Job Interviews & STAR Method

Before the Interview: Prepare

Research the Company

In almost every interview situation, you’ll be asked, “What can you do for this company?” Practice your answer. Research press releases, stories in the Globe and Mail, annual reports, blogs, Web sites, the news, and so on. Know the company’s philosophies, goals, plans, new products, targeted customers, new executives, and major directional changes.

Research the industry, the company, the competitors, and the interviewer (if possible).

Completing the research step ensures that you have fully researched the company, the industry, and the competition. Knowing how to interview well within the industry and company will help you get a second interview. You also might be able to research the interviewer using Google or http://www.linkedin.com. Having relevant background information might give you helpful hints on how to position yourself.

Answer Three Guiding Questions

• What about yourself do you want the interviewer to know?
• What disadvantages or weaknesses do you need to minimize?
• What do you need to know about the job and the organization to decide whether to accept this job if it is offered to you?

Prepare Answers to Common Interview Questions

Prepare to Ask Questions

Towards the end of the interviewer, your potential employer is likely to ask if you have any questions for them. If possible, prepare a few questions in advance to ask your interviewer. Asking smart questions helps to demonstrate your enthusiasm and engagement, and hopefully, your knowledge of the position and/or organization. For example: I read [company’s] press release on new green initiatives and supporting sustainability practices in [industry]. What opportunities do individual [company] branches have to support sustainability within their local communities?

If you can’t prepare any company-specific questions, then ask more general ones. For example: What’s the most important thing new employees in [specific] position do to hit the ground running?

Have an Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a 30-60 second prepared answer to “why should we hire you?”

• Content depends on you, the listener, the position, the company… (rhetorical approach!)
• At least, it should say what you do, how you do it, and what it accomplishes
• Could also suggest why you do it

Rehearse

• How To Rehearse For A Job Interview, from Glassdoor
• Best Bet for Job Interview Prep: Rehearsed, Mock, and Video-Recorded Interviews, from Quint Careers (via WayBack Machine)
• 5 Ways to Rehearse for a Job Interview, from Simply Hired (unfortunately, the text is difficult to read, but the advice is good)

During the Interview

• Focus on strengths — don’t critique yourself or past employers, colleagues, etc.
• Be prepared for difficult questions.
• Know your salary range (payscale.com, glassdoor.com, careerbliss.com) and decide how you will respond if asked about salary expectations.
• Be aware that some interviewers may ask Inappropriate or illegal questions (sometimes maliciously, and sometimes with good intentions). Review advice for handling such questions.
  • Job Search 101: Inappropriate Questions, from Salary.com
  • Tactful answers to illegal interview questions: Tips on protecting your right to privacy without jeopardizing a job offer, from San Francisco State University
  • 5 Illegal Interview Questions and How to Dodge Them, from Forbes
• If you’re asked a behavioral question, respond using the STAR method.

The STAR Method for Behavioral Questions

Behavioral-Based Interviewing is grounded in the theory that the most accurate predictor of a person’s future performance is his or her past performance in a similar situation.

Behavioral questions are those that often begin with “Describe a time when…” or “Tell me about a situation where…” They are designed to get you to tell a story.

Some examples of behavioral questions from Live Career:

• Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.
• Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
• Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone’s opinion.
• Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a policy with which you did not agree.
• Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem.
• Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision.

As you can see, behavioral questions ask you to tell a story. They often begin with “tell me about,” “describe a time,” or “give me an example.”

In situations where you are asked a behavioral question, the interviewer is not only trying to elicit an answer, but also assessing how well you think under pressure and how well you speak. Rather than rambling along through an aimless story, it’s best to try to respond with the STAR method — situation, task, action, and result(s). The STAR method is a technique for responding to such behavioral questions.

SITUATION: What was the situation? or context?

