S.T.A.R Interview database
In this section you will learn
What competency-based questions are and how they are scored
What behavioural-based questions are and how they are scored
How to compose a great star interview example
A well-rehearsed and prepared response to a competency or behavioural based question will, almost always, make a huge difference over an unpractised one. Although candidates will sometimes attempt to use unrehearsed responses to these types of questions, the problem is, that as the most important and most comprehensive type of question you will encounter in an interview, is that not only can it be extremely difficult to think of a specific situation out of the blue, but it’s even more difficult when your nervous and have to respond to your interviewer almost straight away. In these circumstances, even if you do manage to think of something, your answer will tend to lack structure and detail – that’s why interviewing experts always advise you to rehearse your examples beforehand as your answers will be much more effective
An organization can derive many benefits from the use of competency and behavioural based questions. By incorporating these into an interview format it ensures an effective way to evaluate key competencies and behaviours that are necessary for the role and that align with the company’s core values and objectives. Bad hires cost an organization precious time and money, and can also have a highly detrimental effect on colleagues in the workplace and on overall workplace productivity as a whole. That’s why such questions are often used by companies to ensure they hire the best calibre of candidate possible, which is why it’s so important you prepare properly for these questions so you can answer them effectively when your interview arrives
Around 60% of all interviews conducted today will contain competency or behavioural based questions in them. Although how these questions are scored will vary from interview to interview, can you normally expect them to count for between 20% to 40% of your overall score in an interview – that’s why it’s so important to rehearse for these beforehand so you are ready for them on the day
Aside from the overall impact they will have on how your interview is scored, the other reason they are so important is that when they are encountered in an interview, they are almost always vital to the role for which you are applying
As the most significant type of question you’ll encounter in an interview, the rehearsal of competency and behavioural based questions is not only essential, but by practicing and honing your responses to them, the other big advantage they’ll offer you is a natural direction in which to take other answers too, and you’ll find that having pre-rehearsed things to say before you head into the interview room will normally give you a massive confidence boost as well
It’s an established fact that honing your responses to competency and behavioural based questions will not only give you more to say when making conversation with your interviewer, but also when answering other types of questions your interviewer throws at you too! On top of this, preparing for specific competency or behavioural based questions will be invaluable if you end up encountering those particular questions, or similar iterations of them, in the interview itself
Choosing what examples to prepare for
Each interview is different, that’s why the best guide you can use when deciding what examples to prepare for is by always referring to the job description in the first instance
When deciding on which examples to prepare for, don’t be afraid to rely on your own personal experiences, as well as on your own individual preferences too. You will be the one who needs to compose and deliver these examples to the interviewer, so while they should be relevant, they also need to be examples you are comfortable with and can easily recall when required
Interview Professional advises you to choose 7 or 8 competency or behavioural based examples to rehearse before the interview that cover as wide a variety of different scenarios as possible. In this way, by rehearsing such a large range of different situations, you give yourself the best possible chance of matching one you’ve rehearsed to any question the interviewer asks where the S.T.A.R method is required
The way an interviewer scores any competency or behavioural based question is based on a highly standardized criteria. Because of this, it means they will be listening for specific areas in your answer and scoring each accordingly. A competency or behavioural based question should always be composed of 4 different parts, the Situation – Task – Action – and Response. That’s why, when giving a competency or behavioural based answer, you should always identify to your interviewer what parts of your answer are which. Do this simply by stating somewhere in your response that it’s the situation, task, action, or result as you relay your response. See the examples in the Star database for more guidance
Using the S.T.A.R technique
The S.T.A.R technique is vital because it will give you the proper structure you need to answer any competency or behavioral-based question effectively, that’s why you should always be looking to employ it in your responses wherever these types of questions are concerned.
Interviewers ask such questions because they want to know about a real-life experience where you were challenged or where you excelled at doing something. Answering competency or behavioural-based interview questions is very important because the interviewer will take what you have said as evidence that you have the requisite experience performing those competencies or behaviours in question, and what you should keep in mind is that they are almost always essential for the job you are applying for. That’s why when answering a competency-based question, you should always utilize the S.T.A.R technique. This is where you construct your answer in a purposefully structured way. The structure is always the same – Situation, Task, Action, Result
In the first part of your answer, start by explaining the SITUATION you found yourself in at the time; this sets the scene and provides a context for the rest of your answer. This should be done within the first 3 – 4 sentences.
The next part of your answer goes on to explain your TASK. This defines the challenge or difficulty you were faced with and putting this across well sets you up nicely for the next part of your answer. Ideally, you want to explain the task within 2-3 sentences.
