How to use the STAR technique to ace your job interview
Ever wonder how to approach a job interview? You know you will be nervous so you should have a plan in place on how you will answer. I have used this STAR interview technique for many years and it always works like a charm!
Instructions
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First you should gather at least good examples from your work experiences. Could be how you dealt with an angry caller, How you delegate large projects, How you overcame objections to get your opinion noticed.
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Get out 3 pieces of paper and divide them into 4 sections with a pencil or pen
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Label each section: 1st section is 'S', 2nd section is 'T', 3rd section is 'A' and the 4th section is 'R'.
This stands for STAR - Situation, Task, Action, Result. This technique will ensure that you hit each of the major points in your responses.
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S is for Situation. State the situation. You can say " I handle irate situations often in my current job. The last situation I encountered was when - and fill in the rest.
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T is for Task. Here is where you state the task you had to do to remedy the situation. You can say - " My task or my job was to act quickly and get the client on their way with as little wait time as possible" or " My job was to have their account credited on the spot to diffuse the tense situation".
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A is for action. Here is where you state what action you took to achieve your goal. You might say "The action I took was to call up to our billing supervisor and have her credit his account while he was still on the phone" or "The action I took was to issue him a new ticket while he was at the airline counter"
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R is for result. Here is where you summarize your result. You can say " The result was that Mr. Smith got on the flight and I straightened out the credit for him after the call" or " The result was that the client was happy about the instant credit and promised to give us another chance"
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STAR - The Star Interview technique will always let you answer your interview questions in full - you will never go off on a tangent since you know you must address each letter.
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From experience I have found that memorizing 4-5 different situations using the STAR interview technique can be very helpful. Each situation can be slightly altered to fit with the question. For example, the one you memorize on dealing with an irate caller can be tweaked to become how well your teamwork skills are. How you were able to call on different members of your team to resolve his problem.
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Tips & Warnings
Try to remain calm.
If the interview is on the phone - spread out your STAR papers across your desk so you don't have to make noise looking for the right one.
You want it to appear like your responses are coming naturally
Practice your 4-5 STAR responses until you have them memorized
Remember they are as much interested in your speaking and story telling as the actual situation you are telling them about.
Smile - it can be heard in your voice and will put you more at ease.
And lastly - Good luck! You will surely ace it!
- Photo Credit www.clipartheaven.com
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