First, set the scene by providing some contextual information–perhaps the location, type of job (or course, organization, etc.), or number of years ago. Describe both the broad and specific situation, if needed — set the scene. You can draw from you work history, education, organizational memberships, or other situations where you can speak to transferrable skills.

TASK: What was the task, project, or problem?

Describe the task, project, or problem. Be clear about the importance or consequence of the task and talk about your role in it.

ACTION: What did you do? How did you handle the situation?

Discuss the actions you took to accomplish the task or project and/or describe how you solved the problem. If possible, highlight a skill, strength, or ability the company you’re interviewing with would value in the employee who will hold the position.

RESULT(S): What were the results of your actions?

Tell the interviewer about the (positive) outcome(s) of your actions and briefly discuss the implications or what you learned from the situation.

STAR Response Examples

Interviewer Question (for a professional writing position):

Interviewee’s Response:

(SITUATION) About a year ago I volunteered to help out at the Animal Rescue Association in Tampa. It’s a great organization that tries to match up unwanted dogs and cats with loving families. About a month into my volunteer work there, we realized that we were almost out of funding in our bank account. (TASK) Without additional funding, we would have to shut down the organization and find shelters to take the 17 dogs and cats we were in the process of placing.

Instead of letting the organization fold, (ACTION) I went online in search of community grants that might fund us and found the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay—their mission and goals aligned well with our own. I quickly put together a grant for the Community Foundation that described our mission, history, statement of need, and operating budget for the next six months, and I tailored my language to demonstrate how well our objectives matched with their mission and goals. (RESULT) After submission, we were contacted almost immediately with the good news–our funding had been granted.

Interviewer Question (for a management position):

Interviewee’s Response:

(SITUATION) My last semester at FAU—a couple of months ago—my biology professor assigned a project where (TASK) teams of students had to identify a problem or opportunity on campus that could be improved with sustainability practices like reducing waste, reusing resources, or recycling materials. (SITUATION) We were randomly grouped into teams, and none us had worked together or really knew each other.

(ACTION) At our first team meeting, I asked everyone to take five minutes and write down a quick list of their strengths and weaknesses—professional stuff, personal stuff, academic stuff—anything that might be useful for the rest of the team to know. We shared our lists and realized that one team member was great with photography and digital art, but admitted to being shy. Another team member was great with research and writing, but liked to have someone else around to help with ideas. I was good at organizing and task management, but wasn’t as knowledgeable about sustainability as the others.

Sharing our lists helped us to understand each other—our personalities and strengths. That discussion led into a discussion about what roles and responsibilities would draw on each of our strengths and (RESULT) helped us work efficiently and effectively. We all enjoyed working on the project, and we. turned in a sustainability project that really impressed our professor.

Read More about the STAR Technique for Behavioral Questions

• Using the Star Technique to Shine at Job Interviews: A How-to Guide, from The Guardian
• Behavioral Interview Questions And Answers 101, from The Interview Guys (unfortunately, the informational text on that page is broken up by an excessive number of intrusive advertisements — the information is good enough that I still recommend it)

Weaknesses

In face to face classes, I often ask students how they might respond to one of the most common interview questions:

“What is your greatest weakness?”

Almost immediately, a student in the class will suggest that the way to answer this question is by providing a weakness that isn’t really a weakness at all — things like perfectionism, spending too much time on work, or being too invested in one’s career.

For the vast majority of job applicants, at best this type of response is disingenuous, and at worst, it shows that your weakness may be that you don’t believe you have a weakness. And of course you do — everyone does.

According to LifeHacker via U.S. News and World Report:

“…if you catch yourself about to spin a positive into something that could appear negative just to get through the question without looking like you actually have any weaknesses, you’ve probably revealed your real issue then and there—a lack of clarity, honesty, and capacity for self-introspection.”

