Quick answer: Behavioral interview questions ask candidates to describe something specific they did in the past, like “Tell me about a time you missed a deadline.” Pick four to six questions tied to the skills the job needs, ask every candidate the same ones, probe for what they personally did, and score each answer 1 to 5 against anchors you wrote in advance. The 20 questions and the scoring guide are below.
Why use behavioral questions?
Because past behavior in a real situation tells you more than an opinion about a hypothetical one.
“How would you handle a difficult customer?” gets you the textbook answer. Everyone knows it. “Tell me about the last time a customer was angry with you” gets you a real story, with details you can probe.
Behavioral questions work best inside a structured interview: same questions, same order, same scoring for every candidate. A 2022 meta-analysis by Sackett, Zhang, Berry and Lievens in the Journal of Applied Psychology ranked structured interviews at the top of the selection methods it examined, with a mean validity around .42, compared with about .19 for unstructured interviews. For the full method, read what a structured interview is.
How do you pick the right questions?
Start from the job, not from a list.
- Take the three to five must-have skills for the role.
- Pick one or two questions per skill.
- Write down what a strong answer would include before anyone interviews.
The questions below are grouped by common skills. Don’t ask all 20. Pick what fits the role.
Behavioral interview questions by skill
Ownership and accountability
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake that affected someone else. What did you do next?
- Describe a project where things went wrong and you weren’t the one who caused it. What was your part in fixing it?
- Tell me about a time you noticed a problem that wasn’t your job to fix.
Problem solving
- Walk me through the hardest problem you solved in the last year. How did you approach it?
- Tell me about a time you had to make a decision without all the information you wanted.
- Describe a time your first solution didn’t work. What did you change?
Communication
- Tell me about a time you had to explain something complex to someone without your background.
- Describe a time you had to deliver bad news to a customer, manager or colleague.
- Tell me about a disagreement with a colleague about how to do something. How was it resolved?
Prioritization and time
- Tell me about a week where you had more work than time. What did you drop, and how did you decide?
- Describe a time you missed a deadline. What happened and what did you tell people?
- Tell me about a time you had to say no to a request from someone senior.
Working with others
- Tell me about a time you helped a teammate who was struggling.
- Describe a project where you depended on another team that was slow. What did you do?
- Tell me about feedback you received that was hard to hear. What did you do with it?
Learning and adapting
- Tell me about something you had to learn quickly for work. How did you learn it?
- Describe a time a process or tool changed and you had to adapt.
- Tell me about a time you changed your mind about something important at work.
Leadership (for senior or lead roles)
- Tell me about a time you had to get a group to agree on a direction they initially resisted.
- Describe a time you had to manage someone’s underperformance. What did you do and what happened?
What follow-up probes should you use?
The first answer is usually a summary. The evidence is in the follow-ups.
Use these in any order:
- “What did you personally do?” Use this whenever you hear “we”.
- “What exactly did you say?”
- “What happened as a result? How do you know?”
- “What would you do differently now?”
- “When was this?” Recent examples are stronger than ones from ten years ago.
- “Who else was involved, and what did they do?”
Think of STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) as your checklist. If the candidate gave you situation and action but no result, ask for the result.
How do you score behavioral answers?
Use a 1 to 5 scale with written anchors, and score each answer right after the interview, before talking to anyone else.
| Score | What the answer looks like |
|---|---|
| 5 | Specific, recent situation. Clear personal actions. Measurable or concrete result. Reflects on what they learned. |
| 4 | Specific situation and personal actions. Result is clear but less concrete. |
| 3 | Real example, but some parts are vague or need several probes to get out. |
| 2 | Mostly general statements, “we” without “I”, or a hypothetical answer instead of a real one. |
| 1 | No example, or an example that shows the opposite of the skill. |
Write question-specific anchors for your most important questions. For question 11 (missed deadline), a 5 might be: “Flagged the risk early, told affected people with a new date, and changed something so it didn’t happen again.” A 1 might be: “Blamed others and didn’t tell anyone until after the deadline passed.”
Our interview scorecard template has a ready-made sheet for this.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Asking leading questions. “Tell me about a time you showed great leadership” signals the answer you want. “Tell me about a time a group disagreed with your plan” doesn’t.
- Accepting hypotheticals. If the answer starts with “I would”, redirect: “Can you think of a real time that happened?”
- Scoring on storytelling. A smooth talker isn’t the same as a strong performer. Score the actions and results, not the delivery.
- Different questions for different candidates. Then you can’t compare them.
- Drifting into personal territory. Questions about family, age, health or background are off limits, even in small talk. See interview questions you can’t ask.
Can AI help prepare behavioral questions?
Yes, for the candidate-specific follow-ups. Keep your core questions fixed for everyone.
In Canvider, InterviewGen suggests interview questions from each candidate’s profile and their gaps against the job. Use them as extra probes on top of your fixed behavioral set. Review them before use. A question can be well-formed and still not fit your context.
If you’re comparing finalists after interviews, see how to avoid rubric drift in debriefs.
Try Canvider free. No credit card required.
Frequently asked questions
What is a behavioral interview question?
A behavioral interview question asks the candidate to describe a specific thing they did in the past, such as "Tell me about a time you had to deliver bad news to a customer." The idea is that real past behavior is better evidence than hypothetical answers about what someone would do.
How do you score behavioral interview answers?
Decide before the interview what a strong, average and weak answer looks like for each question, then score every candidate on the same 1 to 5 scale. Strong answers name a specific situation, explain what the candidate personally did, and describe a concrete result. Vague or "we" answers score lower.
How many behavioral questions should you ask in one interview?
Four to six in a 45 to 60 minute interview. Each good answer needs time for follow-up probes. Asking twelve questions gets you twelve shallow answers.
What is the STAR method?
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. It's a structure for answering behavioral questions. As an interviewer, use it as a checklist: if one part is missing, ask a follow-up to fill it in.