Be a STAR! How to nail that interview.

Ahhh, Behavioral Interviewing, oh how we love thee.  At least those of us in HR love the technique that can really get to the root of if a candidate is a good fit for a job.  While it may intimidate the job seeker, it really is your best friend just follow the below steps to nail that next interview using the STAR method.

1.       First and foremost, you have to understand the question.  This means listening closely and asking questions when appropriate.  Often interviewers may get rather long winded when asking a behavioral interview question and especially when they have a list in front of them they are reading from.  Cut through the excessive adjective use and get to the root of what they are asking.  If they want to know a time when you went above and beyond, have a few stories ready of past jobs that are relevant to the job you are interviewing for and how exactly you do so.  Don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat the question or to clarify.  That just tells us you are listening.

2.       When doing your interview prep, look at their values and mission.  Tie that in to the job description and create three stories for each company that you can pull out of your bag of tricks when the question comes up, because it probably will.  Use the STAR method below and create index cards and practice.  Be ready to tie the story back to how it relates to the question that you are asked.  Notes in an interview are ok, but you don’t want to be flipping through a million note cards.  Those are just for practicing.  If you feel you need notes, or are prone to get nervous in interviews.  Create a professional looking document that you can have on the left side of your portfolio and your notebook on the right.  Bold the situation and then just have bullets to remind you to keep the answer short and sweet.

3.       Don’t be afraid to pause.  It is ok to collect your thoughts and organize your answer before speaking.  Don’t rub your forehead or start twitching though as this is a body language sign of being unprepared.  Instead, rest your curled finger on your chin for 5-8 seconds and think about which story to use, even glancing at your notes.  This gives you the ‘pensive thinking’ appearance and will give the interviewer a break as well.

4.       Stay focused.  As you might have guessed by now, I like to talk.  I am what is known as an ‘oversharer.’ As such, it takes a lot of discipline not to elaborate or go off on tangents in these situations.  If you keep to your STAR plan, you will be just fine, but STAY ON TASK!

5.       Be prepared and ready to answer follow up questions about your experience.  Keep your answers brief and only answer what they are asking.  They don’t want you to go back into a speech about the experience, they just need some clarification.

BE A STAR!  How to nail those tough “Give me an example of a time when you…” questions.

S Situation	Be specific and detail the background.  Explain what company were you with, what was the situation you were in that required you to do what they are asking to hear about.  Answer the What, When, Why, and Who.
T  Task	What did you need to do.  Keep this section brief.  You want the bulk of your detail to be in the action, but you also want to be able to describe the challenge that you overcame in order to accomplish the task.
A  Action	This is where you get to shine.  What did you do to solve the challenge you explained in the previous area.  How did you do it?  Were there any tools you used?  Did you have to collaborate?  What made it something special to share?
R  Results	Keep this section brief too.  Explain quantifiably what the result was.  Did it increase sales by 20%?  Save the company $20,000?  If there is a way to tie back the benefit it brought to the organization you were with at the time to the job description or values of the company that you are interviewing with, that is ideal.