Question

What is the main difference between situational and behavioral structured interviews? When would it be better to go with a situational interview? When would it be better to go with a behavioral interview?

Answer 1

In a behavioral interview the interviewee is asked to give examples of instances or situations where he was personally involved and how he handled that particular situation. He should show how he used a particular trait or skill in that particular situation that the interviewer is looking for. Whereas, in a situational interviews the interviewee is given a theoretical o hypothetical situation and he needs to asses that particular situation. In this was his behavior is observed by the interviewer.

Thus main difference between the two is that behavioral interviews asses the candidate according to his past behavior and situational interviews assess the individual’s behavior if he/she is confronted with any particular type of situation in future.

It is better to go with situational interviews when you want to assess the candidates thinking abilities to handle any given situation as situational interviews force the candidates to think about the situation and provide answers. They are generally useful when the candidates are new to workforce and they do not have much prior work experience.

It is better to go with behavioral interviews when you want to assess the candidate in terms of how he/she has performed in the past. They are more often asked from the candidates who have a prior work experience.

The best way to go about an interview is to create a good mix of both types of interview questions to get the holistic information about the candidate.