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Are you a person good at answering without rambling? Are you good at narrating your past work experience in the form of a story? If you are incapable of responding in a structured manner, you need to know about the STAR method to answer behavioral questions in an interview.
An interview can determine your worth as an employee. Your employer will be keen enough to force you to answer difficult questions to know your real worth. Behavioral questions are used as a method to find the true potential of a candidate. A quick reply is expected from your side and you won’t get enough time to think deeper. You need to brace yourself to answer the questions without losing your temper.
Behavioral questions are common questions asked in a personal interview. The interviewer wants to know how much capable you are when you are placed in a difficult position within the working environment. Your confidence and your attitude towards the job responsibilities are being questioned here. You are supposed to describe certain situations from your past work experience to gain the trust of your interviewer. It is not an easy task. But, if you know the STAR method to respond to the common behavioral questions that are asked in an interview, you can excel yourself.
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STAR Method of Responding
STAR method to respond properly, you can succeed. Now, the question is what is the STAR method of responding?
S- Situation
T- Task
A- Action
R- Result
It is a structured way of responding by talking about a certain situation, the task you undertook, the action you adopted and the derived result. These are the best structure to answer a behavior question in an interview.
Star Method: Criteria
You need to have a clear understanding about the STAR method.
Situation : You have to neatly describe the task you need to carry out under certain circumstances. You have to be very careful not to give a generalized outline of past actions. You need to provide specific details and specific situations to make things more trustworthy.
The interviewer should understand the key details that you wish to talk about. You need to give a detailed description. Never lag. You need to do your level best to introduce a specific situation to your interviewer. Any relevant event, job or experience you were part of can be thoroughly explained to the interviewer.
Task : You need to explain in detail the task you undertook and the aim for which you were working. You need to give stress the aim or goal towards which you were working in the past. Such details can improve your credibility in front of the interviewer. This can even provide a good impression of yourself.
Action : You need to describe the action that you adopted to save the situation. The actions can determine your presence of mind to face any situation without any hesitation. You need to understand the importance and weight of your action.
Make sure that you give a detailed description of the action plan you came up with to save a situation which benefitted the entire company. Make sure that your focus is on You and Your actions. Keep yourself in the limelight and work towards a goal. You need to talk about the major contributions that you have given to the company. Your contributions should be given priority. Make sure to use I instead of We to describe the situations.
Result : You have to talk about the outcome of your actions. Talk about the positive outcomes. You should be very careful not to take credit for what others have done for the project. You can talk about yourself so that your working mentality will be exposed in front of your interview.
It can have a positive impact on your overall performance. You can talk about your major accomplishments without any hesitation. You need to keep track of what you are talking about. You can also add information like what you learned after taking part in such a prestigious project. Include the multiple results or outcomes that are positive. You need to follow the STAR method to answer the behavior questions.
STAR Method: Things to Ponder
Never include unwanted information. Never sound like you are boasting. Include the things that keep you in the limelight. Make sure to sound authentic and genuine. Never sound pathetic or argumentative. Rambling or fumbling for words makes you sound non-genuine.
- You have to prove your worth while narrating. You have to add the results of your hard work without a second thought. Eliminate things that make you place under a negative shade. You have to highlight the strengths while responding to your behavior questions.
- If your worst fear is attending the behavioral interview questions, you need to understand the importance of the STAR method of answering questions. Especially, when you are struggling to give examples to satisfy the question of the interviewer. You should keep one thing in mind it is a common procedure. You can apply any strategy that you may find interesting. The STAR interview method can be a savior.
- The format of the STAR method should be strictly followed. You need only to follow the format to understand the importance of your responses. You have to create a scene and add up all the important details. You need to prepare yourself to talk about the responsibilities and how you took the necessary actions to clear the dark clouds.
- The outcomes play an important role as your achievement makes you a perfect candidate for the job position. You can give a more focused response to the questions. It can also determine how well you fit into the current job position.
Questions To Which STAR Method Can Be Applied
The STAR method of responding can be used to answer certain questions. The behavioral questions always seek real-life incidents which could prove your worth as a good employee. It can also rest your level of patience and genuineness. Your honesty and faithfulness to company culture can also be identified through the STAR method. Your behavior in the past determines your present score and performance. So using the STAR method of responding is quite crucial. Such questions always begin with:
- Tell me about a situation where…
- What do you think you would do…
- Have you ever faced…
- Describe a situation where…
- Describe with an example of how…
While you attempt to answer such a question, you need to be very careful not to sound bland, instead start with an example and respond vigorously to the questions. Without rambling your thoughts, give more importance to proving your worth as a better employee using proper sentences.
STAR method enables you to converse clearly with your interviewer. You can tell your interviewer in a very interesting way about your past work experience. Your meaningful contribution to the previous company helps you to land your next job.
Sample Interview Questions Where You Can Apply STAR METHOD
Explain circumstances in which you were competent to operate the method of persuasiveness to persuade somebody to witness things go your way
- Define a moment when you stood confronted with a stressful crisis that displayed your coping dexterities.
- Give me a detailed instance of a juncture when you employed good review and reasoning in cracking trouble.
- Tell me about a time when you arrange a purpose and were competent to fulfil it.
- Brief about a situation where you had to operate your exposition skills to impact an individual’s sentiment.
- Give me a detailed instance of a moment when you had to serve a procedure with which you failed to compromise.
- Talk about a critical documented record you were directed to conclude. • Tell me about a moment when you maintained to go further and exceed the call of duty to convey a job accomplished
- Talk about a time when you were stuck with too many tasks but were asked to prioritize the given task
- Describe your experience of making a split-second decision.
- What is your usual method of negotiating with disagreement? Give me an example.
- Tell me about how well you deal with an aggressive person and gives you hard time every time you meet
- Tell me about a problematic determination you’ve created in the last year.
- Give me an example of a situation where you tried your level best to accomplish something but you failed utterly.
- Give me an example of when you demonstrated endeavor and grabbed the leader position.
- How well you deal with a bitter client or colleague.
- Describe how well you can motivate others.
- Tell me about a juncture when you commissioned a scheme virtually.
- Give me an instance of duration when you employed your fact-finding talents to unravel a situation.
- Describe how well you find a solution to a problem which everyone else would think is difficult to crack.
- Describe a time when you expected probable trials and advanced preventative measurements
- Tell me about a period when you were pushed to construct an unwanted conclusion.
- Describe how well you can handle a situation which requires more time and effort to settle.
Steps To Apply The STAR Method
You have to make sure that you are setting an apt scene for the interviewer. If you include unnecessary and fleeting details, your narration might bore the interviewer. Stick to the initial plan of using your achievements as the key ingredient to talk about your previous experiences. You have to talk about a situation neatly and cleanly. Keep things precise and honest. If your answer is out of focus, the interviewer will lose interest in you. Don’t make your answer too long. Focus on the main instances.
- You need to highlight the main tasks that you undertook. You need to give precise meaning to the task that prioritises your employment status. Your response should be intact. You should talk objectively.
- The results should be positive. You can explain how well you made a positive difference after undertaking the task. Add numbers and other factual details to increase the credibility of your answer.
- Make sure you talk about the immediate outcomes and the new experience that you have acquired from undertaking such projects. While you are confronted with a difficult situation, make sure that you maintain your balance while answering interview questions.
- Try to use minimal language with more in-depth meaning to talk about the circumstances. Make sure you include all the major details which helped you to carry forward with your action plans. You should prove that you are worthy enough to handle the job roles and responsibilities at the company.
- You can well adapt to the working culture without putting in lots of effort. Such assurances can directly come from your response. Be wise while responding. The STAR Method of responding can be your immediate saviour in such circumstances.
Attend an interview with confidence. One of the most essential ingredients to success is none other than confidence. Building confidence is not an easy task. You need proper guidance and resources to stand out. You need an excellent communication skill to crack interview confidently! Entri English Spoken English course will provide you with one such endeavour aimed at improving the accent of non-native speakers who struggle daily with language barriers. The English language can help to get placed in their dream job or do whatever they like to do.
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