Using the STAR method to answer interview questions
Once you’ve got to know your CV and the role you’re interviewing for, you must prepare for common interview questions from the super common strengths and weaknesses ones to the goal-orientated and the trickier salary questions.
It’s all well and good claiming that you’re ‘a strong leader’ or ‘a team player’, but demonstrating this is what it's all about.
Each time you reference one of your skills you should support it with specific examples to prove to the interviewer that your skills are genuine. A popular technique for illustrating your skills is the STAR method, nail this and your interview will become a whole lot easier, and your chances of success much better.
Situation: Give some context around the story you’re about to tell, outline where you were and why you were there.
Task: Describe what you were doing and what challenges you faced whilst doing it.
Action: Then explain the actions you took to complete the task and how you tackled the challenges.
Results: Lastly, reveal the outcome, this should demonstrate your skills, what you achieved and also anything you learnt from the situation.
Simple! Keep this STAR method in mind and come up with a few go-to examples you can use in the interview. If you’ve done your research, you should be able to tailor these examples more specifically to the role you’re applying for, especially if you are going to a competency based interview.