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Top 10 behavioral interview questions to ask candidates
Workstream Blog

Top 10 behavioral interview questions to ask candidates

By Workstream

August 13, 2020 | 2 min read

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Having assisted over 5,000 hiring managers (including recruiters from McDonald’s and Uber) in modernizing their company's hiring process, we've identified the top behavioral interview questions to ask candidates. 

Behavioral questions are some of the most effective ways of assessing if a candidate is a good fit for your position and your company's culture. Your goal is to uncover how they handled past work situations. This serves as a good litmus test and can help with the decisions around who to hire or not. 

How to assess answers to behavioral questions

This has been an age-old question for many interviewers, especially less-experienced hiring managers. After all, candidates have varied experiences and answers. With the top 10 behavioral interview questions, how do you objectively assess the answers and compare them across different candidates? 

Unfortunately, there isn’t a definitive answer. Many interviewers we’ve worked with still base their selection process on ‘gut feeling’ and intuition. And that’s perfectly fine. Some nuances and idiosyncrasies cannot easily be quantified by a metric. That’s where the art of interviewing and being perceptive often comes in.

Nonetheless,when asking the top 10 behavioral interview questions, many interviewers opt to use a metric scale, the most popular of which is the Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS). BARS compares an individual’s performance levels to specific examples of behavior that are anchored to numerical ratings.

A simple range of performance levels could be: Unacceptable, Acceptable, and Exceptional OR Below Expectations, Meets Expectations, Exceeds Expectations. Based on a scale of 1-7, you can then assign a score depending on their answer. Let’s see this in action.

Top 10 behavioral interview questions to ask candidates

We’ve added our proposed metrics to help you assess possible answers to each of the identified best interview questions to ask candidates. Feel free to augment them based on the answers you’re looking for. As a general rule of thumb, the highest points are often awarded if the candidate gives a satisfactory response based on the STAR method of answering these interview questions. 

Question 1: Describe a time when you were a team player on a project or initiative. What was your role, and how did you contribute to the team in that role?

Competency: Teamwork and communication

1-1 (1)

Question 2: Describe a time when you handled a difficult situation.

Competency: Problem solving

2-3 (1)

Question 3: Describe a time when you made a mistake and what you did to correct it.

Competency:  Problem solving and accountability

3-3 (1)

Question 4: Can you tell me about a time when you had to deal with an irate customer or client?

Competency: Interpersonal awareness and customer orientation

4 (1)

Question 5: Describe a time when you were in conflict with a co-worker and how you resolved the situation.

Competency: Communication and conflict resolution

5 (1)

Question 6: Have you ever disagreed with a manager or superior? How did you resolve it?

Competency: Interpersonal awareness, problem-solving, and flexibility

6-1 (1)

Question 7: Describe a time when you set a goal. How did you achieve it?

Competency: Establishing focus and determination

7-1 (1)

Question 8: Describe a time when you did not have sufficient time to complete your work. What did you do?

Competency: Decisiveness and analytical Thinking

8-1 (1)

Question 9: Describe a time when your team was undergoing change. How did that impact you, and how did you adapt?

Competency: Managing Change

9-1 (1)

Question 10: Tell me about a time you were dissatisfied with your work. What could have been done to make it better?

Competency: Critical self-reflection 

10 (1)

While behavioral questions aren’t the only type of interview questions to ask candidates, they're undoubtedly one of the most effective. 

Still unsure of the best interview questions to ask candidates? Check out our ultimate guide to interviewing candidates here.

ultimate guide to hiring ebook
By Workstream
Workstream is the leading HR, Payroll, and Hiring platform for the hourly workforce. Its smart technology streamlines HR tasks so franchise and business owners can move fast, reduce labor costs, and simplify operations—all in one place. 46 of the top 50 quick-service restaurant brands—including Burger King, Jimmy John’s, Taco Bell—rely on Workstream to hire, retain, and pay their teams. Learn how you can better manage your hourly workforce with Workstream.

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Personal information is any data that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked to you or your household. A few examples of personal information include:

  • Name or nickname
  • Email address
  • Purchase history
  • Browsing history
  • Location data
  • Employment data
  • IP address
  • Profiles businesses create about you, including pseudonymous profiles (“user1234”)
  • Sensitive personal information

Sensitive personal information or “SPI” is a subset of personal information, defined as:

  • Identifying information (e.g. social security number, driver’s license)
  • Financial data (e.g. debit or credit card numbers)
  • Precise geolocation (within a radius of 1,850 feet)
  • Demographic or protected-class information (e.g. race/ethnicity, religion, union membership)
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Right to Opt-Out

Californians have the right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information. That means you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties (e.g. data brokers, advertisers). You also have the right to opt-out of the sharing of your personal information to prevent the targeting of ads across different businesses, websites, apps, or services.

CCPA-covered businesses must provide a link to allow you to exercise this right. It is usually found at the bottom of a webpage and will say “do not sell or share my personal information” or “your privacy choices.” Sometimes businesses offer privacy choices through a pop-up window or form

To opt-out of the sale and sharing of your personal information, click on the link or use the toggle provided by the business and follow the directions. Doing this on every website you visit can feel burdensome, but to ease the burden you can automatically select your privacy preferences for every website by using an opt-out preference signal, or OOPS for short.

An OOPS is a user-friendly and straightforward way for consumers to automatically exercise their right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of their personal information with the businesses they interact with online. An OOPS, such as the Global Privacy Control. It can either be a setting on your internet browser or a browser extension. With an OOPS, consumers do not have to submit individual requests to opt-out of sale or sharing with each business.

Right to Limit

Californians also have the right to direct businesses to limit the use and disclosure of their sensitive personal information.

Businesses covered under the CCPA must provide a link on their website that allows you to request the limiting of your SPI, if they plan on using it in certain ways. That link will also typically be at the bottom of a webpage and will say: “limit the use of my sensitive personal information” or “your privacy choices.” Once you send this request, the business must stop using your SPI for anything other than to:

  • Provide requested goods or services
  • Ensure security and integrity
  • Prevent fraud
  • Maintain system functionality
  • Comply with legal obligations

Bringing it Together

In summary, the CCPA gives you the right to opt-out of the sale and sharing of your personal information and gives you additional rights to further limit the use and disclosure of your sensitive personal information.

When you exercise these rights together, you exert greater control in protecting your personal data which is important for your identity, safety, and financial health.

If you are on a business’s website and you can’t find the links to exercise your rights, remember to check their privacy policy. The privacy policy should tell you how you can exercise your rights under the law.

If you find your rights being violated, you can submit a complaint to CalPrivacy.

Next in the LOCKED series, we will explore the right to correct and right to know. Follow us on social media to get live updates or check back in one week for the next post.

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