Behavioral interview

Also called behavioural interview, competency interview

A round that asks what you have actually done before, on the theory that past behaviour predicts future behaviour.

Instead of hypotheticals, a behavioral round asks for specific past events: a time you disagreed with someone, a project that slipped, a decision you got wrong. The interviewer is listening for evidence rather than intentions.

Nearly every company runs one, under various names. It is often the round candidates prepare least for and lose most often on, because coding practice is measurable and this is not.

What it means for you

The questions are not the difficulty. You can find the questions anywhere. The difficulty is that you have to say the answer out loud, once, under mild pressure, without a backspace key.

Reading a model answer builds a false sense of readiness. You will know what you meant to say; whether it comes out in a coherent ninety seconds is a completely different skill, and the only way to find out is to hear yourself do it.

The failure modes are consistent: rambling past the point, burying the one number that mattered, and answering a question adjacent to the one you were asked.