Job Hunting - STAR Method

STAR Method

Advanced Interview Techniques

Open Ended

How would you answer: "Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision"

Competency questions

• Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision.

• Tell me about a time when you demonstrated good customer service.

• Tell me about a time when you showed strong leadership skills.

• Tell me about a time when you experienced pressure at university or at work.

Competency questions can be answered using the STAR method

The what?

Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision. (1/3)

Well during my studies I used to support myself by working part-time in a law office. Most of the time it worked well. I could manage my time so that I could work when I didn't have lectures. Also, it really helped me with my studies to have some real-life experience to support the theoretical input I was getting at university. But then in my final year, I was offered the chance to get involved in a really high-powered case with a major multinational client who wanted to take over a local company.

Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision. (2/3)

I was very keen to get involved because it was at exactly the same time as my exam session. I had to choose between studying for my exams and getting involved in the case. Well, I spoke to my professor at university to explain the situation, but he told me it would be impossible to change the exam date. Obviously, there was no way I'd expect the takeover to wait for a better time for me. I considered trying to do both, and perhaps doing less revision than I needed, but my exams were too important for me to take any risks. In the end, I had to put my studies first.

Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision. (3/3)

When I explained this to my employer, they were actually very supportive, and when they saw how disappointed I was at missing the opportunity, they made sure I got more involved in the next big case that came up. That happened a few months later, and it was a fantastic experience. And because I'd had a chance to study properly, I passed my exams with a very good grade. So it all worked out in the end.

Quiz Time

Categorize the phrase into a STAR phase

Multiple Choice

There was a time when ...

• Situation

• Target

• Action

• Result

Multiple Choice

What needed to be done was ...

• Situation

• Target

• Action

• Result

Multiple Choice

Therefore I ...

• Situation

• Target

• Action

• Result

Multiple Choice

This resulted in ...

• Situation

• Target

• Action

• Result

Multiple Choice

I organized ...

• Situation

• Target

• Action

• Result

Multiple Choice

There was one time when ...

• Situation

• Target

• Action

• Result

Multiple Choice

It was very important that ...

• Situation

• Target

• Action

• Result