Behavioral interview prep

1. These are questions designed to learn how you would respond to a specific workplace situation, and how you solve problems to achieve a successful outcome. Unfortunately, these are the type of questions that are least expected by candidates and hence candidates are least prepared for them. No matter how technically strong a candidate is, if they don’t answer behavioral questions well, chances are they won’t get the offer. While there are no right or wrong answers to these kinds of questions, they are based on your previous experiences, projects, work ethics, and professionalism.

2. Companies like Amazon lay a great amount of emphasis on behavioral questions. For instance, Amazon is famous for asking behavioral questions based on its Leadership Principles. Read Amazon’s Leadership Principles here: amazon.jobs/en/principles. These principles, although observed within Amazon strictly, generally hold good for most technology companies.

3. Some resources for preparing for behavioral questions: https://interviewgenie.com/blog-1/interviewing-at-amazon-behavioral-interview-questions https://interviewgenie.com/blog-1/how-to-interview-at-amazon-with-leadership-principles https://futureofworking.com/amazon-behavioral-interview-questions/

4. The list of behavioral questions in the last link above is applicable to many technology companies, not just for Amazon. Use the STAR or CAR format to frame your answers.

5. As you can see, there are 50+ commonly asked behavioral questions. It is recommended that you prepare answers with 1-2 scenarios for each of these questions to avoid blanking out when faced with an unprepared question, or worse, replying to it with a bad answer that will ruin your success at the interview.

6. A single situation of your professional life (past company, an academic project, etc) can serve as an answer to one or more behavioral questions. It depends on how you frame your situation and what details you highlight in your answer.

7. Remember, the intention behind answering these questions is to demonstrate your professionalism, work ethic, your ability to learn from mistakes, your ability to manage time and resources well, and your interpersonal skills while working in a team. Make sure you portray yourself as a strong candidate.