Shine in interview with the STAR method
Preparing for a job interview is the best way to be successful. Your mission during the interview is to convince the recruiter in front of you that you are THE person for the job.
However, competition for the same position is sometimes fierce and the difference between two candidates can be very fine.
The STAR method, well known to recruiters, can allow you to stand out and succeed in your job interview.
What is the STAR method?
The STAR method is a good way to structure and support your experience. Its name comes from the 4 steps:
Situation – Tasks – Actions – Results
There are several situations in which this method will come in handy:
- When the recruiter asks you to share one of your successes; one of your failures; or the way you approach complex problems.
- When you try to demonstrate one of your skills (know-how or interpersonal skills).
Why the STAR method?
In addition to structuring your pitch, using the STAR method in a job interview allows you to give your story a logical order containing only the important details.
By using the STAR method, you will give the context of your story, your role in it and the results obtained thanks to you, as well as interpersonal skills. Thus, you provide recruiters with all the elements to their understanding and evidence that will support your argument.
Using the STAR method allows you to go beyond theory by drawing on your past experiences.
The 4 STAR steps
As you prepare for your job interview, think of examples to support your pitch, and structure them as follows:
Situation
Here you set the scene to give some context to your answer.
Tasks
In other words, the mission/goals that must be achieved to solve the problem.
Actions
Discuss the steps/actions you took to complete the task(s).
Results
It is important to quantify your results in a way that can be measured and clearly demonstrate your success, rather than just stating you completed the project and reached your goals.
Example using the STAR method
During your interview for a Marketing Manager position, your recruiter asks you to explain the biggest challenge you faced in your previous role. Here is an example of a response using the STAR method:
Situation: I was at the time Head of the digital division in a team of 4 people. As part of my duties, I had to take care of our website and our social networks. The other 3 people worked in graphics, press relations and relationship marketing.
Task: At the beginning of the year we received the objective of increasing our income from website.
Actions: I started by establishing an action plan for the next few months. First we were going to fix bugs and improve UX, then increase our traffic by actively working our SEO + SEA, and at the same time we were planning an event for our customers in order to increase our repurchase rate.
Results: Our bounce rate halved, our traffic increased by 50% and the average basket by 20% in 6 months.
Ready to use the STAR method in order to stand out during your next job interview?