General Counsel & Company Secretary - FTSE 250
Interview Prep Guide (How a Star Candidate Prepares for an Interview)
You’re in an interview for your dream job and the hiring manger says, ‘Tell me about a time when you …’
Oh dear, you’re left scrambling for a time when you defused conflict or hit a deadline. You try to remember what happened and who was involved. How are you going to spin this one?
Don’t stress, if you know the STAR formula for answering behavioural interview questions, you will be fine.
The STAR formula to answering behavioural questions is:
Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.
Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation.
Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.
Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved.
The formula is easy to follow, but it does take some practice to make perfect. Follow these simple tips to be a star in your next interview.
Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.
Setting the scene is not a chance to flex your creative storytelling skills. Keep it simple, brief and to the facts.
Your interviewer does not need to know your work history, relationships with colleagues or thoughts on your ex-manager.
Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation.
Tell the interviewer exactly what you were responsible for (and make it clear).
If you start telling the interviewer about the time you worked to a deadline, but also start telling them about the business development you were doing, you may seem confused about your role.
It’s also important to quantify what you were doing. Don’t say 'I was instructed to manage a merger', tell the interviewer time frames, cost targets etc
Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.
Talk the interviewer through the steps you took to reach the desired outcome.
An interviewer doesn’t want to know about what steps your team took (or they would ask). Keep the focus on you and your actions to properly answer the question.
Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved.
The final step to a brilliant answer; highlight how the actions you took resulted in a positive outcome. Don’t end on a negative. If you made a mistake, highlight what you leat from it and how you stopped it happening again.
This is the part where you can also credit your team. It shows humility and team spirit.
Finally, don’t forget to quantify your actions. Don’t say a successful outcome was reached or everyone was happy.
Tell the interviewer exactly how you delivered a cost saving of X and in a time frame of Y.
Following the STAR method and these tips will help you answer behavioural question with style and confidence.
Good luck for your next interview.
Posted 23/10/2019 By Connor Simms