A Quick Guide to BBI
For a quick guide to the what and why of behavioral-based interviewing, click here. For more in-depth answers to the most frequently asked questions, read on.
What is Behavioral-Based Interviewing?
Employers across all industries are experimenting with behavioral-based interviewing (BBI), a questioning technique based on the theory that past behavior is the most accurate predictor of future behavior.
Unlike interviewing approaches that ask candidates how they would react in theoretical situations, BBI focuses on the behavioral competencies most critical to excelling in a particular position. Through BBI, interviewers prompt candidates to identify concrete past experiences in which the targeted behaviors would have been tested and ask open-ended follow-up questions to ascertain how candidates in fact reacted.
Behavioral-based interviews tend to be highly conversational, but their structured nature enables interviewers to meaningfully compare targeted competencies across all candidates. Research indicates that BBI is very effective for predicting future job performance relative to more traditional interviewing techniques.
It’s also worth noting that BBI is not a replacement for all facets of traditional interviewing—hiring managers must still dedicate time to confirming baseline qualifications and testing for needed clinical and technical skills.