Behavioral Interviewing With PXTS
Behavioral interviewing was introduced in the 1980’s by industrial psychologist, Dr Tom Janz. The premise of the behavioral interview is that past behavior is predictive of future behavior.
How Does Behavioral Interviewing Work?
Job specific behaviors are identified and then applicants are asked about past situations to see if correct behaviors can be identified. For instance, if staying calm is a vital competency needed for an accounts receivable position, a behavioral question could be, “Tell me about the angriest client you have ever had to deal with when trying to collect past-due payments?” and “How did you handle the situation?”
The validity of this interview method has been studied and assessed in regards to future job performance. These studies show that the structured behavioral interview format based on actual experience yield personnel with better future job performance in positions that require relatable skills. Traditional interviews using the resume driven approach are less predictive of job success when critical behaviors are required.
How Is Situational Interviewing Different?
The Situational Method suggests planning scenarios of potential work-related challenges and then, asking the candidate how they would handle the challenge. First, you write out possible situations which may arise on the job, then you identify possible solutions and identify which solutions best fits the situation in descending order. These solutions can even have point values to help you objectively score the candidate as he or she responds to the questions.
The Situational Interview measures problem solving related to key skills on the job that the incumbent will encounter and can substitute the behavioral interview question when the candidate has no past experience to refer back on. The questioning might look like this:
- Each situation is introduced by a statement to describe the scenario.
“Tell me what you would do in the following situation.”
- Describe the scenario.
“You are leading a cross-functional team. This team has only been together for one month and
already people are not coming to the meetings prepared with what has been agreed to as their responsibility.”
- Next, ask the candidate what they would do and ask them why.
“What would you do?” “Would you elaborate on why you chose to do it that way?”
PXTS Interviewing
The PXT Select Comprehensive Selection report provides the hiring manager with predictive behavioral interview questions related to numerical, verbal, job-related traits, and job interests (motivators). Wherever the candidate does not meet the performance dimension range that has been established for the open position, the PXTS provides sample behavioral questions to guide further probing of the specific competency.
For example, let’s say the job requires the person to NOT be assertive in his role – to be unassuming, diplomatic, and have less of a need to control or influence interactions. But the candidate is more assertive than is needed for the position.
A behavioral question that would be provided in the Comprehensive Selection report would be:
“Describe a recent situation where you felt it was best to defer to others or not take action. What were the results?”
or
“When working with a team in the past, how do you get buy-in from your colleagues if you think you have a good or better idea?”
In addition, the PXTS will briefly describe the candidate in regards to the dimension being measured and provide advice on what to be listening for as the candidate responds to your behavioral questions. For instance, with the above example of Assertiveness, the PXTS Comprehensive report describes the candidate as:
He tends to be very comfortable sticking up for his opinions and needs. And then will suggest, Listen for: How willing he is to soften his level of assertiveness or defer to others when a situation calls for it.
If you’d like a sample report to get a better feel of how our hiring assessment includes behavioral interviewing questions to support the key competencies you’re wanting to measure in an interview, you can request one below!
