We live in a highly competitive world. We can see this fact in multiple aspects of life, one of them being the work environment. For every job offered we can find hundreds of people wanting to be selected, and employers need to assess the suitability of each candidate to select those most capable of performing the roles of the position.

In this sense, the personal competence of each one enters, which can be evaluated through methods such as the Critical Incident Interview, or Behavioral Event Interview .

The Critical Incident Interview

The Critical Incident Interview, also known by the acronym BEI for Behavioral Event Interview, is an interview technique devised by John C. Flanagan in 1954, which has been modified over time and is mainly used with the aim of getting an idea of the real skills of people .

It is defined as the set of processes used for the collection of observations of human behavior to facilitate the analysis of the utility of the individual’s behavior and his mental capacity in the resolution of practical problems .

This procedure can be used either in the form of a questionnaire that the subject can answer or directly during an interview, having in the second case the advantage of being able to directly observe the behaviour and non-verbal language.

The frequently used interview form was developed and popularized by Mc.Clelland , based on the assumption that the best predictor of a person’s future performance in a particular task is the one he had in the past with similar tasks.

Its main use is in the selection of personnel , at the time of assessing the suitability of a candidate for a position, but techniques based on this type of interview can also be used in training, preparation and distribution of tasks in different areas.

What do you value?

The aim is to assess the candidate’s level of performance through a highly structured interview , through which the consistency of the competences shown is evaluated.

The interviewer will ask the candidate to explain how he or she confronted a particular event in the past, that event being a real situation that the candidate has experienced that has some kind of relationship with the position to which he or she is applying. Not only are the facts evaluated (although the most important and fundamental thing is what the subject in question did), but the thoughts and emotions that these aroused in the candidate are also asked for. An explanation is requested, not an evaluation of what happened

It is important to make it clear that what is valued are the facts, thoughts and attitudes that he or she showed, in the first person, not the performance of the company or enterprise to which he or she belonged.

Interview objectives

Although the main objective of the critical incident interview is to obtain information regarding the subjects’ past competence in order to predict their future performance , this information can be obtained for different purposes.

Firstly, as indicated above, one of the purposes for which this type of interview is usually used is to carry out personnel selection processes. On the basis of previous behaviour and the learning acquired from it, the existence of specific skills that may be useful (or, on the contrary, not very advisable) for exercising the position in question can be assessed.

Once inside the company, it can also be used to evaluate the performance of the workers, in order to assess their capabilities and even assess the need to carry out some kind of training or qualification with the workers.

Another possible application is in the world of marketing and market research, in order to assess the needs of the population according to the skills and experiences they express. For example, it can be used to identify the need for a specific service or product.

Valued aspects

Throughout the process, the interviewee will be asked to answer a series of questions. While open questions are generally used to take into account the situations to be related and from which competencies are to be inferred, closed and very specific questions can occasionally be used as an introduction to these aspects.

Some of the basic questions focus on visualizing a specific experience and ask how it happened, how it came about, what the role of the subject was or what the final result was.

The aspects to be assessed in each interview will depend on the type of position offered and the roles and skills required in it. However, there are a series of aspects that are usually assessed in most interviews of this type. Below we present a few aspects and the type of questions that are usually used.

1. Sense of achievement

Those things we are proud of say a lot about our personality and our way of thinking . Moreover, knowing how they have been achieved can be of great value in predicting the direction that the individual’s future decisions will take. For example, a typical question might be. “Explain a situation or an outcome that you are satisfied with and how you got there.

2. Group work

Group work is one of the fundamental pillars of most organizations and companies . Being able to organise oneself, work with competent professionals in the same or other areas, accept other opinions and/or negotiate are essential elements nowadays when it comes to offering a good service and maintaining a high level of performance in a company. An example of such questions could be: “Do you like working in a group? Tell me about a situation where you feel you have benefited from working with others.

3. Autonomy

While this element seems to contradict the previous point, the truth is that while group work is essential, it is also essential to be able to act without needing continuous guidance, especially when events occur that are beyond our control. This does not mean that we do not consult others or that we do not inform them of what we are doing, but rather that we do not depend solely on external criteria to act . An example of a question: “Tell me what you did at a time when you had to act quickly in the face of an unforeseen event”.

4. Influence

The ability to influence others, persuade them and/or make them see perspectives different from one’s own is often an element highly valued by various companies and enterprises offering goods or services. An example of a typical question might be: “Describe the last time you tried to convince someone of something.

5. Flexibility and adaptation to change

We live in a dynamic world where things are constantly changing. Being able to adapt and open up to new possibilities is a great help in most jobs. You could ask us something like: “What was the last thing you had to adapt to at your last job and how did you experience it?

6. Creativity and proactivity

The ability to bring something to the company is usually an added value that companies value positively. Some typical questions would be: Do you consider yourself an innovative person? Tell me one occasion when you have brought about an improvement in your job.

Structure of the interview: Phases

The Critical Incident Interview is a highly structured interview that follows a script set by the company conducting the interview, usually independent of the individual’s response (although depending on the response, questions may be added to delve into some aspects).

Generally we can see that the Critical Incident Interview is divided into three phases; reception, development and closure .

1. Reception

The first moment of the interview as such. The candidate is welcomed, given an explanation of what is going to happen throughout the interview, the approximate time it will take and assured that the content of the interview will be confidential. Likewise, the interviewer should try to ensure that no doubts remain regarding the procedure , allowing the candidate to express any initial doubts he/she may have.

2. Development

In this second phase, the data from the file and curriculum are first analysed together with the interviewee to get a better idea of the areas and aspects with which he/she is used to dealing.

After this brief data check, the interviewer proceeds to ask different types of open-ended questions regarding situations the respondent has gone through in his/her life, focusing on the description of the facts, thoughts and emotions he/she had at the time. It should be made clear that a concrete rather than a generic answer is sought, and the reflections made by the subject in this respect are not valued, since what is being evaluated is only competence.

3. Closure

In the closing phase, the aim is to recapitulate and ensure that all the necessary information is available, to provide information about the position that the candidate can ask about those elements about which he/she has doubts , and to indicate how contact will be maintained in order to communicate the decision.

Advantages and disadvantages

The critical incident interview has multiple advantages over other types of assessment , but also a number of disadvantages.

As a main advantage we can establish that it allows us to get a more or less clear idea of the ways in which the subject has acted and the type of skills he has, thus allowing us to predict future performance more accurately than a classic interview. In addition, we work from situations that the subject has had in real life , not forcing him/her to imagine a strange situation. It is an economical methodology that is easily understood by both the interviewee and the interviewer.

However, as disadvantages it is necessary to mention that the concrete events can not be totally remembered by the subject , besides that this one can falsify them. In addition, the fact that the situation is chosen by the interviewee means that there may be a certain lack of control in this regard, and that moments are chosen that are not fully representative of what is intended to be evaluated. Finally, personal experiences may be difficult to tell for some people, involving an invasion of their privacy that may limit the answers given.