Next, is the ACTION you took in that situation. This part of the answer defines the actions you took and categorizes the experience or skillset you used to resolve the difficulty or challenge you described in your task. The action is the most important part of your answer, so try and incorporate specific details here as it will add depth and lend credibility to what you say. You should take anywhere from 1-2 paragraphs to describe the action you used to resolve the problem you encountered.
Once you’ve described the action, finish up by talking about the RESULT those actions produced. It is very important that the result ends in a positive or constructive way. Try to do this by focusing on what was gained, or what was learned, as a result of your actions. A well delivered closing will provide an authentic and purposeful feel to the entirety of your answer, and as such, it means it’s equally important to have a strong result as it does to have a solid action in any competency-based answer you give. Try and keep your result between 4 – 6 sentences long, and lastly, when reciting any competency or behavioural based example, be sure to personalize your answer to the fullest extent by referring to yourself in the first term ‘I’.
When writing out examples, stay focused on your story, don’t digress into other areas, remember the interviewer is only needs to know the most essential parts of your example, so while adding one or two details is fine, don’t overdo it. Digressing into additional details will only take the focus off of what the interviewer needs to know, and leaves you with more recital work to do. You will only have a limited amount of time to answer each question, that why it’s advised you don’t write any examples that take longer than 2 minutes to recite, as answers longer than this are normally regarded as too long for an interview
Where behavioural and competency and behavioural based questions are concerned, a large part of your success rests not just on the strength of your example, but rather, on how well you are able to link the situation, task, action, and end result to the question being asked. If you can do that well, then you’ll score highly! That’s why the titles you give your examples are very important – because it will affect how well you fit your content around the actual question itself
The interviewer will assess each area of your answer separately, that’s why it’s also very important to specifically mention whether it’s the situation, task, action, or result, you’re outlining as you recite your answer, this way the interviewer will know what areas to assess in each part of your answer. Your story doesn’t necessarily need to be an enthralling, one a of a kind answer that’s like nothing your interviewer has ever heard before, (although it would certainly help). The main thing you need to do when answering any competency or behavioural question is to focus on recalling an example that matches what the interviewer has asked for, and on reciting this naturally, so that it doesn’t sound scripted
The examples you provide don’t have to be incredible, they can be simple, normal, everyday things. What’s most important is that they are well structured, confidently delivered, that the role you played in achieving the outcome was important, and that the outcome itself was successful, or is at the least constructive (depending on the nature of the example itself)
When preparing for an interview, it’s recommended you make rehearsing for competency and behavioural questions one of the main parts of your preparation. Although it’s impossible to know exactly what the interviewer will ask you, and although in some interviews no competency or behavioural questions will be asked at all, in spite of this, preparing for them is still normally your best course of action. Remember that even if these questions aren’t asked, rehearsing for them can still be incredibly useful!!!
For a start, they’ll provide you with a pre-rehearsed list of things to say that you can use when answering other types of questions, on top of the massive confidence boost they will often bring just by simply knowing you have a pre-rehearsed dialogue you can use to fall back on if you have to
The best way to prepare your behavioural and competency examples is first by giving yourself as wide a range of scenarios as possible. From there, some people choose to write their example answers out first in full, then rewrite and rehearse them in the form of bullet points so they don’t sound too scripted when they recite them in the interview. Keep in mind that you can never fully predict what the interviewer will ask, that’s why the best advice is to use the job description to help you decide what examples you want to create. Between 5-8 different scenarios should give you a versatile enough range of examples to answer most competency or behavioural based questions the interviewer might throw at you. The great thing about this is that having a pre-rehearsed dialogue will also come in extremely useful for answering other types of questions the interviewer might throw at you too
They’ll frequently be instances where you’ll find the interviewer will present a competency or behavioural based question that is one you have not specifically rehearsed for. In these instances, it will be up to you to be creative and answer in the best way you can, and having pre-rehearsed examples you can fall back on will help you either fit one of your pre-existing examples to the question being asked, or help you come up with a brand new one from scratch!!!
There are multitudes of different competency and behavioural based questions that might be asked during an interview, here are a few examples of some of the most common ones from our Q and A section
Competency based question Examples
Can you give an example of a time you went above and beyond to exceed the expectations of a customer?
Can you describe a time where you had a large workload to manage, how did you successfully prioritize this?
Tell me about a time you exhibited leadership in your role?
What is the biggest accomplishment you’ve managed to achieve throughout your professional career?
