I recently applied for a new position within my company. I had applied for this position previously, but failed a written test necessary for consideration. Thankfully, the position reopened this month and I was able to retake the test, and this time I passed easily. The second part of the selection process is a behavioral based interview (BBI). This is what I was doing today.
The BBI was one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done. A few factors played into this. First, it’s not like a normal interview. You don’t just sit down and discuss your work experience, what you feel is your best strength, and other such nonsense. Instead, they ask you specific questions and want specific answers. They want you to talk about what you did in a specific instance to illustrate that you have a specific quality. The interviewers give you a score based on your response, and you need to score well to advance. Secondly, all of our current supervisors recently had to pass this exam (don’t ask, it’s a long story). Out of seven individuals, only two passed the first time around. This shows just how difficult the process is.
I walked into the interview this morning incredibly nervous. I ended up doing ok in my estimation, but I don’t know how I actually scored. I will be honest and say that if I don’t pass the interview I won’t be surprised. I can retake it again and the process was great experience. On the other hand, I would really like the opportunity to advance my career and passing this step would put me in position to do this. I also hate when I hear I fail, so even though I’ve prepared myself, I still know it will hit me hard if they tell me I didn’t pass.
One of the things I realized when preparing for this process, was I don’t do well at tooting my own horn. Granted my friends will tell you I think I know everything, but in all honesty, I don’t ever think about things I did as exceptional. I hardly ever remember things I did that showed my leadership capabilities, or times I had a disagreement with my manager. I let things like that just happen and don’t remember them. I think I need to start keeping a list of the things I do so I can refer back to them in these situations. Do any of you keep track of times you stood out in your job, even if you don’t think you went above and beyond what needed to be done?
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I think being uncomfortable talking yourself up is pretty typical, especially for Midwesterners. Cover letters are always hard for me.
I think you are right about it being a Midwestern thing. We aren’t aggressive enough to say just how great we are, unless of course we are talking about things we didn’t do.
For the record, I didn’t pass the interview. I’m not 100% sure how I did but I’ll be getting more feedback soon. It was a great experience and I didn’t expect to pass. I’ll get another opportunity in the future and hopefully I’ll make the post of that opportunity.
I completely know what you mean. Every year at my review, my manager tells me things about my work performance that I’ve completely spaced on. Fortunately, they’re almost always good things, heh.
“Granted my friends will tell you I think I know everything”
We do think you think you know everything, but at least you’re not an ass about it. Good luck with the interview process. If nothing else you get experience and more face time with those who make the final decision.