What’s your interview style? Do you tend to talk too much, giving away far too much? Or do you get quiet and reveal too little about your experience and strengths?

If you get the balance right – well done! But without a lot of training and experience in interviews, it can be tough to answer the questions that paint you in the best light! It’s especially tough to answer behavioural questions! You know the ones that usually start with, ‘Tell me about a time you…’?

Well, fear no more! We’re going to show you how to structure your answers to these questions by using what’s called the STAR interview method! It’s sure to make you shine at your next job interview.

What is the STAR interview method?

The STAR interview method determines whether your past experiences and behaviour make you a suitable candidate for the position they’re looking to fill. After all, past performance is a pretty good predictor of the future!

The interview response method is a way of answering behavioural questions. Behavioural interview questions seek to understand how you handled work situations in the past.

Recruiters and hiring managers use the STAR interview method to

The STAR acronym stands for:

Situation – share an experience, problem or challenge faced in your professional life.

Task – describe your responsibility in the situation and what was required.

Action – explain the actions you took in the situation.

Result – what was the outcome of your actions?

Why the STAR interview method works

The STAR interview method works because it challenges the interviewee to demonstrate their competencies in a real-world context. It gives the interviewer a peek behind the veil of your resume!

The STAR method in action!

There are endless behavioural questions you could be asked in an interview, but they generally fall into five categories, including Teamwork, Problem-Solving, Interpersonal Communication Skills and Stress.

When preparing for an interview, think about a question that’s likely to be asked from each category and practice your response using the STAR method.

How to answer STAR questions

Here are a few examples from each category:

Teamwork

Can you tell us about a time when you had to motivate a co-worker?

Situation: ‘I was working on a proposal deadline and needed statistics from an analyst who wasn’t getting back to me.

Task: ‘I needed to source statistics to finish the proposal on time for a client meeting the next week.’

Action: ‘I asked if we could get a coffee one day to discuss the proposal timeline, and it turned out he was having a few personal problems. I encouraged him to take a few personal leave days and pass the work on to his co-worker.

Result: ‘I ended up getting the statistics on time and was able to finish the proposal by the deadline. The client was happy! And my co-worker solved his personal issues and returned the following week ready to work.’

Problem-Solving

Can you tell us about a time when you had to problem-solve a difficult situation at work?

Situation: ‘I had a customer who wanted a refund but didn’t have her receipt, and she was extremely rude.

Task: ‘I needed to find a way to appease the customer, but the store policy was not to issue refunds without receipts.

Action: ‘I asked why the customer why she wanted a refund on her purchase of a board game, and it turned out it had pieces missing.’ I contacted our supplier and was able to have them send her the missing pieces of the game.

Result: ‘The customer left happy as she did like the game, and the supplier was alerted to the fact that there were some quality-control issues with that particular game.’

Interpersonal Communication

Can you describe a conflict you had with a colleague and how you handled it?

Situation: ‘My co-worker took a long time to process customer service queries, and I was getting many complaints.

Task: ‘I needed to find out why my colleague was not responding to customers adequately, but she is pretty sensitive, so I needed to be diplomatic.

Action: ‘I told her about complaints from customers not getting a timely reply to their queries and asked if she had any ideas to solve the problem. She told me she was getting too many emails to handle, so I approached our supervisor to help.

Result: ‘It turned out we needed to hire another customer service representative, and we advertised for the position the next week!’

Stress

Can you share a time when you felt overwhelmed or stressed in your current role?

Situation: ‘I always have a million things on the go at once, and sometimes it can be challenging to keep on top of deadlines.

Task: ‘I knew I needed help organising and prioritising my weekly tasks.

Action: ‘So, I asked my manager if we could invest in a time management software program.

Result: ‘Now I’m using Monday. I don’t stress about my weekly priority list as it keeps me organised.’

Hopefully, next time you’re confronted with a tricky behavioural question in an interview, you’ll recall the STAR interview method and shine like the perfect candidate you are! Good luck!

 

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