examples?

Often situations at work can cause us a great deal of anger and frustration. Describe the last time this happened to you. What was the situation? How did you respond? What was the result?

Key Action QuestionsIs loyal to the organisation:

Often organisations make decisions that don’t support our view or personal/business unit objectives. Have you ever been in this situation? What did you do/say? What was the result

Have you ever had to take the role of organisation champion ie promoted the organisation’s position/strategy to others? Why did this occur? What did you do/ how did you approach this? What was the outcome?

What do you think of the organisations current image in the community? Is it positive or negative? Have you ever discussed this image with others? What was your view? Please be specific.

Behaves ethically:

How would others describe the way you conduct yourself with regards to the organisation expectations and values? Can you give me some specific examples?

Handles frustration:

Walk me through a particularly frustrating situation you faced recently. How do you react to this situation? Is this reaction typical? Have you ever had any feedback about your reaction? Please be specific.

Maintains a “whole life balance”:

How do you attempt to balance out the demands of work with “home” life. What strategies have you adopted to achieve this? How successful (or otherwise) has that been? What tells you that? Please provide examples.


CUSTOMER FOCUS Discerning customer needs and concerns;

addressing customer issues and helping

others to meet customer needs.

KEY ACTIONSa) Seeks to understand customersb) Educates customersc) Develops ideasd) Takes action to meet customer

needse) Maintains customer trustf) Manages customer expectationsg) Sets up customer feedback

systems


Tell me about a time when you had to work with a customer to understand and meet their needs. What was the situation? What did you do? What was the result?

In your current role/position how do you ensure that internal/external customer needs are being met? Please provide specific examples of what you have done.

What skills or qualities have you found to be effective in building productive relationships with internal/external customers? Please provide examples of when you have used those skills or qualities.

Key Action QuestionsSeeks to understand customers:

Describe how you determine the needs/circumstances/expectations of your customers. What do you specifically do? How do you determine if the customer understands their requirements/needs? Please provide specific example/s.

Takes action to meet customer needs:

Can you describe a time when you were able to effectively meet a customer’s needs/concerns or resolve a customer’s problems? What was the situation? What did you do? What was the result? Any feedback from the customer?

Maintains customer trust:

What steps have you taken to build trust with your customers? Describe a specific situation. What did you do? What was the result? Any feedback (word or action) from the customer.

Manages customer expectations:

Sometimes customers can be very demanding or have unrealistic expectations of the product or service provided by the organisation? Can you describe a time when this happened to you? What was the situation? What did you do? What was the result? Any feedback from the customer?

Sets up customer feedback systems: What method/s do you use to monitor and evaluate customer concerns, issues and/or

satisfaction? How effective is/are this/these method/s? How do you know? Provide specific example/s.


ACHIEVEMENT FOCUS Setting high standards of performance for

self and others; assuming accountability for

successfully completing assignments or

tasks; self-imposing standards of excellence

rather than having standards imposed.

KEY ACTIONSa) Creates standards of excellence

for othersb) Goes above and beyondc) Is driven to achieve excellent

outcomesd) Is persistente) Encourages others to take

responsibility


We’re not always satisfied with our performance. Tell me about a time that you weren’t pleased with your performance. What did you do? What was the result?

Are you satisfied with your business unit’s (team’s) performance? Why or why not? What have you done to get them to improve it?


Goes above and beyond:

What actions have you taken that go beyond normal job requirements in order to achieve objectives/ deliver on a specific business goal? Provide specific example/s.

Is driven to achieve excellent outcomes:

How would you describe the general standard of your own work? What feedback have you received from others? Provide examples – situation, your approach, results

Describe one or more of your projects/tasks/strategies that was not up to standard? What was your role? What did you do or not do?

Is persistent:

Describe a time when you had to work to overcome obstacles to complete a specific task or project?

Describe a time/s when you either; tried a new approach due to a changed work situation/task requirement or dropped an established approach that was not working? What was the situation or task? What did you do? What was the result?


behavioural based interview questions

Documents

implements continuous improvements

ensures consistent outcomes

confronts inappropriate behaviour

achieve excellent outcomes

understands risk opportunity balance

recognises organisational opportunities

maintains customer trust

manages customer expectations