While most interviews aim to make sure new hires have the right skills and experience for the open role, behavioral questions give interviewers better insight into a candidate’s cultural fit, time management skills, productivity, and more. In fact, 92% of interviewers say they value soft skills as much as they value technical skills, making behavioral interview questions just as critical for a candidate’s success. If you’re preparing for an upcoming interview, don’t overlook the importance of behavioral questions—and preparing answers for the top behavioral interview questions most interviewers ask. 

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At least 90% of hiring managers agree that preparation is a key factor in a candidate’s success in the interview. And on average, candidates spend 5 - 10 hours preparing for the job interview. As you prepare for your next interview, consider reviewing the following behavioral questions—and to set yourself apart, practice answering these questions to help you ace the interview.  

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→ More than 40% of candidates say they practice answering interview questions before they get to their interview. 

What are behavioral interview questions?

Behavioral interview questions help interviewers assess a candidate’s soft skills, their culture fit to the organization, and an interviewees’ overall experience and aptitude for the job. By asking behavioral questions during an interview, employers can get a view into how well the candidate will do in the job, with the team, and at the company. These questions can highlight a new hire’s potential, their weaknesses, and their strengths.

Top behavioral interview questions 

This article compiles the top 19 behavioral interview questions with advice on how to answer each potential inquiry:

Top behavioral interview questions about teamwork 

Question 1: 

Describe a time when you had to work with a challenging coworker—someone who was hard to get along with. 

How you should answer: 

Share a specific example about a coworker who was difficult to work with in a previous job. Detail how you needed to look at things from a different perspective in order to better communicate and get along with the coworker. 

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Question 2: 

Describe the qualities of your favorite coworkers and manager. 

How you should answer: 

Be honest about the type of people you enjoy working with and why you like specific types of personalities. Include a variety of qualities you enjoy working with so you don’t pigeonhole yourself into sharing that you only like one type of coworker.

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Question 3: 

Describe a time when you had a conflict with a coworker or leader. What did you do to address and fix the problem? 

How you should answer: 

Get specific about a problem that you had with a previous coworker or manager. Share applicable details about the disagreement or challenge, what you did to resolve the issue, and how you implemented the learnings into future working relationships. 

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Question 4: 

Describe a time when you made a mistake at work. What did you do to resolve the issue? How did you take accountability and make a resolution? 

How you should answer: 

Be honest about a mistake you made in the past at a previous company. Share how you learned about the mistake, your reaction to the feedback you received, and what you did to make the situation better. Your mistake likely impacted your coworkers and team—highlight what you did to ensure you wouldn’t impact them in the same way in the future. 

Top behavioral interview questions about customer relationships/interactions  

Question 5: 

Describe a time when you went above and beyond with a customer experience. 

How you should answer: 

Showcase your customer service and customer experience skill set by sharing an example of how you over delivered on your promises to a customer. Explain why you did what you did, how you were able to pull it off, and what it meant for the business. 

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Question 6: 

Describe a time when you had to manage a difficult customer. What did you do to ensure they were still satisfied with their customer experience? 

How you should answer: 

Share how you turned a poor situation with a customer—whether it started with you or with someone else—into a positive situation with good customer service. 

Top behavioral interview questions about culture fit  

Question 7:

Describe what makes you feel energized and happy at work. What do you look for in a role and in the company to meet those needs? 

How you should answer: 

Be honest about what makes you feel energized and happy in your role. Be specific about the type of work you like to do and the work environment that works best for your working style and personality. 

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Question 8: 

How would most of your coworkers describe working with you? What would they say if I called them for a reference? 

How you should answer: 

Be honest about how your coworkers would describe you and your working style. Share what you believe your coworkers think about your strengths and your weaknesses. 

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Question 9: 

Describe a time when you felt uncomfortable or dissatisfied with your job. What was going on and how did you address it? 

How you should answer: 

Share a specific example about a time when your job didn’t feel like the right fit or the work you were doing wasn’t energizing to you. Describe what you did to make the situation better—even if that meant realizing the job wasn’t for you and you needed to find a better fit. 

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Question 10: 

What are your top priorities or the top things you look for in a new role and company? 

How you should answer: 

Be honest about your personal values with this answer. Share what you’re looking for in a job and in the company. For example, if you value a specific type of work, a specific working style, and a preferred work environment—include those in your answer.

Top behavioral interview questions about management experience/leadership qualities 

Question 11: 

Describe a time when you needed to persuade coworkers to follow your idea or process. What did you do to convince them that your way was the best way (and was it?)?

How you should answer: 

Be sure to include a specific story with a clear example of how you convinced your coworkers of your viewpoint. Don’t be boastful or arrogant. Instead, use specific proof points that detail why your way was the right way—and how you humbly persuaded others.