Can you tell us about a problem you solved in a creative way?
Behavioural based questions Examples
Can you tell me about a conflict you’ve faced at work and how you managed to successfully resolve it?
Can you tell me about a time you made a significant contribution when working as part of a team?
Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a colleague, how did you resolve it?
Have you ever had to defend a customer’s point of view? What did you do? Why?
Can you tell us about a time where you had to make an important decision quickly. What did you decide? What were the results?
Regardless of how good the examples are that you compose, it won’t make a difference if you’re not able to deliver them effectively in the interview itself. For that reason, another essential component of any successful S.T.A.R example technique is the time you put in beforehand preparing to deliver it. That’s why effective rehearsal beforehand is key.
People have different ways they like to study and retain information, and there are several different rehearsal methods that interview professional recommends in order to do this, see below
Effective rehearsing using the S.T.A.R example method
The benefit of effective rehearsal is that it gives you the ability to deliver smooth and flawless answers to important answers or pitches you want to introduce during the interview, and this is particularly useful where longer, more complex answers are required, particularly where S.T.A.R structured competency or behavioural based examples are involved
Rehearsal is important because in order to present these answers properly, rehearsing them until they are fully memorized is one of the most effective strategies you’ll have at your disposal. While this is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to retain information, its sometimes said that rehearsing material before the interview has the drawback of making answers sound somewhat scripted, that’s why some people choose to write their example answers out first in full, then rewrite and rehearse them in the form of bullet points so they don’t sound too scripted when they recite them back in the interview. While there are those who will find it easier to rehearse like this, there are others who won’t, and that’s fine, how you choose to go about this is up to you. What matters most is the time and effort that you’re willing to put in when it comes to rehearsing any prewritten material you’ve prepared in the time leading up to this most important day itself
There are 3 main types of recommended rehearsal strategies you can use when preparing for the interview
Basic Repetition
The most basic and straightforward method of rehearsal is the basic repetition method. This is where you will rehearse something, one line at a time, until you memorise it fully. Sometimes referred to as rote rehearsal, this is a method that can seem arduous at first, but when applied correctly it is highly effective. This method yields the best results when you speak what you are rehearsing out loud, as opposed to rehearsing it silently
Elaborative Rehearsal
Elaborative rehearsal involves an association method where you practice remembering actions or imagery that will help prompt you into remembering larger bits of information
For instance, you could try associating your name with what you want to tell people about yourself. That way, when you first introduce yourself, under elaborative rehearsal, it should automatically prompt you to remember all of the things you want to say about yourself to the interviewer
Grouping Rehearsal
Grouping rehearsal is an association method where you try to remember certain things you want to share in the interview by associating them with a singular piece of information, instead of using a prompt or cue to do this like you would with the elaborative rehearsal method. For example, one piece of information you could use with this method is an ‘about me’ association, that way, whenever asked about yourself, you could practice associating this with the things you wanted to mention about yourself like:
‘I was born in London, I am confident, outgoing, I’m really thorough about everything I do. I enjoy eating out and swimming, and I’m really excited to be discussing this position here with you today’.
These are the main methods of rehearsal at your disposal, and used properly, each of these can be highly effective toward helping you retain the information you’ll need to answer any question you encounter in your next interview.
For more information about effective rehearsing, see Interview Professional’s 3 Most Effective Rehearsal techniques for Interviewing
As an interview candidate, there are certain things you can do to influence an interviewer’s evaluation whenever competency or behavioural based questions are encountered. An example delivered confidently, by paying close attention to tone of voice and body language (specifically good eye contact) can subtly impact the interviewer’s evaluation in a highly meaningful and positive way
If the interviewer wants you to go more in-depth concerning a given topic or area, they may do so by asking you additional probing questions. For example, in an instance where you are asked the following. ‘Tell me about a time you exhibited leadership in your role?’ If you have answered that you managed to motivate your team to complete a very important project for a client within a three-day deadline, they may follow up by asking how you motivated them. Insofar as it’s the interviewer’s job to gain as good an understanding of the circumstances surrounding each answer you give as possible. That’s why over the course of the interview, you can expect the interviewer to do everything they can through the use of probing questions, follow up questions, and any other means they have at their disposal, to gain the best insight into you and how you work as possible
Next – Interview Professional will give you an exclusive insight into the way that interviewers will assess and score these answers within the recruitment industry today. Because when it comes to competency and behavioural based questions, there are certain areas the interviewer will always tend to look at – and we will examine these now