At our age, many of us are trying to figure out what job is the perfect fit. According to Fit Small Business, 42% of people ages 18-34 are considering a new job. With a new job, comes the nerve-wracking process of interviewing. However, acing your interview can be easy if you learn the method to guide you through answering questions to best showcase your skills and experience.
The STAR response approach is a great practice tool and guide while answering interview questions. This approach is an easy acronym to follow so you remember to answer a question in full, by covering the following areas within your response:
S – Situation: what was the situation?
T – Task: what was the task at hand?
A – Action: what did you personally do in the situation?
R – Result: what was the result of the situation?
Many interview articles and resources advise using this approach to answer behavior-based questions, which are more pointed, probing and specific questions than traditional interview questions. However, this approach should be used to answer all types of interview questions to ensure you aren’t forgetting important information in your responses. Most often, people don’t include the result in their answer, which is the important information that will set you apart from other candidates. The interviewer wants to know how you specifically handled the situation and what the result was.
The STAR response approach takes practice but you’ll find your answers are much more robust and impactful. Happy interviewing and good luck!
