Once you have grown accustomed to the Behavioral Answering Technique,
you can expand your answers by turning your examples into compelling stories.
Instead of merely providing an example that suits the question, weave the
example into a compelling story with personality, flair and interest. Captivate
your audience by providing the details and nuances that bring your story to life.
Consider yourself the author of a piece of fiction. As you put your plot into
words, you must give life and meaning to the characters and surroundings.
Provide the same in telling your compelling stories. Build the framework and
background for the story. Add the elements of interest and intrigue. Give the
plot twists. And show how our hero (you) saved the day in the end.
We all have compelling stories in our past. We tell them to our friends, our
family, our loved ones. We laugh. We cry. And our hearts yearn for more.
Yet we sometimes lose these stories over time, or bury them in our long-term
memory bank, only to dredge them up at reunion time.
The key to retaining these compelling stories for your interviewing is to
write them down. Go over the questions and bring to mind the stories you can
weave to provide your example in living color. And as another compelling
story occurs to you or as you find yourself in the telling of another interesting
tale, ask yourself if the story will provide potential substance in your
interviewing. If so, write it down.
After a period of time, you will have a collection of compelling stories to
guide you through your interviews. As you become proficient in angling these
stories to fit your needs, you will find
yourself steering to these stories to illustrate
your points.
One example of a compelling story was
told to me by a recent grad, who answered
my question about her organization skills by telling me how she planned and
organized the alumni dinner during homecoming weekend, including full details
of the management of twenty different student volunteers and coordination with
six different campus departments. The event was a resounding success, but
there were several challenges which she needed to overcome. And each of
these challenges provided a compelling story of its own, as she was able to
show her ability to plan, organize, and develop a team toward eventual success.
In the end, she received a personal letter of recommendation from the President
of the university, which she presented to me as validation of her extraordinary
efforts.
Another compelling story was given to me by a current student in reference
to a question about his lower than expected grade point average. He related to
me the amount of work which he had put in to finance his college education,
averaging thirty hours per week and occasionally putting in as much as fifty
hours per week. He was eventually promoted to department manager, even
though the employer knew he would be leaving after completing his degree. He
recounted the story of the meeting with the employer in which he tried to back
away from the management responsibilities, asking that one of the other
department employees be promoted. The employer called in the four other
workers in the department, who each personally asked that he take on the job
as their manager. This student successfully shifted the focus from his lower
than expected grades to his outstanding performance on the job by the use of
a compelling story.
How do you know if your story is connecting with the interviewer? By eye
contact. This is where the interviewer will show their interest. If you are not
connecting with your story, decrease the amount of detail and drive home your
point quickly. Depending on the personality type of the interviewer, you may
need to adjust the length of the story, yet compelling stories work with all
personality types. With the extreme driver or analytical personality types, you
will need to keep the details to a minimum, while quickly making your point.
Usually two or three shorter stories are better than one long story. At the other
extreme, for feeling personality types, you will perform better with a longer
story and more details. How do you detect the difference in personality types?
By continuously striving to stay personally connected with the interviewer. If
this connection appears to be lost or fading during the telling of a compelling
story, shorten the story and come to your point quickly. On the other hand, if
you have a captive audience who is hanging on your every word, provide all the
necessary details.
The key to using compelling stories is that stories are remembered. Stories
are what make you human. Stories are what put a face on you in the mind of
the interviewer. And stories are what they will come back to when you are
being sold to others internally. When that time comes, you have given your
interviewer ammo for helping others to see why you should go on to the next
step in the hiring process. Or be offered the job.
