You've aced "Tell me about yourself." You're cool as a cucumber when asked, "Why do you want to work here?" And you laugh in the face of, "What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses?"
You're way past Interviewing 101, but there's a tricky subset of questions that you may not have mastered yet: behavioral questions.
Behavioral interview questions require you to pull a specific moment from your work history to explain and expand on, and they can be one of the hardest ones to tackle — interview questions are tough enough, but coming up with an example on the spot makes it all the more difficult.
To give you a head start, we pulled out a handful of behavioral interview questions from our list of the top 50 most common interview questions.
Get ahead of the game by learning how to answer them and preparing anecdotes in advance!
SEE ALSO: 25 companies where candidates actually enjoy the job interview
DON'T MISS: 11 brilliant conversation starters to use in a job interview
1. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of
Resist the urge to talk about that time you won your office softball league playoffs or how you got a 4.0 in your hardest class in college.
To really nail this question, you should "share a story that is as close as possible to the job you are interviewing for, and that best showcases your strengths and approach to work," says Aurora Meneghello, career coach and founder of Repurpose Your Purpose.
"Describe an instance where there was a problem, state the impact of that problem, and how you were able to solve it. Share the results beyond your immediate solution. For example, if you created a new onboarding system for new hires, share why the company needed one, what was the impact of not having an onboarding system, how you went about creating one, and how, one year later, there is less churn, employees are more efficient, etc.," Meneghello says.
2. Tell me about a time you made a mistake
One of the oldest tricks in the book is for candidates to respond to this answer by sharing a ‘mistake' that's actually a positive attribute, such as "I work too hard' or "I care too much."
But be warned: recruiters can usually see right through that.
At the same time, though, "you should avoid talking about a colossal failure. The mistake most people make is that they either try to dodge the question, or they give an example that is detrimental to them; you are still there to sell yourself and prove yourself as a valuable asset, after all," says Steve Pritchard, HR Consultant for giffgaff.
Instead, "try to think of something that happened a long time ago. More importantly, focus on the lessons you learned and how you carried these lessons forward to ensure you didn't repeat the mistake," Pritchard recommends.
RELATED: 7 Interview Answers That Make Recruiters Roll Their Eyes
3. Tell me how you handled a difficult situation
When answering this question, make sure not to cast blame on others for whatever predicament you ended up in. Even if they had a hand in it, you don't want to sound like you're not a team player or don't take responsibility for yourself.
"Keep your focus on what you did, and describe the circumstances in a neutral manner. Stay away from examples of difficult bosses or coworkers: although all of us have experienced something like that, an interviewer has no idea whether you are correct in your assessment, or merely projecting your own faults onto others," Meneghello cautions.
"For example, you could talk about having to build a project with a fraction of the budget your competitors have, and how you were able to use grassroots techniques to overcome that obstacle. For your story to make the biggest impact, make sure to describe vividly why it was so difficult: the bigger the problem you solved, the bigger your impact!" she says.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider