Situational interview questions are similar to behavioral interview questions. However,
they are focused on the future, and ask hypothetical questions, whereas behavioral
interview questions look at the past. The advantage is that employers can put all
candidates in the same hypothetical situations, and compare their answers.
Top 11 Situational Questions to ask in a Job Interview
1.What would you do if you made a strong recommendation in a meeting, but your colleagues
decided against it?
2.How would you handle it if your team resisted a new idea or policy you introduced?
3.How would you handle it if the priorities for a project you were working on were
suddenly changed?
4.What would you do if you were asked to complete a task you’ve never done before?
5.Tell me about a time when you made sure a customer was pleased with your service.
6.Describe a time when you had to interact with a difficult client. What was the
situation, and how did you handle it?
7.When you’re working with a large number of customers, it’s tricky to deliver excellent
service to them all. How do you go about prioritizing your customers’ needs?
8.You're working on a key project that you can't complete because you're waiting on work
from a colleague. What do you do?
9.You realize that an early mistake in a project is going to put you behind the deadline.
What do you do?
10.What would you do if an important task was not up to standard, but the deadline to
complete it had passed?
11.What steps would you take to make an important decision on the job?
Why should you ask Situational Questions in a Job Interview?
Situation-based interview questions mostly require the candidate to involve in
problem-solving and handling difficult issues and circumstances in the workplace. This
gives the opportunity for the candidate to share some details about how they anticipate
they would respond to the situation. The best answers to situational interview questions
provide concrete examples of how candidates have handled a similar situation in their
past job.
