What is a STAR Method Interview?

The STAR interview method is used to prepare for behavioral and situational interview questions.

Have you had a job interview where you were asked to give your response for a particular situation that is either imaginary or have happened in past with you and how you have tackled it?
Job interviews can be a stressful experience for job seekers, especially when faced with the dreaded behavioral-style interview.
Not all job-seekers are experienced individuals and they might not have faced all the situations that can be asked in an interview.
In such a condition, framing a situation on spot and providing a solution to it that expresses the desirable qualities that are needed for the job role can be difficult!
Not to worry! Here, we are going to understand what is actually a STAR Method interview and why do hiring managers use it.

Behavioral questions assess how you’ve taken care of circumstances previously and what you would rehash whenever confronted with a relevant or similar scenario again going forward.

Along with your technical skills, hiring managers would like to assess the behavior of the candidate in certain situations as well to understand how likely they will adapt with the team and the working environment.

Behavioral questions can be asked in many ways. Two most common ways are:

• Question will be framed this way — “Have you ever had a situation where …”
• Another way to put it — “Imagine you have a situation where….”

In both cases, the candidates are supposed to express qualities such as dedication, taking initiative, leadership, teamwork, handling challenging situations or working under pressure, etc.

STAR — Situation, Tasks, Action & Results

STAR is an acronym for bringing together all the important aspects to ace the behavioral interview. Now, let’s dig deeper into these four aspects.

Situation:

Imagine you are in a situation where….? How did you tackle that situation?
What are the key takeaways?
Please note that when you answer this question, the situation that you will mention should have a successful outcome and it need not necessarily be a work-related scenario. Lastly, it is very important to include the intricacies such as who, what, where, when, and how.

Task:

Keep it specific but concise. Also, note that the task should highlight some of the qualities that are needed for the role you have applied for. This will help the interviewer to understand that you will be able to tackle similar situations in the future.
Here, you need to depict the task you were answerable for therein situation. Keep it specific but concise. Do not forget to focus on any specific challenges you faced.
Also, note that the task should highlight a number of the qualities that are needed for the role you’ve got applied for. This is how you can let the interviewer know that you got the ability to manage similar situations going forward.

Action:

Action is the segment where you portray exactly what you did. Here, you will depict the way how you have completed the tasks assigned to you. The key factor you need to focus here is to describe your abilities in a way that the hiring manager will find it aligned to the applied role.

Result:

This it the final and most important part of the behavioral interview. Here, you will make conclusion to the situation you have explained so far and how your contribution was worthy to the same. You will talk about the significant achievements and failures and the overall results accomplished. You will talk about the issues and challenges faced during the overall duration and how the team was able to overcome all of those challenges. Do not forget to highlight your role while resolving the challenges.

Lastly, you will take some points out to share how it can be done better next time as it shows your ability to retrospect on the situation. What were a few takeaways you got out of the project and how can leverage that experience in the future.

What’s Next?

I will share a list of questions and the ideal answers that can be used to answer the behavioral questions. I will also share strategies that will be helpful to tackle similar scenarios.
Do you want help with preparing for interviews, crafting resumes, or any other assistance?
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