Behavioral Interview Questions
SARA (Situation, Action, Results, Application) model
Behavioral interview questions focus on your past work performance. You need to provide
examples and tell stories to give the interviewer a sense of who you are as a potential
employee. They often begin with “Tell me a time when,” or “Give me an example of.” To
structure your answers, use the SARA (Situation, Action, Results, Application) model.
Situation: Explain a situation/problem/conflict you dealt with in the workplace.
Action: Concisely describe the actions you took and the tasks that needed to be completed to
respond to the situation.
Results: Share the positive outcome that resulted in the actions you took in that situation.
Application: Describe the lessons you learned and the skills you gained throughout the
experience and how the situation is application to the future.
Some examples of questions include:
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Explain a problem/conflict you dealt with in the workplace.
Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond what was expected of you.
Describe the most significant leadership role you’ve held. What was your greatest
challenge?
When have you had to mobilize other people around your goals?
Tell me about an assignment you worked on in which you had to amass a huge amount
of data and then analyze it.
Can you tell me about a situation where your analysis of a problem was deemed to be
incorrect? What did you do next?
Tell me about a project that you persevered through after wanting to abandon it.
Tell me about a time when you worked under deadline pressure.
Describe a situation in which you had to convince others that your view, approach or
ideas were right.
What is your approach in meeting new people? Describe how you might behave in a
business context versus a social context.
Tell me about a successful presentation that you’ve made. Why was it successful?
What role do you prefer to have on a team? What role have you been most effective
in?
Describe a situation when you needed to sacrifice your personal objectives for the
team’s benefit.
Describe a situation where the true teamwork was the only means of achieving the
most effective results. What were the elements of the team dynamic and how did you
contribute to the dynamic?
Adapted from Columbia University Center for Career Education :
https://www.careereducation.columbia.edu/resources/common-interview-questions-and-howanswer-them
Hypothetical Questions
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What would you do if you were put into a situation where you were required to put in
additional effort to complete a task?
What if I instructed you to make a change to your schedule that warranted you to
prioritize a separate obligation over finishing a task at work?
How would you react if you had to complete a task that made you dissatisfied with
your job? How would you address this with management?
How do you plan on working on a large-scale objective that greatly affects the success
of the company?
How would you respond to a problem that you discovered?
What if you had to work with a difficult coworker on a task?
What if you were expected to work with a tough client or manager on a task?
How would you make a great impression with a client during a meeting?
Tell me the way you would manage a large workload.
How would you approach working on a long-term project that needed to be completed
by the end of the quarter?
If I told you that you failed, what would be your first reaction?
What if I told you that you had to step in for a manager to give a presentation?
What if I assigned you writing tasks that required you to express your creativity?
What if a coworker is slow to respond to the information you need to carry out a
certain task?
Do you think you could persuade a coworker to see your viewpoint about the direction
of a strategy? If so, what techniques would you use to persuade them?
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/hypothetical-interview-questions