PROPORTIONS OF A BEHAVIORAL ANSWER

(sample edited by me)

The proportions of the story are almost more important than the story itself.
 

ALWAYS START WITH THE FACTOR YOU ARE GOING FOR FIRST

FACTOR –   Motivation

PROBLEM/SITUATION  (20%) 5-7 sentences

Setup –

There was a situation, where the high school field hockey program that I had once played for, was suffering miserably, losing every single game by multiple goals and standing last the league, year after year with no hope of that changing.  

Having done very well as an athlete while I was in the program and having gone on to play in college, I was approached by the school with the opportunity to rebuild the program. 

I saw this as an awesome way to give back and pay it forward, so I accepted the head coaching position.   

I was excited and eager to get started, but was soon warned this would not be an easy undertaking as the girls were notorious for being disrespectful, lazy, and as one teacher put it quite frankly “won’t amount to anything”.

MY THOUGHTS WERE…(thoughts, feelings, challenges are important to your story to show them who you are and how you operate)

Transition sentence – feelings, thoughts…

I felt pressured. This was an intense assignment, and I knew I would have to put time and energy into the preparation if my team was to do a good job. 

ACTION (60%) 7 -9 steps — more or less


”WHAT I DID WAS……” (use this phrase to signal to them and to you that the main part of the story is beginning. Once you begin the ACTON you can’t go back to the problem.)  —

So what I did was, I set up a few informal “open hockey nights” to get to know the girls better for myself.

I knew I didn’t have a lot of time to earn their respect, something I knew was important for success, so I set the tone early by deciding to show the girls what I expected rather than just telling them. 

I decided to model the behavior I wanted to see.   

They were shocked when they saw I had my stick and mouth guard, and was going to play WITH them.  (GOOD ACTION STEP)

That night I out hustled them, beat them to the ball, used phenomenal stick work to maneuver around them, verbalized clearly to my teammates where I was going and where I needed them to go, and most importantly I was intentional about demonstrating a very positive, confident, energy on the field. LONG SENTENCE—LAUNDRY LIST – THIS IS YOUR ACTION – 60% — WORTH BREAKING UP

(I AM NOT A FAN OF LAUNDRY LISTS – BY MAKING THE POINTS DEPENDENT STATEMENTS THEY HAVE MORE OF AN IMPACT – ESPECIALLY IF SOMEONE – THEY – WILL BE TAKING NOTES.)

Edited by me:

That night I out-hustled the players. Some of my tactics included beating them to the ball. I think they were too shocked to move.

I also used phenomenal stick work to maneuver around them.

One thing I did was to verbalize clearly to my teammates where I was going and where they needed to go.

And, most importantly, I was intentional about demonstrating a very positive, confident energy on the field.

When there were water breaks I took the time to walk around making sure I talked with each and every girl, asking how their summer was going, their favorite things about hockey, making sure they knew I noticed and appreciated they were there. 

THEIR REACTION?.  

RESULT (20%) —-  3-5 sentences

 As a result, I felt calm and confident while giving the presentation and that helped the others feel the same. I received an “A” for my portion of the project.  

The team’s overall grade was an A+.

I received many comments from my team and my professor telling me what a great job I did.  One team member told me that he had never felt more organized on a project.  

KUDO

(If there was any kind of kudo or comment given – be sure to include that in the end of your story.) Third party endorsement is like a “gold star.”

MAKE IT CONVERSATIONAL – TALK LIKE YOU TALK TO COLLEAGUES

 
The structure above is the “template.”

Once you write the story, you will turn it into a conversational dialogue.

Make it a conversation like you were sharing the story with others.

Would you talk this way if you were talking to professional colleagues? 

We tend to write more formally than when we speak – especially to colleagues. These people who are interviewing you are equivalent to your colleagues.  – and may become your colleagues one day.

At least you hope that they will be.

Way To Go – “I Passed” Emails

WAY TO GO!

2/03/20 – 2ND TIMER

I hope all is well. I wanted to let you know that I received a passing score! I can’t thank you enough for your work, support and encouragement. From your personal coaching to the exercises, it made a difference. It helped me gain more confidence in myself and allowed me to sit back and pause after each question to give me time to paint the best story. I can also say that this interview was better than my first, especially with regards to laying out the (20/60/20).

Again, thank you for your time and support! It was truly a pleasure working with you.

I recommend you to anyone else who finds themselves struggling with interviews. 

Some recent “I passed” emails.

***

Female – 2/07/20

  I wanted to reach out and inform you that I passed the Phase II interview. I could not have passed without the preparation, guidance, and feedback you provided. I am typically extremely nervous when interviewing but when I entered the room I had an answer for everything. I can honestly say that I have never felt more confident during an interview then I did during the Phase II interview. 

