Interviewing
STAR Format for Behavior Based Interviews Six Stories to Tell Tell Me About Yourself Closing Questions to Ask 30-60-90 Day Plan for Interviews
STAR Format for Behavior Based Interviews
Use the STAR framework to make sure you answer interview questions completely and in a way that shows your value-add to the employer.
Situation:
Think of a situation that will help you demonstrate your answer. Don’t spend a lot of time with this part of your answer, quickly establish the who, what, where, when and how for the story you are about to tell.
Task:
Describe what needed to happen in the situation. Again, be brief with this, but be sure to highlight any specifics that will be meaningful to the outcome, and especially note any challenges associated with the task.
Action:
The interviewer is interested in hearing what you did. Acknowledge if you were part of a team, but your answer should focus on how you completed the task you were assigned.
Result: The result is arguably the most important part of your STAR response but is often the part people forget to include. Be sure you share what the outcome of the situation was – even if it was not necessarily what you hoped for – and how you specifically contributed to that outcome. If it was not what you expected or planned, what did you learn from it? What will you do differently next time? What did you accomplish?
Before every interview, sit down with 30 – 50 behavior based interview questions and develop STARs that are relevant to the organization and the position. Download the below guide to go through some practice problems.
Six Stories to Tell
You must of course prepare STAR responses that are uniquely relevant to each position and organization you interview with. But to be a well-prepared candidate, you should also be able to tell the following stories at anytime, in any networking situation. Use the STAR format to make sure you are telling a complete story from your professional or academic experiences, presenting yourself in the most competitive way you can.
1. When You Solved a Problem
• “Problem solver” is a buzzword you will see listed in almost every job description written. Anyone can say that they have this skillset, but you need to be prepared to explain a specific time when you actually did solve a problem. Think about the kinds of problems you want to solve in your future career, and find an example that demonstrates that specific kind of problem solving (managing people, project management, strategy, etc.)
Goal: show you’re a creative, resourceful, and self-motivated problem solver.
2. When You Overcame a Challenge
• To be valuable in the workplace, you need to show that challenges are not obstacles that will stop your progress. You must demonstrate instead that challenges are an opportunity for you to apply your education and your experience to an issue to continue to move things along.
Goal: show you took initiative in order to climb over roadblocks
3. When You Made a Mistake
• We all know that everyone makes mistakes; what we don’t know is how everyone handles those mistakes. It’s important to be comfortable talking about times when you made a mistake, but more important to show you managed those times and what you learned from it. Mistakes are where we learn the most; be able to show potential employers and colleagues that you know that and value that. IMPORTANT: be thoughtful about the mistake you share, you don’t want to take their breath away with the enormity of what you did. Find instead a story you can tell that will allow you to demonstrate on how you corrected the situation.
Goal: show the steps you immediately took to fix the mistake, and what you learned from it instead of focusing on the mistake itself.
4. When You Worked as a Leader
• “Leadership” is another one of those job search buzzwords. You should have several examples that demonstrate your leadership abilities, whether or not you had a title and were in a position that said you were the leader
Goal: show you can successfully take charge and generate positive results.
5. When You Worked with a Team
• Every position requires you to be part of a team, regardless of how self-tasked in may seem. You will part of an organization, and your role will be instrumental in someone else being able to do theirs. You need to illustrate that you understand that, and that you deliver.
Goal: show that not just that you know how to collaborate, but that you understand why it’s valuable.
6. When You Did Something Interesting
• You will spend a lot of time with the people you work with. You need to not only be a valuable colleague, but also someone with a personality. Be prepared to talk about something you do outside of your professional life.
Goal: have a noteworthy answer when you are asked, “What do you like to do outside of work?”
Tell Me About Yourself
Use the guide below to help you answer the most asked interview question.
Closing Questions to Ask
You “win” the interview when you can demonstrate not only that you have the skill set, but that you have done your research and have thoughtfully considered the role you would take in the organization. There is no better way to show your passion for the mission and the work that you would be doing than when you ask questions that illustrate the depth of your research and the time you spent thinking about how would help the organization make an impact.
When a candidate is asked if they have any questions and the response is “no” they are showing a lack of interest in the position. If you ask very general questions (what would an average day look like?), you are showing a lack of professional maturity and failure to do research and prepare for the interview.
You should ask questions throughout the interview – it is, after all, a conversation between you and the interviewers. Develop strong questions for every person you will interview with. Ask them when appropriate during the interview, and any that you didn’t get to ask use at the end.
Prepare your questions in advance, and place them in your padfolio. They will be easily available to you as you take notes during the conversation, and your interviewers will note your level of preparedness.
Andrew Sobel outlined the following types of questions in his book Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others. Use these as a framework to help you prepare for your next interview. Write your questions in the space provided.
I. Types of Questions to AVOID
- Informational Questions
You should already have done enough research to find answers to basic questions. If you ask about something you could find the answer to yourself, you’re showing your lack of preparation. - Closed-ended Questions
A simple “yes” or “no” won’t lead to a conversation. - “Me” Questions
Use this opportunity to show the depth of your research and how you are thinking about how you can contribute to the organization. Don’t ask questions that demonstrate you are only thinking about what the organization will offer you. Save questions about benefits and vacation time for after an offer is extended.
II. Types of Questions to ASK -
Credibility-building questions:
“As I think back to my experience in managing large sales forces, I’ve found there are typically three barriers to breakthrough sales performance: coordination of the sales function with marketing and manufacturing, customer selection, and product quality. In your case, do you think any of these factors are holding back your sales growth? What do you believe are your own greatest opportunities for increasing sales effectiveness?” -
“Why?” questions:
“Why did you close down your parts business rather than try to find a buyer for it?” or “Why did you decide to move from a functional to a product-based organization structure?” -
Personal understanding questions:
“I understand you joined the organization five years ago. With all the growth you’ve had, how do you find the experience of working here now compared to when you started?” -
Value-added advice questions:
“Have you considered creating an online platform for your top account executives, so that they can share success stories and collaborate better around key client opportunities? We implemented such a concept a year ago, and it’s been very successful.” -
Future-oriented questions:
“You’ve achieved large increases in productivity over the last three years. Where do you believe future operational improvements will come from?” -
Aspiration questions:
“As you look ahead to the next couple of years, what are the potential growth areas that people are most excited about in the company?” -
Organizational culture questions:
“What are the most common reasons why new hires don’t work out here?” or “What kinds of people really thrive in your organization?” -
Decision-making questions:
“If you were to arrive at two final candidates with equal experience and skills, how would you choose one over the other?” - Company strengths-and-weaknesses questions:
“Why do people come to work for you rather than a competitor? And why do you think they stay?”
30-60-90 Day Plan for Interviews
Download this guide to help you develop a plan to tackle the 30, 60, and 90 days before and after the interview process.