STAR Interview Method Guide: Examples and Tips for Interviews

The STAR method—which is an acronym for situation, task, action, result— is a strategy for answering behavioral interview questions in a job interview. Using the STAR method to answer behavioral interview questions can show hiring managers that you demonstrate competency, as well as how you would react to situations that could arise in the role as a potential employee.

The STAR method has also been described as the CAR method (context/challenge, action, result) or the PAR method (problem, action, result).

You can use STAR to create a simple-to-remember success story with a clear dilemma and results. Much like with any story, the answer has a beginning, middle, and end where you accomplish or learn something that proves your growth at a previous job. Here is a breakdown of the four aspects of the STAR technique:

1. 1. Situation: Start your answer by providing quick context to the dilemma you faced in a previous work situation, and why it was important or relevant to the role for which you’re interviewing.
2. 2. Task: State what your responsibilities were in the situation, as well as your ultimate goal.
3. 3. Action: Describe specific examples of how you dealt with the situation. Ensure that you’re positioning yourself as the protagonist—not your then-boss or a co-worker you were helping out. The more agency you had in the situation, the better.
4. 4. Result: Tell the interviewer what the final result was, even if you didn’t achieve your goal. For example, you may have learned a new process that you were able to implement going forward. The result should always have a positive outcome and depict you as having accomplished something.

Job interviews are stressful situations. And while you won’t know what a recruiter or hiring manager will ask ahead of time, it’s important to have some prepared answers so you don’t freeze on the spot.

• Make a list of required skills: Review the job description and look for any keywords, phrases, or required skills that are included.
• Brainstorm examples: Think of situations where you demonstrated those required skills, whether it be problem-solving, making a difficult decision, remaining calm under pressure, or showing leadership skills and teamwork. For first-time job seekers, examples for behavioral questions may come from internships, volunteer jobs, or school.
• Prepare for vagueness: A behavioral question will not include a specific situation, such as, “How would you handle an angry customer who is making a scene?” Instead, expect, “Can you describe a situation where you disagreed with a supervisor?”
• Write down scenarios: Write down any potential examples in a complete, coherent, and edited response. Highlight each of the four elements of the STAR interview method and note which example works best for each skill or keyword.
• Practice the answers: Practice your interview responses aloud in case you’re unable to have your written responses with you in the interview.
• Elaborate past “yes” or ”no”: Consider starting your answer with a “yes” to show that you’re accepting the question as you begin your answer. These questions are meant to be similar to essay questions in a test that includes keywords from the questions.

An example question might be: “Can you give an example of a time where you had a disagreement with your supervisor?

• Situation: Your supervisor implemented new strategies for your department, but your team struggled to understand them because of their wording.
• Task: You needed to convince your supervisor that people were getting confused, without being disrespectful.
• Action: You approached your supervisor one-on-one, and explained where the miscommunication was happening and why.
• Result: Not only did your supervisor appreciate you coming forward, but they also allowed you to work with them on rewriting the strategies for the team.

In this example, you are asked, “Can you describe a time where you made a mistake and how you handled it?”

• Situation: You once had a mix-up involving shipping labels that were then mailed to the wrong customers.
• Task: Not only did you need to get the shipments back and mailed to the correct customers as soon as possible, but you had to alert them of this inconvenience without angering them and potentially losing future business.
• Action: You reached out to the clients and sent them the shipping labels so they could immediately send the shipments back out to the correct addresses. You also included a gift certificate for a future order.
• Result: The customers were frustrated with the situation, but happy to help and thankful for the gift cards. Both are still customers and were satisfied with how quickly the situation was handled.

Here, an interviewer asks: “Describe a time when you went above and beyond your role.”

• Situation: Many companies have that one room or closet that is in desperate need of an organization system put in place.
• Task: There were rarely slow days where you could dive into overhauling the space, but it needed to be done without requiring extra hours.
• Action: You broke down the steps into bite-sized tasks that you could knock out when there were short spurts of free time.
• Result: After a couple of weeks, it was completely organized. No one had even realized you’d been working on it, but they were thrilled that it had been taken care of without having to ask or assign it.

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