Behavioral event interview (BEI) is an open retrospective exploration technology of behavior and the main tool to reveal competency characteristics. This is an interview method that combines John C. Flanagan's Critical Event Technology (CIT) and Thematic Perception Test (TAT). The main process is to ask the interviewee to recall the key cases of his greatest sense of accomplishment (or frustration) in his work in the past six months (or a year), including:

(1) Description;

(2) Who is involved;

(3) What actions have actually been taken;

(4) How do you feel?

(5) What is the result, that is, the subjects must recall and state a complete story.

In the specific interview process, the interviewee needs to list the key situations he encountered in management, including three positive results and three negative results. The interview lasts about 3 hours, and complete and detailed information of 3 to 6 behavioral events needs to be collected. Therefore, the interviewer must undergo rigorous training, generally not less than 10 working days.

This method is the most commonly used method in the process of constructing quality model at present. It mainly takes the incumbents of target positions as the interviewees, collects the descriptions of successful and unsuccessful events during their tenure, and digs out very detailed behaviors that affect the performance of target positions. Then, the specific events and behaviors collected are summarized, analyzed and coded, and then compared among different interviewed groups (excellent performance groups and ordinary performance groups) to find out the core quality of the target position.