Which interview type relies on past behaviors to predict future job performance?

• A. Behavioral Interview
• B. Situational Interview
• C. Case Interview
• D. Panel Interview

Answer: (A)

This question centers on how past actions inform future performance. In a behavioral interview, you’re asked to share real experiences from your own history—what you did in a specific situation, why you chose that approach, and the outcomes. The belief driving this method is that patterns of past behavior are the best indicators of how you’ll behave in similar circumstances in the new role, especially for key competencies like teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving. You’ll often hear prompts that start with “Tell me about a time when…” and you’ll respond with concrete examples, using a clear structure (situation, task, action, result) to demonstrate how you think and act on the job.

Situational interviews, by contrast, pose hypothetical scenarios and ask how you would handle them in the future, focusing on potential behavior rather than actual history. Case interviews test your analytical approach to a business problem, emphasizing problem-solving and structured thinking. Panel interviews are simply a format involving multiple interviewers and can mix formats, but they don’t define a method that relies on past behavior to predict future performance.