Career Chat // Answering interview questions // CLOSED

Thanks @NikNik!

Today we are going to be discussing the STAR technique for answering behavioural questions and we are going to share ideas for structuring your answers and becoming well prepared.


Imagine you have been asked a question in your interview for example ...

"Tell me something you put together, instigated or created in a previous job that was very successful"

First, examine the question: what is its purpose; what specific skill is the question addressing? Then think of an experience and mentally recollect and reflect on specifics of that experience. Before giving your response you can structure your answer using the four steps of the ‘STAR’ technique...

The STAR technique can be used for behavioural questions like the example above.

Behavioural questions ask you to call the time when a certain thing happened ... You may be asked a question like ... "Tell me something you created in a previous job that was very successful” or “Share the one thing about your previous experience you want me to know,” or, “Tell me something from your previous job that you are really proud of.”

This form of interviewing is based on the idea that past performance in similar situations or circumstances is the best predictor of future performance, this notion has been well researched and found to be very true in most cases.

Behavioural questions differs from hypothetical questions in that they ask you to "recall a time when" ... whereas hypothetical questions ask you "what would you do if ..."

Usually before interviewing, an interviewer decides on a set of behavioral traits he/she believes to be important for a particular role, then he/she creates a series of questions:

• “Describe a time when you had to …. What did you do?”
• “Give me an example of a time when you had to …”
• “Tell me about a situation in the past …”

Then the interviewer will wait for the interviewee to provide for details for each experience for example .... what was the situation? and what were the challenges? ... how did you feel about the situation? and how did you deal with it?

The interviewer might ask the interviewee further question like ...

"What did you do next?"
"What was the outcome"
"Would you do anything different now?"

Let's get back to that example question ...

Use the following STAR technique to help you answer it ...
STAR:
1. S - Situation: Provide detail and background what happened where and when?
2. T - Task: discuss the challenges and what the needs were, what needed to be done and why?
3. A- Action: what did you do? list various things that you did to complete the task within the given situation
4. R- Results: this is your time to shine, what were the outcomes? how successful were you? describe the positive impact your actions had? Did you receive any reward or award for your actions?

As an interviewer I find these questions very revealing ... however I am often surprised by the lack of preparation and a candidate's ability to define the situation and task and then provide the actions and results for their particular story ... It seems to me that it all comes down to preparation!

I hope today's forum gives you lots of information on how to prepare your STAR answer 😊😊

Have you had any experience with behavioural interview questions? how did it go?

I believe the reason why so many great candidates don't do well with behavioural interviews is because of nerves ... And going blank!

Here are some tips to help if this sounds like you 😊

Before the interview ...

1. Make sure you have a great support person on standby with just the right words to calm you and reassure you. This could be a positive friend or employment consultant ...

2. Learn good calming techniques - you want to be able to use these before and during the interview if nerves are a problem for you - slow breathing, deep breathing and even visualisations are good.

3. Give yourself the best chance by being prepared. Preparation is the best antidote to nerves! From getting there early to having your documents all ready to share in a neat folder.

4. Use reframing techniques when your thoughts are getting the better of you.

@NikNik recently shared that it helps her to remember that the employer is also being interviewed ... It's not only she that is under the microscope it's them as well!!

Excellent reframe, try to come up with your own. I heard of one lady who imagines the panel of interviewers in pink tutus before going into the room! Ha!

Then for when you're in the interview and your mind goes 'blank' try this ... it requires preparation ...

First, when you're preparing for the interview take time to vividly recall, using words and images, details from your past job. If that's hard for you try as many ways as you can to jog your memories.

Use smell, touch, visuals ... Talk to a former colleague, visit the old workplace or try to remember things that were said about the work you did well. Write them down if that helps you remember.

By preparing you are more likely to be able to remember things in better details and give more examples- they're all stored in there somewhere you just have to pry them out!!

BIG TIP: The worst thing you can do is try to a recall of something you haven't thought about in years right there during the interview! The interviewer can tell ... and you may appear unprepared and that won't help you!.

Secondly, as you recall your previous successes and even failures ... Press firmly on your knuckle. Keep pressing over and over as you think or talk about the stories from your past work experiences.

This is called 'anchoring', you anchor your vivid thoughts and feelings to a particular place on your body which, when touched, will bring it all flooding back.

Finally, when you're in the interview and the questions (you may have been dreading!) finally come you can covertly press the knuckle 'anchored' to your recollections.

The memories of that previous work experience will return easily. You can then begin to pick and choose an appropriate answer to the question.

All this whilst being calm, coherent and collected! 😊 (Hopefully!)