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Question 12: 

Describe a time when you needed to be an example on your team and lead by your actions. 

How you should answer: 

Showcase your leadership skills with a clear story about how you have led by example vs. using verbal persuasion. Detail—with humility—how you try to inspire others to do better work and bring their best to every project. 

Top behavioral interview questions about resilience  

Question 13: 

Describe a time when you were asked to do your job in a new way. Perhaps you needed to follow a new system or process or your team was moved to a new manager that required a different way of working. 

How you should answer: 

Share a specific example that highlights how you were asked to follow a new system, process, or leader (not a time when you decided to follow something new). Include any learnings about the new system or process helped increase your productivity or efficiency, and any lessons learned about how difficult it was to make the change. 

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Question 14: 

Describe a time when you were under a lot of pressure in your current job. What happened and how did you get through the experience? 

How you should answer: 

Be honest about a difficult time in your current job. Describe why the situation was difficult, what you decided to do about the difficulty, and one valuable lesson you learned when the situation balanced out in the end.

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Question 15: 

Describe a time when you were asked to do something new—something you had never done before. How did you prepare? What did you do? What did you learn? 

How you should answer: 

Share a specific example about a time when you were promoted to a new role, took on a new project, implemented a new platform, or worked on a new type of task. Highlight how you decided to take on the new work, what you did to prepare, and what you learned throughout the process. Be sure to include how excited you were for the new opportunity and how it has given you confidence for future work.

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Question 16: 

Describe your experience learning on the job in one of your roles. How did you ramp up and what did you do to improve your time to productivity? 

How you should answer: 

Explain your process for learning about your new role and how to do the job quickly and efficiently. Share any learnings you’ve found in your various roles about how to ramp up in a new role by meeting the right people, asking the right questions, and being proactive with your manager on your specific goals and milestones.

Top behavioral interview questions about potential and growth

Question 17: 

Describe a time when you took on work outside of your job description. How did it go and what did you do to make it a good experience? 

How you should answer:

Detail a specific example—or several—about special projects or other tasks that you’ve added to your plate, even though they were not part of your initial responsibilities. If you’ve volunteered for these projects, explain why you offered to take on the work and how it impacted the business or the team. 

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Question 18: 

Describe a time when you asked for feedback from your leader or manager. What did they say and how did you implement the feedback? 

How you should answer:

Explain how often you like to receive feedback from your manager and a time when you asked for specific feedback (after a large project or a new responsibility). Be honest about the feedback you received—even if it was negative—and how you used that feedback to do a better job on the next task. Show that you are interested in continual growth and interested in regular feedback.

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Question 19: 

Describe a goal you’ve accomplished or a milestone you’ve achieved in your career. 

How you should answer:

Detail a specific example of a goal you set and accomplished in a recent role. Use this opportunity to showcase your motivation to do a good job and how you set goals for both yourself and the business.

How to answer behavioral interview questions

While each of the behavioral interview questions listed above offers advice on how to answer the question, it’s important to remember that the interviewer is trying to get a few things from each answer: 

1. A relevant story or example 

2. A clue into soft skills that will help you be successful in the open role

3. A concise answer that is communicated effectively  

Tips on acing behavioral interview questions

Acing your behavioral interview questions doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does require preparation. Behavioral interview questions give the employer insights into how well you’ll interact with the team and in the role, and they give you an opportunity to showcase your soft skills and accomplishments with clean, well-prepared answers. In order to deliver the right answers, consider following these tips: 

1. Prepare several stories in advance

Don’t wait to think of examples or stories from your career and experience until you’re sitting in the interview room with a recruiter or hiring manager. Instead, take advantage of the fact that most interviewers will ask similar questions. Read through the example questions in this article and prepare answers that align with each question. Think of clear, clean examples for each question. 

‍2. Practice, practice, practice

There’s a reason professional presenters and effective communicators practice their craft out loud—and often. As you prepare stories and examples before you head into the interview, use your time wisely and practice your answers out loud. You can practice your answer to yourself in the mirror or to a friend—but make sure you’re speaking as if you were in the interview (not summarizing to your friend or practicing in your head). 

3. Be concise

By selecting stories and examples ahead of your interview and practicing your answers outloud, you can spot areas where you can trim down your response and ensure each answer is concise and easy to understand. Interviewers will likely have a list of questions to get through and if you run off with a long answer, it can derail the timing of the interview and suggest that you aren’t an effective communicator. Instead, practice your answers and make sure they’re short and to the point.

Need more resources? Check out these links: 

How to make your job application stand out

7 signs you will get the job after an interview

Should you always negotiate salary? 

What to put for your desired salary on your job application

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