Key takeaways
- Shift from Guessing to Evidence: Stop making hiring decisions based on “vibes” or superficial adjectives like “I’m a hard worker.” Use the Behavioral Interview to force candidates to provide concrete proof of past actions. Because the best predictor of future performance is past behavior, requiring real-world examples ensures you hire for proven resilience and problem-solving rather than just a polished CV.
- Prioritize “How” Over “What”: While technical skills get someone through the door, behavioral competencies like conflict resolution and adaptability determine if they will actually succeed on your team. Use a Structured Interview process where every candidate is asked the same behavioral questions in the same order; this removes “gut-feeling” bias and allows for a fair, data-driven comparison of candidates.
- Enforce the STAR Method for Clarity: Don’t let candidates hide behind vague “we” statements or general theories. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to drill down into what they personally did and the measurable impact it had. If a candidate can’t walk you through these four steps, it’s a major red flag that they lack the fundamental experience or habit they are claiming to have.
Table of Contents
The Behavioral Interview is part of Monday Simon Manager Development Program:
👉 Module 6: Recruitment for managers (Coming Soon)
When to Use the Behavioral Interview
A behavioral interview is a structured interview, but focused on behaviors. You are assessing candidates by asking them to describe real past situations that show how they think, act, and solve problems. Instead of guessing future performance, you evaluate concrete behaviors using examples guided by the STAR method.
Switch to a strict Behavioral interview style anytime you are facing these hiring challenges:
- You are tired of hiring people who look great on paper but struggle with the messy, complex, day-to-day conflict and pressure of your actual team environment.
- You need to evaluate a candidate’s “soft skills”, such as resilience, conflict resolution, or accountability, but need concrete evidence, not just self-flattering adjectives.
- You are hiring for a critical role where failure is expensive, and you cannot afford to risk a hire based on a superficial assessment.
My key argument for behavioral interviews is that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. This interview technique in the recruitment process of organizations who are not just looking to hire for “technical skills”.
Hire for Behaviors, Train for Skills: Myth or Opportunity?
Most companies say they hire for “skills”. In reality, skills tell you what a candidate has done in the past. Behaviors tell you how they will perform in the future.
Soft skills, such as communication, problem-solving, empathy, teamwork, and critical thinking, are transferable across roles. They strengthen performance, help teams collaborate, and support internal mobility and succession planning. Employees with strong behavioral strengths adapt faster, learn faster, and often become key talents you want to retain.
This is why behavioral interviewing has become a core part of a structured interview process. When used properly, it helps hiring managers look beyond the CV and assess whether someone will succeed inside the team, not just whether they look good on paper.
Why Behaviors Matter More Than Ever
Soft skills have become a genuine competitive advantage. They help people move across roles, take on new challenges, and grow into leadership positions. As a result:
- Teams with strong behavioral skills perform better long-term
- Employees with these skills stay longer because they see growth opportunities
- Managers can promote internally with more confidence
- Recruiters can balance “experience” with “future potential”
When you hire based on behaviors, you are not hiring for the past: you are hiring for your future team.
Why a Structured Interview Focused on Behaviors is Essential
Behavioral interviewing only works if your process is structured. A structured interview means:
- Every candidate gets the same questions
- Asked in the same order
- Scored using the same criteria
- Evaluated against the same behaviors and competencies
This removes the guesswork and avoids “gut-feeling hiring”. It also allows you to compare candidates fairly and see clear patterns in how they behave. If you want to prepare interview questions for your next interview, check out my custom ChatGPT for interviews.
The STAR method: Your Best Tool for Behavioral Interviewing
Most candidates talk in general statements:
“I always help my team.”
“I am very organized.”
“I am a good communicator.”
This tells you nothing.
The STAR interview method helps you dig into real behavior:
- Situation: What was the context?
- Task: What was their responsibility?
- Action: What did they personally do?
- Result: What happened because of their actions?
If a candidate cannot give a clear STAR answer, it usually means the behavior is not a natural strength.
Additional Benefits of The Behavioral Interview
Mastering the Behavioral interview is one of the quickest ways to improve the team’s output and your own job satisfaction:
- Slashes turnover costs: By hiring based on proven past performance, it drastically reduces the risk of costly mis-hires who fail due to poor judgment or attitude.
- Improves team culture: Hired people who have demonstrably handled conflict, ambiguity, and failure in a mature, professional way, raising the bar for everyone else.
- Saves management time: New hires onboard faster because they already possess the fundamental work habits and mental models required for specific challenges.
If you need further resources check out my managers tools page.
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