Behavioral interview: what it is and what it means

The behavioral interview is an interview technique that builds its questions around the candidate's real past situations, rather than preferences or future intentions. The logic is that past behavior in similar situations is the best predictor of future behavior. The standard format is STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Each question forces the candidate to describe a specific event, reducing generic answers and the room for constructing answers.

Distinctive: real past situations
Distinctive: past behavior in similar situations is the best predictor
Essential: Situation, Task, Action, Result
Essential: specific event
Constant: reducing generic answers

Glossary

Behavioral interview

An interview technique that asks questions about real past situations (STAR format) to predict future behavior, reducing rehearsed answers and emotional decisions.