You might be thinking, “wait a minute. Situational interviews are the same thing as behavioral interviews, right?” This is a common misconception. They are very similar. Instead of asking questions that start with, “Describe a time…” or “Give me an example of a time…”, the interviewer would ask questions pertaining to the future, in other words, “what if something happened, what would you do?” During this type of interview, the interviewee is presented with a problem or a situation and must articulate how he or she would address it.

This slight variation of a behavioral interview, is focused on problem-solving and dealing with difficult issues. Granted the candidate will be pulling from his or her past work experience. They most likely prepared a few stories to include in their responses. Although situational interviews don’t give, you, the interviewer, more specific insight into their work history, it does help you understand how the candidate would take action if given a similar problem while working for your employer.