What if I have no example for a behavioural interview question?

Use a real example from outside work and say so in one clause, give a smaller version of the situation and label it as smaller, or state what you have not done and bridge to the nearest thing you have. Then stop and let the interviewer reshape the question. Answering in the hypothetical, as in I would..., is a different question type, and interviewers are told to treat it as an answer they cannot score.

Write your closest analogue on one card before the interview: a single clause that names the setting, and a single sentence that offers it. Naming the setting out loud gives the interviewer a decision to make instead of a dead end, and it keeps the rest of your answer available instead of spending it on an apology. Keep that offer to one sentence; a long apology for not having the right example spends the time you need for the example you do have. If you are early in your career, say so once and then describe the coursework, volunteering or family responsibility in the same four parts, since the structure is what is being scored rather than the job title attached to the example. And never upgrade a hypothetical into a story: once you say what you would have done, the interviewer has to record that the question went unanswered.

'Tell Me About a Time When...' in English: Building a STAR Answer →