In the next post I'll talk about how to use the STAR technique to help you give good, well structured answers to those pesky behavioural questions ...

Have you even used relaxation or other methods to help you out during an interview?

Now let's look at the STAR technique in more detail...

Once the recollection of your past work experience comes to the foreground you want to tell the story with clarity

... All too often when we are a little nervous we can let ourselves get carried away and sometimes we even forget what was being asked in the first place!

S - Begin with the SITUATION ...

Set up what you're about to talk about.
"Yes I remember a time when I developed ... It was at X job when I worked as a Y in Z."

Just set it up remain focused and don't bring in lots of other detail - that's where people get trapped - they say "oh that's another story" which is okay except that you may have been chatting for 10 minutes about something irrelevant ...

So stay specific and only set the scene for the story which directly relates to the example you have remembered.

T - the TASK is in focus now ... You can break this down into 2 sections:
What was the challenge what needed to be done?

"The issue was that we needed a ...."

Then ...

A - ACTION ... what did you do?
After explaining the challenge ... Now say what you did:
"I was able to identify the need and I went about solving the problem by implementing ..."

R- RESULT - this part is your time to shine ... "As a result of the newly implemented program we achieved record sales that month"

By using STAR you have a better chance of staying focused and also remembering to show how you are a problem solving and communications guru! 😊

Would anyone like to answer the following behavioural question using the STAR technique?😊
"Describe a time in your previous employment when you showed initiative"
Let's see if anyone is game ...

Really great tips @Renstar. I took a call from someone living in WA this week who had recovered from a major depressive episode. She was finding it extremely hard to get back into the workplace even as a volunteer. She wasn't receiving any benefits and so wasn't connected with any job network providers.

For someone in this situation, are there organisations who can support a return to the workplace?

Hi @Former-Member thanks for stopping by😊

The answer is YES!

Please let your caller know that there are agencies specifically catering to people with mental health barriers - and truly they are bursting at the seams with possible work opportunities.

One of them is Ostara Australia ... But there are others. Google DES Providers or JSA (job services) and there will be one close by that your caller can make contact with.
Great question ! Thanks

@NikNik I forgot to say - hey I love the new CareerChat logo!!

Hi again ...
Found some tips from online at rightattitude.com ...

1. Listen to the question carefully.

Commonly, behavioral interview questions tend be long-winded and may sound vague (blame an overuse of adjectives, adverbs and trendy language.)

Here is an example: “Good problem-solving often includes a careful review of the substantial facts and weighing of options before making a decision. Give me an instance when you reached a practical business decision by assessing the facts and weighing the options.”


2. Make sure you understand the question before you start to answer.

You may paraphrase the question and ask the interviewer if you understand it correctly.

If necessary, ask the interviewer to repeat the question. Do not, however, ask the interviewer to repeat every question—the interviewer may doubt your ability to listen.


3. Organize your answer.

Allow yourself five to eight seconds to collect your thoughts and structure your response.

Interviewers appreciate this break and could use the time to drink some water, review their notes, or rest their hands from note taking.


4. State your answer. Try to limit your answer to about three minutes.

Three minutes is long enough to relate a story completely and short enough to hold the interviewer’s attention.


5. Do not digress from your plan.
Resist the temptation to think of new details as you state the answer.

By sticking to your planned details and structure, you can provide a consistent, concise, and well-reasoned answer.


6. Answer follow-up questions. In response to your three-minute answer, the interviewer may pose additional questions. These questions may require simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers or brief elaboration.

Great tips I thought and we covered most of them within our discussion today ...

😊😊
Now ....
Here's what one of my colleagues said when I asked the behavioural question (previous post)

"In my previous employment I was a trainer, I worked with some great minds and we liked to solve issues collectively ... In one instance we had to come up with a program for people who were extremely disadvantaged but who still needed to get work.

I had no training in the field so I contacted a psychologist friend and together (me the team and the psychologist) put together a wonderful program that is still being delivered now. It was well recognised and it was great to be a part of it."

So how did David go?

S- he set the scene, told us the SITUATION (first sentences)

T- he told us what the TASK was - to create a program

A - he explained how his ACTIONS went ahead and solved the problem he also got a little plug in for his excellent teamwork abilities (he plus the team)

R- RESULT- because of how he explained the story there was no problem with saying how much success the program enjoyed and how he'd relished being a part of it .

Well I think he did very well! Good job David!

Well we have come right to the end of today's forum on using the STAR technique for answering behavioural questions ...

I hope you got something out of it and remember that preparation can count for a lot in interviews !!

Thanks to @Former-Member and @NikNik

See you next week same time same place on sane.org 😉