Mastering Behavioral Interviewing

Project By: Kryastal Le | Blog By: Kusum Lalwani

Behavioral interviewing is a structured method employers use to assess a candidate’s past experiences and predict future performance. Unlike hypothetical questions, this approach focuses on real-life examples to evaluate technical, soft, and hard skills more objectively.

At the core of behavioral interviewing lies the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—a framework that helps both interviewers and candidates stay focused and organized. Interviewers should prepare relevant questions, actively listen for STAR components, and ask thoughtful follow-ups to uncover complete stories.

This method also helps reduce common hiring biases, such as the halo or recency effect, by offering measurable insights into a candidate’s competencies. To avoid these biases, companies can use structured interviews, blind resume reviews, and panel evaluations.

Candidates can prepare by identifying 4–5 strong examples and practicing STAR-formatted responses, highlighting results with metrics where possible.

Beyond hiring, behavioral interviewing is valuable in performance reviews, leadership development, and internal promotions. It ensures fairness, consistency, and deeper insights—making it a vital tool in today’s talent strategy.

By focusing on what people have actually done—not what they might do—behavioral interviewing brings clarity and confidence to the hiring process.