You’ve probably heard of two big types: Behavioral and Technical interviews. And if you’re prepping for one or both, you might be wondering – what’s the difference?
Each type of interview is there to dig into different parts of you.
Behavioral interviews
They’re not about whether you can code or design or analyze data. They’re about who you are as a person. How you think, how you react, how you collaborate when things get tough. You know those questions that start with, “Tell me about a time when…”? That’s them trying to figure out how you handle situations – because past behavior is the best clue to what you’ll do in the future.
And here’s the trick to answering these questions—ever heard of the STAR method? It’s simple, but it works every time.
S – Situation. Set the scene. What was going on?
T – Task. What did you need to do?
A – Action. What did you actually do?
R – Result. What happened in the end? Remember one thing, they don’t just care about what happened; they care about how you got there, what steps you took, and what that says about you.
Technical interviews
These are the ones where they want to see if you can actually do the job. Your hard skills. Can you solve this coding problem? Can you debug this error? Can you design a system or crunch the numbers they need? It’s real-time, in-your-face problem solving. You can almost feel the intensity, right?
In a technical interview, you’re expected to know your stuff. They’ll ask you things like, “How would you optimize this algorithm?” or “Explain the architecture of a system you built.” But here’s the part most people miss – they’re not just looking for the right answer. They’re watching how you think. They want to see your logic, your process. Can you break down a problem and solve it step by step?
In short, Behavioral interviews are all about how you’ve navigated the past. Technical interviews? They’re about what you can do in the present. And together, they give the employer a complete picture. You – the person and you – the professional!