  I largely equate that to the preparation of the stories and the exercises we completed together. Thank you again!

Male – 2/03/20

I hope all is well. I wanted to let you know that I received a passing score! I can’t thank you enough for your work, support and encouragement. From your personal coaching to the exercises, it made a difference. It helped me gain more confidence in myself and allowed me to sit back and pause after each question to give me time to paint the best story. I can also say that this interview was better than my first, especially with regards to laying out the SAR (20/60/20).

Again, thank you for your time and support! It was truly a pleasure working with you.

I recommend you to anyone else who finds themselves struggling with interviews. 

Male – 1/29/20

Got the news last night. I PASSED!!! Thank you again for all your help. I know you continue to search for the reasons some pass and others do not. Of course, I do not have that answer, but I can share with you what I think helped me pass the second time. 

1) I left my “suit” at the door. I am an attorney, no doubt about it. But I spoke to the interviewers like I would to some friendly colleagues after work, not like I was talking to a panel of judges. 

2) In preparing I always had emotional intelligence in the back of my mind. I was thinking about opportunities in my stories to discuss my feelings and the feelings of others and how this impacted my decision making. I do not think they are looking for robots.

3) I spent a lot of time, as you know, working on my “why.” And I also went back and listened to the recordings of our sessions. I also sent you a lot of stories and applied your criticisms. This really nailed the story telling formula and proportions into my mind.

Other than that, I think the rest is just putting in the time to find and practice stories that match the eight factors. Having a couple stories for each factor, even if you have to morph them is a safe bet. I think just sounding prepared gets you further than most people think. 

Thank you again. Regardless of whether I make it through the rest of the process, it was a victory for me to beat this the second time, and I can’t thank you enough for all your help.

***

Keep up the good work.

Carole

Linkedin calls them SOFT SKILLS.

Soft skills

LinkedIn also ranked “soft” skills – the interpersonal qualities employers want most in their staff. The list looked very similar to the 2019 rankings, with creativity holding onto the top spot.

However, emotional intelligence also made an appearance in this year’s top five. This is the ability to perceive, evaluate and respond to both your own emotions and those of others.

LinkedIn said this emphasized the “importance of how we respond to and interact with colleagues.”

The top 5 most in-demand soft skills globally

  1. Creativity
  2. Persuasion
  3. Collaboration
  4. Adaptability
  5. Emotional intelligence

This article first appeared on CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/17/blockchain-is-the-most-in-demand-job-skill-in-2020-says-linkedin.html 

Check out what he has to say about EQ.

From someone who passed – check out what he has to say about EQ.

Got the news last night. I PASSED!!! Thank you again for all your help. I know you continue to search for the reasons some pass and others do not. Of course, I do not have that answer, but I can share with you what I think helped me pass the second time. 

1) I left my “suit” at the door. I am an attorney, no doubt about it. But I spoke to the interviewers like I would to some friendly colleagues after work, not like I was talking to a panel of judges. 

2) In preparing I always had emotional intelligence in the back of my mind. I was thinking about opportunities in my stories to discuss my feelings and the feelings of others and how this impacted my decision making. I do not think they are looking for robots.

3) I spent a lot of time, as you know, working on my “why.” And I also went back and listened to the recordings of our sessions. I also sent you a lot of stories and applied your criticisms. This really nailed the story telling formula and proportions into my mind.

Other than that, I think the rest is just putting in the time to find and practice stories that match the eight factors. Having a couple stories for each factor, even if you have to morph them is a safe bet. I think just sounding prepared gets you further than most people think. 

Thank you again. Regardless of whether I make it through the rest of the process, it was a victory for me to beat this the second time, and I can’t thank you enough for all your help.

Something new to think about during the interview – Special Agent and Intelligence Analyst positions.

I have been reading a lot about Emotional Intelligence and realizing it is an important part of passing the FBI interviews – SA and IA. (Also know as EQ/EI)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence

I believe it is how you deal with failure. Are you able to accept and re-group? Or, are do you give up.

What did you learn from the failure? How did it help you in the long run? Are you able to get back up and try again? Are you able to extend help to others who are struggling?

You might want to do a little reading about EQ – it is about how you behave in negative situations.

(roll with the punches – learn and move on – adapt – take constructive criticism as a learning experience) It’s all a part of you and your ability to “cope.”

How Emotionally Intelligent Are You? 14 signs you have high EQ.https://charterforcompassion.org/gaining-emotional-strength/how-emotionally-intelligent-are-you-here-s-how-to-tell?gclid=CjwKCAjwkenqBRBgEiwA-bZVtklrwZWdsJaReGhP4QCWcH-kW6EeMasLtyMHxtEVtggev78zUrYZBRoCySgQAvD_BwE