Have you ever gotten an interview question that started with: “Tell me about a time when…”? Those questions are known as behavioral questions, and they are some of the most commonly asked questions in interviews today. So, how can you prepare to answer those questions? By utilizing the STAR method! The STAR method is a great tool to know, and it is the best way to ace those tricky questions.
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. This is a great format to use because it allows you to narrow your ideas down to one specific situation and provide detail of how you handled that situation and what skills you utilized. The purpose of behavioral questions is so employers can analyze your thought processes, and how you deal with conflict, teamwork, time management, etc. You can think about the answers to these questions as if you are storytelling a specific instance.
Here is the STAR format guide below along with an example!
S – Situation: describe the situation that you were in using detail, and provide context
T – Task: outline what task you were given, or what goal you were working towards
A – Action: explain what actions YOU specifically took to accomplish your task
R – Result: describe the outcome of your action that was taken, and what the final result was
My example:
S – Situation: The situation was that I was interning at a flour milling plant, and one day it was pouring rain. Our team had to ensure our building wasn’t creating any toxic runoff into the public water supply from the rain.
T – Task: I was tasked with collecting rainwater from specific points of the facility to send to a lab for testing, however some areas were very difficult to reach.
A – Action: The action I took was getting cups and paper plates from the kitchen, to create a makeshift funnel to gather the rainwater easier.
R – Result: As a result, we were able to send off the rainwater samples and passed the tests to ensure our facility was being safe.
Schedule with a Career Counselor for more guided practice!
Emily Ho is a College of Business Student and a past Mock Interview Specialist in the Career Management Center.
