Behavioural Questions

A. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate is a team player, have the ability to handle
disputes within the team, wether they have understanding, attitude and commitment to
teamwork and how well they’d fit into the culture at workplace.
1. Tell me about a project you completed as part of a team.
2. Tell me about a time when you had to work with a particularly difficult team member.
3. Have you ever had to settle a dispute between two staff members? How did you do this?

Good Sign:

 Candidate who gives the specifics of each story including how any problems arose and how
they were ultimately solved.
 Candidate who shows genuine enthusiasm about teamwork.
 Their story will reflect fairness, honesty, communication, delegation and respect.

Bad Sign:

 Candidate who attempts to scapegoat and badmouth others.

 Candidate who gives generic answers like ‘I’ve always been a team player, I love working
with other people.

B. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate can cope with a tough workload, not focusing
on the fact that they miss the dateline, which inevitable that even the most competent
employees occasionally will, but It’s how employees react to those situations that will
define their ability to cope with a tough workload.
4. Describe a time when you missed a deadline or target. What did you do to rectify this?
5. Tell me about a time when it got to the end of the day, but you hadn’t completed your
task.
6. Have you ever faced a particularly heavy workload and how did you handle the
pressure?

Good Sign:

 Candidate who shows a commitment to go the extra mile and get all of the critical tasks
completed.
 Candidate who keeping the relevant people up to date, without upsetting the delicate
balance between work and home life.
 Candidate who exhibit flexibility, work ethic and time management.
Bad Sign:

 Candidate who’s going to head home, leaving the entire company in disarray, but not
necessarily someone who’ll put their job above all else, leading to horrendously long hours,
no social life or relaxation and inevitable burnout.

C. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate have problem solving ability.
7. Can you tell me about a situation when you personally had to solve a problem at work?
8. What was the best idea you came up with in your last job?
9. Could you tell me about a mistake you made in work, why you made that mistake and
how you rectified the situation?

Good Sign:

 Candidate who methodically walks you through their decision making process,
 Candidate who highlighting instances of initiative, creativity, reason and intellect (despite
the end result).
 Candidate who shows clear signs of problem solving abilities.

Bad Sign:

 Candidate who make decisions that are made thoughtlessly, or based on arrogance (“I just
knew I was right”).
 Candidate who appear to run to their manager at the first sign of trouble.
 Candidate who has no answer at all.

D. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate have interpersonal communication ability.
Wether they can communicate sensitively and professionally.
10. Tell me about the last time a customer got angry with you?
11. Tell me about a time when someone couldn’t understand what you were trying to put
across?
12. Could you describe a time when you had to persuade someone?

Good Sign:

 Candidate who can demonstrate their understanding of how to manage people in a

professional and courteous manner, using persuasive, conflict resolution and calming
techniques is really worth their weight in gold.

Bad Sign:
 Candidate who badmouth their colleagues and clients.
 Candidate who give some generic answers where the story mostly made up one.

E. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate have leadership ability.

13. Tell me about a time when you took a leadership role
14. Tell me about a project, where you had to delegate tasks effectively
15. What is the toughest team you’ve ever had to lead and how did you do it?

Good Sign:

 A balanced candidate who clearly emphasize the value in teamwork, but also display a
readiness to delegate, manage and plan a project.
 The ability to motivate others and confidence in their own decision-making.

Bad Sign:

 Candidate who give some generic answers like ‘I always like to lead people in my
professional and personal life’.

F. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate have achievement ability, to set and meet
goals and targets for themselves, without relying on someone else. Whether the goals were
realistic, whether they successfully reached them and how they coped if they didn’t.
16. How do you go about setting goals for other people in your team?
17. In the past, what professional goals have you set for yourself?
18. Give me an example of a personal goal you set and how you overcame obstacles to
reach it?

Good Sign:

 Candidate who shows a clear cut goal-setting process and the ability to assess situations
(both in personal and professional lives) to ensure that those goals are relevant and realistic.
 When goals aren’t met, they will seek to discover what went wrong and work out how to
avoid these shortcomings in the future.

Bad Sign:

 Candidate who clearly aren’t that interested in the goal-setting process, preferring to “wing
it”.
G. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate is willing to follow as well as lead, especially
when there are people above who have more experience and expertise. But not someone
who’s going step on toes the whole time.
19. Tell me about a time when you had to do something, even though you knew you were
right?
20. Describe a time when you let a suitable colleague take the lead on a project?
21. What type of role do you take within a team?

Good Sign:

 Candidate who answer the question fairly, describing how they got the job done regardless
and raised concerns at an appropriate momentalistic.
 Motivating other employees to do the same.

Bad Sign:

 Candidate who give negative responses who may have felt put out when employers and
colleagues didn’t listen to them.
 Candidate who proclaim to be right all of the time.

H. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate is resilient. Most jobs will impart a certain
degree of stress and pressure and it’s important to know that your employees can cope with
that.
22. What do you do to refresh yourself after a tough day at the office?
23. Are there any negatives at your current workplace? How do you cope with them?
24. Tell me about a particularly tough time you’ve experienced during your current
workplace?

Good Sign:

 Candidate who show evidence of their ability to motivate.

 Inspire others and help them to get through the tough times.

Bad Sign:

 Candidate who overly emotional about the subject

 Candidate who seems overworked
 Candidate who shows signs of resent and anger
I. Objectives : to find out wether the candidate is adaptable.
25. Tell me about a time when you’ve gone above and beyond your job role.
26. Describe a situation when you had to adjust to the way someone else worked.
27. When is the last time you learnt something outside of work?

Good Sign:

 Candidate who clearly exhibit the ability to move within roles and are more than willing to
take on extra responsibilities, (for example, organising events or helping other teams with
their workload).
 Enthusiasm and ambition to try new things.
 won’t lay blame and will focus on the positives of their experiences.

Bad Sign:

 Candidate who badmouth their co-workers, for example, ‘I had to step in because they were
doing it all wrong.’