Don’t Prepare For the “Most Common” Questions

So many people get ready for interviews by reading articles like "The Most Common Interview Questions" and then feel like they didn't do their best in the actual interview, even if they took the time to prepare. Questions like "What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?" don't result in as detailed of answers most interviewers these days are looking for, and many interviewers are trying not to ask the most common questions because they want to have a genuine conversation with you.
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Answering behavioral interview questions depends on your ability to talk through a detailed example from your professional experience at length- the who, what, when, where, why - the impact of the decisions you made on the company. They're actually a lot more fun to dive into and discuss with a skilled interviewer, too! 😜
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Most companies and hiring managers are looking for more than basic functional skills- they want to evaluate if your professional values fit the values they strive to uphold within the company. For example, if they're in an industry that's so fast paced the difference between minutes and hours come with a cost, they're probably looking for someone who acts quickly and would rather ask for forgiveness than permission. Which behavioral questions could you prepare for that would demonstrate your ability to do that?⠀(or, demonstrate how you learned from not doing that and have made changes moving forward)
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At the end of the day, if you still end up being asked all of the "Most Common Interview Questions", your time spent prepping on behavioral questions won't go to waste. You can often use the same answers, and go above and beyond by giving the interviewer a more solid example than they probably expected. 👍
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Have you found a difference in your interviews when you prep for behavioral instead of the most common questions? Hiring Managers, are you still asking the most common questions, or have you been using more behavioral in recent interviews? Let me know!