No, behavioral interviewing has been around since the 70's when industrial psychologists developed a way of "accurately"
predicting whether a person would succeed in a job. They
concluded that if candidates were asked questions that requested
examples of past behavior it would be an indicator of their
future behavior.
So, employers began using this interviewing technique to
determine whether you were a good fit for the job. The technique
is of growing interest to companies who would like to choose the
"right" candidate, especially in today's market with so
many candidates for them to choose from.
The types of questions that are asked using this technique are
used to find out how and what you did in the past and the skill
sets you used in the process - if you did it before you can do it
again!
The difference between a behavioral question and other questions
is what the question asks for. A behavioral question will be very
specific. For example when asked, "Tell me about a time when you
solved a problem," the key words are "a time." This
answer calls for a "specific" example of a "specific"
incident.
When traditional questions are asked they usually include the
word "if." When "What would you do if…" questions
are asked you can use your imagination to come up with an answer.
For example, "What would you do if you had a problem to
solve?" The word, "if," is the clue word that indicates
the interviewer wants to hear your thought process - how you think
through a problem. This question does not require a past experience
example.
While preparation is important for every interview, it is
essential to prepare for the behavioral interview. You must have
examples or stories for anything you have claimed on your resume
or that you say in an interview.
One example would be, if you claimed you were very organized on
your resume. A natural question for the interviewer would be:
"Tell me about a time when you organized a project." It is now
your task to let the interviewer know that you have had success
when organizing a project or event. In other words, prove what
you said you did by providing an example.
There are several methods and acronyms suggested for formatting
your stories but the main point to remember is that any story has
three key elements:
A beginning – "There was a time…."
A middle – "The action steps I took were…"
An Ending – "The end result was…"
Stories should be interesting and full of action. Give the
interviewer something to remember about you. A savvy interviewer
will be able to hear skills from the stories and judge your
behavior from your past actions. The more details and skills you
can work into your story, the more convincing your story will be.
Preparing your stories before the interview will take the
mystique out of behavioral interviewing and allow you to tell the
success stories you want your interviewer to hear. Through your
examples the interviewer will begin to get a clear picture of you
and be able to decide whether you are the right person for the
job based on your past experience and successes.
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