How to do Great in a Behavioral STAR Job Interview

Prepare for a behavioral interview by thinking about how you handled different situations at work.

Employers often use the behavioral interview to determine how you'll perform on the job. Interviewers who use this method operate on the philosophy that how you performed in the past determines how you'll perform in the future. Handle this type of interview with the STAR method. During the interview, you answer questions by describing a situation with a positive outcome, explaining the tasks involved, describing the actions you took and ending with the results of your actions.

Instructions

1. Carefully examine the job listing and the requirements for the job. Think about different experiences you've had in the past and how they relate to the requirements of the job. Remember how you handled those situations and the results of those situations. Think about what the prospective job might entail. Anticipate questions that the interviewer may ask you based on the job.

2. Study your resume and pull out past situations and experiences that you think an interviewer may ask you to elaborate on during the interview. Think about how you want to answer those questions. The best answers are ones that are concise, positive and get to the point.

3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's career office advises their students to think of two or three of your best selling points and devise ways to present them throughout the interview.

4. Practice interviewing with a friend or family member. Have the mock interviewer ask you some of the most common behavioral interview questions. Some of these questions include describing a situation in which you handled a conflict; telling the interviewer about a time when you used your communication skills to get an important point across and describing a situation in which you had to think on your feet to solve a problem.

5. Prepare questions for the interviewer. Having questions for the interviewer shows that you're engaged and interested in the position. It also shows the interviewer that you're able to think critically and analyze situations.

Tips & Warnings

• Your responses should always demonstrate positive outcomes.

References

• MIT Career Office: STAR Method