You’ve made it into the interviewing process ; now… how do you make a lasting impression and ensure you answer their question fully?
A simple and effective way to structure any question in the workplace whilst keeping your audience engaged is by telling a succinct, appealing story. Like every story, you want to build context and take them on a journey. This is accomplished best through the “STAR” method.
What is the STAR method?
STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action and Result. It is a valuable tool in structuring and answering behavioural questions or leading a meeting. When used properly it provides true value in your answer and the execution of your task.
Situation
Start your answer to the question or your presentation by providing some context to those listening – set a scene. This is simply down through the 4 Ws:
- Who was involved
- What was the situation
- When did this occur
- Why was it necessary to start the project
Task
This step delves further into the need for the task. It outlines your responsibilities during and throughout this task and the intended goal. Illustrate the value of the task, how the shortfall was identified and the value of this project.
Action
List and explore the pragmatic steps you took to resolve the issue. Whilst answering indicate your worth and integrate the following;
- Who you collaborated within the team to achieve the result
- What were the challenges and issues encountered
- How did you tailor your action to the situation and company strategy
Result
After all of the above points don’t sell yourself short in this final stage. Provide the result and quantify the accomplishment; whether it be a financial, operational or strategic impact. Link the result back to the task and identify one point to drive home from this, it could be one of the following:
- Teamwork
- Problem-solving
- Leadership
- Initiative
- Conflict resolution
- Stakeholder management
- Creativity
- Collaboration
In this step, there is a great opportunity to briefly touch on the challenges encountered, how it could have been dealt with differently (if you were to undertake the task in the future), what held you back and some of the key learnings.
How to apply STAR in an interview
Providing true VALUE in your answer!
There are many presentations and people that pass through the interviewing doors. This tool provides true value in answering their question in a captivating way, leaving them well informed, saying “well, we have no further questions”. It takes them on the journey, demonstrates your working methodology, illustrates that you are an effective communicator, details how you add value to an organisation and helps you stand out from others in your team or candidates in the interviewing process.