How to shine in an interview with the STAR method

A traditional summary articulates your strengths and accomplishments. However, this approach does not illustrate how you go about certain issues. In order to get to know your behavioural skills in a job interview, the recruiter will ask about your involvement in a situation with interview questions, such as “How do you persuade people to accept your point of you?” or “Give an example when you managed a project”. In this sense, the STAR interview method is a structured tool to draw on past experiences and elaborate and highlight your skills.

The STAR Method stands for:
S = Situation: Begin with describing the specific situation you were involved in. This can be from a previous job or any relevant work experience
T = Task: Identify the objective you were working toward
A = Action: Describe the actions you took in order to illustrate how you contributed to achieve the objective or solve the problem
R = Result: Summarize the outcome

How to use it, with the answer example: “Describe an occasion when you worked with a team”:
Situation: “The most recent was with my last company, where I was hired as software developer on a team of 7 and we were developing a financial module for our accounting system.”
Task: “The problem was that we were behind schedule and we were not going to be able to release it on time. On top of this, our project manager fell ill.”
Action: “So I volunteered as a project lead, and I noticed in my initial technical evaluation that there were coding errors that ultimately made us slow down. I thus negotiated with the product manager and we implemented an incentive system for the team that made the entire team work through some nights.”
Result: “After all, we made it on time and the project turned out to be a great success. The team was pleased about their bonuses and I gained the promotion as a team leader.”

With the STAR interview technique, you not only answer the question, but also convey many other competences that appeal to the employer. Make sure to rehearse until you feel confident and delve into several competences you would like to highlight.

By: C. Maiko Schnelle