How to Answer an Interview Question: STAR format.
As part of my recruiting process I do interview prep calls with all my candidates. I do this because no one interviews for a living and a majority of sales reps report that it is much harder for them to sell themselves in an interview vs the product they sell at their job. We often overlook our successes and achievements because we are so focused on doing our job and doing it well. Candidates dread updating their resume and this is the reason why: It’s hard to sit down and walk through your career, capturing the highlights and not overlooking aspects that demonstrate your positive attributes. I encourage candidates to take this seriously, not just because it’s important to have a solid resume, let’s remember that a great resume won’t get you the job, but it will help you prepare for the interview. My prep calls and the time you spend updating your resume are akin to creating your professional autobiography.
Now that your resume is in good shape and you’ve taken a nostalgic walk down memory lane, you should have some good examples to share during your interview. I’ve written articles on the content to include in answering certain questions and the motivation behind Hiring Managers asking them, this article looks at a formula for answering any behaviorally based question, the ones that begin with, “Tell me about a time when…..”
The simple answer is the STAR format: Situation, Task, Actions, and Results. Pretty straightforward, it keeps you on task and your answers efficient. A common rule to follow is that your answers shouldn’t last longer than 2 minutes, however, it’s very easy to get lost in a response with too much detail. In a previous job, we listened to phone interviews with new clients to get a sense of how they interviewed. I listened to a candidate who ended up so lost in his response that he had to pause and ask what the original question was again. Avoid having to do that by following this simple format that will provide the most important details that can be expanded upon if the interviewer is interested.
This isn’t a format to keep in mind while interviewing but rather to keep in mind while formulating responses while preparing for an interview. Think through the key examples that you’d like to share and examine them from the perspective of situation, task, action, and response. What was the situation that you were in? What was your task to address the situation? What were the actions required for your tasks? And what was the result of your actions? If you train yourself to think about your examples in that way it will become natural to answer them in the same format. Practice your responses over and over, even if only in your head. Professionals can often gain confidence because it’s easy to talk about themself. Remember how hard it was to put your resume together and think through how to explore the examples you feel best to demonstrate your experience and skill set.
If you’d like to explore this further or schedule a private consultation, please contact us.
