The STAR technique of asking interview questions

The STAR technique is a systematic way of answering questions.

STAR is an acronym meaning ST: Situation and Task, A: Action, R: Result.

The STAR technique is really a structure, like telling a story. The Situation and Task are the beginning of the story. The action is how the story develops. The Result is the end analysis of the effects of dealing with the situation.

A lot of very familiar interview questions are actually STAR questions:

• Give us an example of…?
• Describe a situation…?
• What experience have you had…?
• Can you give us more information…?

The great advantage of the STAR method is that you can construct your answers effectively. You can clearly explain your examples, what you did, why you did it, and give a clear answer based on that information.

The STAR technique has another very useful characteristic: You can keep track of your answer a lot better if you use a story telling approach. You're better oriented to your information, and you know what piece of information is supposed to be where.

As you can see, this is a very effective way of getting a lot of information out of one question.

Structuring your answers

The questions above are good test cases for creating your answers:

Give us an example of…?

Situation and Task The idea to produce a good answer which is measurable in terms of the employer's requirements. The examples will be useful in measuring experience, skills, and suitability for the work environment.

These are important, because all the important information for the interviewers in your answer is based on them.

Try to select an example or subject matter where you're fully familiar with all the information, and can give a good clear story.

Define the situation, clearly, and keep it simple. The interviewers have no idea what the story is about, so you must explain the situation so they can follow it.

Explain what the problems were, what your role was, why the situation was important. Do this in so many words: 'The problem was…', 'This was important because…', etc.

The interviewers must have a good understanding of your story, to understand your working methods and your skills.

Action

Having set the scene, you now describe your actions, in story order.

This means literally step by step. The interviewers have to be able to see how you got from A to B. They have to assess your actions and your work performance, and they can't do that if they don't understand the process or the order in which events occurred.

Again, keep each stage of your story clear, and easy to understand.

Result

This phase is vitally important. The interviewers must see a logical, understandable result, like a story.

In terms of the STAR method, Situation and Task has to create the scene for Action, leading to Result.

This means one thing: Stay On Track With Your Answers.

Important DONTS for STAR questions and answers

DON'T go off topic. The interviewers may not get lost, but you might.
DON'T use any irrelevant information or references. It wastes time, and can be a distraction for you and the interviewers.
DON'T leave out steps in your answer. The continuity suffers, and you can spend more time backtracking than actually answering the question.

Communications skills and the STAR technique

A very useful element in the STAR technique is that it is a good, reliable, communication method. That's extremely important to interviewees, because interviewers have to assess communications skills.

Good answers make good interviews.