Interviewers don’t typically ask you a question to play “gotcha,” but rather, to determine whether your weakness is something that might hinder you from performing the job successfully or to determine whether you are introspective and invested in self-improvement. There are three very strong reasons to speak openly and confidently about your weaknesses:

• Employers want to hire individuals who are self-aware, and you can be self-aware only if you know both your strengths and weaknesses. Being self-aware is the only way you can improve.
• Employers know it takes a certain level of maturity to talk about your weaknesses. They want to ensure you have achieved that level of maturity before extending an offer.
• Employers want to determine whether your weakness is something that might hinder you from performing the job successfully. (For that reason, you shouldn’t cite a weakness that is central to the responsibilities of the position. For example, if you’re bad with numbers, you probably shouldn’t be interviewing for a position as an accountant.)

Remember that everyone has strengths and everyone has weaknesses, including every CEO, every country’s president, every manager, and every one of your coworkers. You will be in good company when considering and discussing your weaknesses.

Responding to “Weakness” Questions:

There are two ways to approach responding to: “What is your biggest weakness?”

1. The first way is probably the best way. Admit to your weakness (as long as it isn’t central to the position) and describe your plan for strengthening it. Better yet, describe how you’re actively taking steps to improve. For example, if your weakness is public speaking, enroll in a public speaking class or find some other way to practice. When you respond to the interviewer, tell her or him about the class and what you’re learning from it/how you’re improving.
2. The second way is to admit to a weakness that you’ve already corrected or compensated for — a past weakness that is no longer a problem. As with the first method of responding, you should cite what concrete, specific steps you took to improve.

Example “Weakness” Responses + Commentary:

While Allen’s weakness is a real weakness, that’s the only “correct” thing about his response. The big problem is that Allen needs to be more specific in offering concrete actions for how he is overcoming this weakness (or mediating it). The lesser problems are that Allen’s language is both vague (what “things” get hectic? what “freaks” him out?) and unnecessarily negative and too colloquial/unprofessional:

flustered < overwhelmed ▪ hectic < situations that demand multitasking ▪ freak out < anxiety

This response is on the right track. However, Beth is more admitting to something that could be a problem rather than something that is a problem. She should be clearer that it is a problem—otherwise, it might seem to much like a strength (i.e. “I have never needed clarifications in the past; I’ve never needed more info in the past… but maybe I will in the future.”) With that said, what Beth says about working to correct the problem is good—it shows her taking active corrective steps. Also, her response is good because it’s specific to the Graphic Designer position she’s applying for.

Carl isn’t admitting a weakness. He’s pointing out weaknesses in people around him. This makes Carl seem like a jerk. To me, it sounds like Carl is saying “I always assumed my coworkers were great, but then I realized some of them sucked. I overcame this issue by lowering my expectations and always assuming that some of my coworkers suck.”

Jay’s response is a good one. It’s can be a weakness, it sounds real, and Jay provides active steps he’s taken to correct the weakness.

Dave sounds creepy… and that’s more enough to make this a bad response. Beyond that, Dave is suggesting that he is easily distracted by people, and thus, he can’t be trusted to accomplish tasks if there are people around. (Bad news for Dave and Dave’s future coworkers… most jobs involve other people.) Dave doesn’t offer any concrete plans, steps, or actions for how he has (or will) overcome this problem. (Creep is gonna creep?)

Bad time management and procrastinatio are weaknesses, but Eve doesn’t offer any concrete information about how she’s overcome this weakness. Basically, she says “Time management used to be a problem for me, but now I manage my time better.” It sounds like either Eve is making up a weakness that isn’t real, or it’s still a weakness for her. In real life, people aren’t bad at something one day, and then wake up the next day magically good at that same thing.

Eve needs to say something about how or why she’s better at time management now. (Did she learn a new scheduling system or find a magical time management app? Did she find some new motivation? Did she learn to prioritize? Has she worked on it for a long time and found ways to manage time that work for her?)

Franks’s response is excellent. He admits to a real weakness and offers concrete information about how she worked to overcome it—in the past and the future.

