Yay! You've made it past the screener and are now prepping for the interview. Interviews often use behavioral questions for ease of administration and to make sure everyone gets a similar interview experience. Pro-tip for corporate roles, more often than not, the behavioral interview questions will be taken from the organization's core values. I know it's a fact for my former employer Amazon, as the questions are based on the Amazon Leadership Principles and at my current organization as well.
Let's practice! Answer the question below and type your answer using the STAR method.
Practice question 1
Tell me about a time when you had to work under pressure or extreme conditions.
Result (what was the impact?)
Here is a sample answer:
I worked as a teacher when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down our schools(situation) and I was given two weeks to create face to face and online learning to accomodate students (task). Due to my lack of knowledge of our learning management system (LMS), I needed to upskill myself quickly to support the transition of instruction for the students. I didn't want to let my students down so I worked on creating artifacts to cover my bases first then I focused on the student experience. Where some of my peers did live instruction for hours, I broke it up giving students time to work on things between sessions, allowing me to guide them and interact with them during our sychronous time (action). The parents of the students liked my method so much they contacted to school to tell them that their children were still learning during this difficult time and that I should be praised for trying to make the student experience as good as it can be (result).
Throughout this book, I recommend you practice answering the questions using the STAR method. Each question, I'll provide tips of what I'd emphasize for a higher education or corporate role.