The interview remains the best way for a company to probe into your skills and experience, seeing if you make a great fit with their organization. While some questions are straightforward and easily answered, you need to nail the more open-ended situational questions for the best chance at a job offer. Organizations feel this line of questioning reveals the most about your potential performance in their office.

Here are a few tips on handing situational interview questions. Leverage this advice to better prepare yourself to give great, detailed answers. Now go get that job offer of your dreams!

Fully Understand the Job Description and Company Culture

Before the interview, take a deep dive into the job description for the company’s open position. Use this information, combined with researching the organization’s culture and project work, to better inform your answer. Tie your responses to their situational questions to their open position; drawing parallels between their needs and your skills and experience.

This approach works great for any situational question you are asked.

Anticipate Their Questions and Practice Your Responses

Sounding calm and confident when answering interview questions is vital. Spending time in interview practice helps you in this regard. As part of your interview preparation, use your research into the company culture and an open position to try to anticipate the situational questions you are likely to be asked. This way you are able to craft meaningful answers beforehand and rehearse them when practicing.

It’s an approach ensuring you give the best interview performance possible, while providing the answers sure to highlight your great fit for the company’s open position.

Frame Your Answers Using the STAR Format

The STAR format – situation, task, action, and results – serves as an excellent framework for your answers to a situational question. Companies want to hear about the tangible benefits you made for previous employers, and STAR helps you express that information in an easily understood manner. Try to focus more on the action and results element during your answers.

Try Not to Sound Too Rehearsed

While preparation and rehearsal help boost your confidence level when answering situational questions, don’t sound too mechanical. It’s understandably a fine line, but you need to display your personality throughout the interview. Try to work on these issues when practicing.

If you need help with your job search, speak with the recruiters at Peyton Resource Group. As one of the top staffing agencies in the Southwest, we can help take your career to another level. Connect with us soon!