George can’t say he’s bad at math if he wants to be an accountant. Working with numbers is essential to the position, so being bad with numbers means he can’t do the job. It would be like someone interviewing for an elementary school teaching position saying they’re bad with children.

You shouldn’t offer something that is essential to the position as a weakness. You shouldn’t lie, but perhaps there’s some other “big” weakness that you could offer? (And in the meantime, if George wants to be an accountant, he should keep working on his math until it isn’t a weakness.)

Avoid Interviewer Pet Peeves

More on Job Interviews

How to Answer Anecdotal Interview Questions

When the interviewer says, “Tell me about a time you disagreed with your supervisor,” you blank. How do you prepare an anecdote when you don’t know what the question will be?

The Five Best Questions a Job Candidate Can Ask

When you’re in a job interview, the questions you ask the interviewer can matter as much as your responses. They demonstrate how forward thinking you are, and how eager you are to invest yourself in the company’s future. Here are five great questions that can set you apart from other candidates.

A number of things can annoy an interviewer and must be avoided at all costs. The following includes a list of things you should not do. Mock interviews are especially helpful at this stage because sometimes candidates are not aware they are doing things that are clear turnoffs to interviewers, so proceed with caution.

Not Being Prepared

Being unprepared is an insult to the interviewer who is investing their time and energy into meeting with you. You should be there on time, have several copies of your résumé in your portfolio, focus on answering any question asked, and have a list of questions to ask at the end of the interview.

Negative Body Language

Positive body language such as looking the interviewer in the eye and shaking their hand firmly when saying hello inspires trust. Poor body language can eliminate you as a potential candidate. Practice answering questions with a friend and look them straight into the eye. Smile when you talk about big goals that you have achieved. You may look away now and then, but for the most part hold their gaze throughout the interview. Sit up straight in an attentive position to help ensure you make a good impression.

Appearing Tense

Stress is a vital component of an interview because you want the job and you need to impress. Using that stress to perform better is key, and, with practice, you can appear more relaxed than you actually are. For example, if your palm sweats a bit, discreetly wipe your hand on your pants leg or skirt before you shake the interviewer’s hand. Preparing in advance usually lowers stress, but if you still need additional methods to calm yourself before an interview, try listening to soothing music before entering the building or read something inspirational before the interview. Taking deep breaths before you enter the building can lower stress a great deal.

Not Focusing on the Question and Not Answering It Directly

If your interviewer asks for a one- to two-minute overview, don’t spend six to eight minutes regurgitating your résumé. Focus and listen carefully to everything the interviewer asks you. If they ask for a one- to two-minute overview, make sure you give them one to two minutes. If you feel you might be going on a tangent and not answering the question, it’s fine to ask if you are going in the right direction, or you can ask the recruiter to repeat the question and start over. Practice is important, even when you practice going off the topic.

Waning Energy

The interview process is strenuous. If you interview with one person, it’s easy to keep your energy up. However, some interviews might be set up where you will interview with multiple people or several individual people throughout the day, and, in some cases, on different floors and in different buildings. Your energy level must be as strong and consistent with your seventh interview as it was with your first. To avoid waning energy, bring a small bottle of water with you to help you feel refreshed. If your interview day will be several hours long, bring a small snack bar to help you stay alert.

Blaming Others for Your Poor Performance

Putting anyone or anything in a negative light is not a good strategy for an interview. Criticizing your past peers, boss, or company puts you in a negative light. Interviewers red flag any type of negative comment and might probe for more negative energy lurking in other interview responses.

Not Treating Everyone with Respect

Treat everyone you meet during the day with the utmost respect, whether it is the security guard, the administrative assistant, or the actual interviewer. Be respectful if you are trying to rush through security or if you are holding an elevator for someone. All of these individuals communicate with each other, and if you leave a bad impression with any of them, it could end your candidacy. Be courteous and kind to everyone you meet. Manners do count.