Performance-based interview questions, PBI in short, focus on your past achievements. Recruiters and hiring managers are interested in your accomplishments as this information is used to help them gauge how successful you as a potential employee will be in the future.
Interview questions about your accomplishments and achievements are often discussed during job interviews. This topic is popular among interviewers for several reasons. Employers use performance-based interview questions to get a more accurate insight into your skills and competencies.
By asking you the right questions, the interviewers try to determine how motivated you are for the position. Furthermore, it’s an efficient way for them to assess whether or not you’re a good fit for the position and company culture. Also, the way you respond to these questions reveals more about your skills, work ethic, character, and personality.
Performance-based questions are used across all fields and levels. By using these questions, interviewers can get a better understanding of how you use critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills. Performance-based questions are similar to behavioral questions. Behavioral interview questions also require you to discuss past work performances that the interviewers use to gauge your future job success.
Job candidates are often not experienced in talking about their greatest accomplishments, and they will have to think quickly to come up with achievements. It’s therefore important that you prepare prior to your interview. The reason for this is that when the interviewer asks you about your accomplishments, it’s actually a great opportunity to demonstrate your suitability for the job. Questions about your accomplishments allow you to share a moment in your career that is relevant to the position that you’re applying to and show that you’re able to add value to your potential future employer.
In this article, we discuss why this is the case, but also why the interviewer is asking you such questions in the first place, and what they are looking for in your answers. Also, read more about frequently asked job interview questions here and check our job interview preparation checklist.
HOW DO YOU PRIORITIZE YOUR WORK? (The PERFECT ANSWER to This Tough Interview Question!)
Example: “I find it helpful to use shortcuts when I can. For example, I always try to remember my most commonly used keyboard shortcuts. This helps me reduce the amount of time I spend clicking through programs and applications. Another way I save time is by setting up automated reminders for myself. If I know something needs to be completed at a certain time, I’ll set an alert so I don’t forget about it.”
Example: “I find it helpful to create daily to-do lists so I don’t forget any important tasks throughout the day. I also make sure to check my email only once or twice per day so I’m not distracted by new messages as often. Another strategy I use is setting timers on my phone when I need to focus on a task for a certain amount of time. This helps me stay focused and avoid distractions.”
Efficiency is a key skill for any employee who wants to help their company save money. Your answer should show the interviewer that you understand how batching can improve efficiency and reduce costs. You can use your answer to explain what batching is, why it’s important and how you’ve used this strategy in the past.
Example: “The Pareto Principle is an effective way to prioritize your work and focus on what’s most important. For example, if I have five assignments due at the same time, I would use the Pareto Principle to determine which one is worth more points or has the greatest impact on my grade. Then, I’d complete that assignment before moving on to the others.”
Employers ask this question to see if you can stay focused on your work. They want employees who are able to complete tasks without being sidetracked by other things going on around them. In your answer, explain how you avoid distractions and what strategies you use to keep yourself from getting distracted.
The above answers should give you an insight into whether the candidate knows how to make an efficient use of their time. As contrary as it may seem, workaholics do not make for productive employees. Whilst there may be times that working extra hours is necessary, most of the time, working smart and not hard is the key to productivity. If the candidate has a good work-life balance, then they too will have the approach of working smart, not hard, and will be able to talk about their hobbies, interests, social life and how they switch off from work.
Whilst you can never fully know how a candidate will perform in the role, until you have actually hired them, you can get a good insight into how productive they would be by asking the right questions. For more advice on how to hire the best talent, check out some of our other blogs:
It is one of the most commonly asked interview questions, but only a small portion of hiring managers ask this question with the objective of measuring productivity. What you really need to be looking out for as you ask this question, is whether the candidate has a clear structure to their day. People who can structure their day, and assign certain routines and processes in place, are usually the most productive. For instance, many people will spend the first 10-20 minutes of their morning responding to emails and planning their day ahead.
Jane joined Hays in 1997 and started at Hays Banking in London as a consultant before moving to Spain in 2001 to form part of the team that opened Hays in Spain. Jane managed Hays Madrid & Hays Executive until 2008 when she moved to Hays in France. After four years managing the Banking & Finance Teams in Paris, Jane returned to Spain in 2012 to manage the regional offices of Valencia, Bilbao & Sevilla.
Productive employees will have certain techniques which help them to focus, whether it’s working in 90-minute blocks, focusing on one task at a time, and making a conscious effort not to get distracted by office chatter. They will also know that regular breaks, keeping hydrated and eating properly are all conducive to productivity and focus.
Possible answer to “Tell me about yourself.”
“Well, I’m currently an account executive at Smith, where I handle our top-performing client. Before that, I worked at an agency where I was on three different major national healthcare brands. And while I really enjoyed the work that I did, I’d love the chance to dig in much deeper with one specific healthcare company, which is why I’m so excited about this opportunity with Metro Health Center.”
What Are Performance Based Interview Questions?
As discussed earlier, performance-based interview questions are similar to behavioral interview questions. These questions require more from you than just a simple ‘yes‘ or ‘no.’ Performance-based interview questions require you to go in-depth about a situation you have faced in the past in a professional work environment. For interviewers, this is a perfect way to focus on your past successful experiences, how you solve problems, how you handle challenges, and in which work environments you thrive.
Performance-based interview questions, in general, have several things in common. They are standardized in nature, which helps interviewers to use the same evaluation criteria for every candidate. The most important thing about standardization is that it prevents bias by leveling the playing field for everybody who applied for the job. Also, this type of interview question requires specific examples and situations that demonstrate the skills and traits needed for the job. Furthermore, performance-based interview questions are not only suitable to assess technical skills, but they are also perfect for hiring managers to gauge soft skills such as communication, leadership, growth potential, and cultural fit.
FAQ
How do you answer the efficiency question in an interview?
In general, I try to work on one project at a time, working as quickly and efficiently as possible to achieve the best results. All of my projects require collaboration, so I use the team environment to check for errors.
What is an efficient interview?
What are the 5 hardest interview questions?
- What is your greatest weakness?
- Why should we hire you?
- What’s something that you didn’t like about your last job?
- Why do you want this job?
- How do you deal with conflict with a co-worker?
- Here’s an answer for you.
What makes for an efficient interview process?
