Behavioral questions: 30 realistic prompts

Behavioral interviews test how you work: your judgment, communication, collaboration, and resilience. Use these 30 questions to prep STAR stories (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

30 realistic behavioral questions

1. Tell me about a time you had to meet a very tight deadline.
2. Describe a time you handled conflict on a team.
3. Tell me about a mistake you made and how you handled it.
4. Give an example of when you took initiative without being asked.
5. Describe a time you received tough feedback and what you did next.
6. Tell me about a time you influenced someone without formal authority.
7. Describe how you prioritized conflicting tasks with limited time.
8. Tell me about handling an unhappy customer or stakeholder.
9. Describe a difficult problem you solved and your approach.
10. Tell me about a failure and what you learned from it.
11. Describe a time you led a project end-to-end.
12. Tell me about working with a difficult teammate.
13. Describe a time you had to learn a new tool quickly.
14. Tell me about improving a process that wasn’t working.
15. Describe a time you delivered under ambiguity.
16. Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager and what you did.
17. Describe managing multiple stakeholders with competing needs.
18. Tell me about delivering results with limited resources.
19. Describe how you handled scope creep on a project.
20. Tell me about a high-pressure situation and how you stayed calm.
21. Describe a time you used data to make a decision.
22. Tell me about changing course based on new feedback or evidence.
23. Describe mentoring or teaching someone and the outcome.
24. Tell me about handling confidential or sensitive information.
25. Describe building relationships across teams to get something done.
26. Tell me about communicating bad news and how you handled it.
27. Describe a time you exceeded expectations.
28. Tell me about balancing quality and speed.
29. Describe how you identified and mitigated a risk.
30. Tell me about driving adoption of a new tool or process.

AI practice prompt

Be a hiring manager for [Role]. Ask me 8 behavioral questions, one at a time.
After each answer, give:
- 2 strengths you heard
- 2 things to tighten (be specific)
- A stronger STAR rewrite in 3–4 lines
Then ask the next question.
      

Practice out loud, record yourself, and refine with feedback. Repetition = confidence.