How to use the STAR Method in Job Interviews 🌟  

ah, behaivoral job interview questions! 💬 these questions are designed to get a sense of how you’ve handled yourself professionally in difficult or challenging situations. They usually start out with, “Tell me about a time when…” and are SUPER hard to answer if you aren’t prepared! So, to prepare, here are some of the most common scenarios they may ask you about: 🌟 Tell me about a time you showed leadership 🌟 Tell me about a time you went above and beyond 🌟 Tell me about a time you disagreed with boss/coworker 🌟 Tell me about a time you made a mistake/failed 🌟 Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision 🌟 Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer Basically, think of an example where you had a challenge at work. Maybe it was: 😤 A disagreement on strategy with a coworker 🫠 Aparticularly difficult client/customer 😫 An overhwleming workload 😎 A time you communicated proactively 😜 A meeting where you had to motivate your team Have a few of these in you back pocket. & remember: be authentic - talk about what was truly challenging to you and how you overcame it. Be humble, be earnest, and be concise. YOU GOT THIS! 👏🏼

Erin, I just want to say that your advice has literally saved my life. I was stuck in a miserable job that was taxing on my mental and physical health-my blood pressure was as high as 156/91 just from the stress. I started applying for jobs and about 10 months into the process, I stumbled upon your videos. I used your advice on the last interview I had-and wouldn’t you know it, I got the job! My new job is amazing and I am de-stressed, full of joy, and feeling so much better. I feel alive again. Thank you. I could’ve had a stroke if things kept going there, but you have literally saved my life with this advice. You are one of my favorite creators!

I hate hate hate these questions

Me: told that I've never had a job before The interviewer: when was the last time you disagreed with your boss

Just learn how to lie on the spot. It's a great skill to have, specifically to deal with corporate BS and HR questions.

A simple acronym doesn't solve the crux of the problem - instant recall of random memories which may or may not exist. The only solution for that is to read up on behavioral interview questions, contemplate how they may relate to you, and prep.

"You were great! What a leader! The salary is 37 lima beans a day. You start this sunday."

Only works if you have actually been through that situation , otherwise you would have to create fake scenarios prior to the interview and memorize them which is extremely tedious, this is the case for many people.

I've had interview questions like this where I couldn't think of a situation that I've been in that fit and I'm just honest. I say, "I can't think of a situation like that that I've been in, but here is what I would do..." I got the job 🤷‍♀️

Right...what if I don't have a story because I'm generally chill at work? I come in, get shit done, and go home.

About 8 years ago, I had an interview with a cable company for customer support. The only questions they asked were: "tell a time where you failed so miserably" you cried at work; " " you cost the caller/customer money that was not refunded; " " you cussed out the caller and hung up. I am not kidding, these were their questions. My answers: I have never cried at work; I have never cost a customer any money; I have never cussed out a caller. I told them everyone makes mistakes. What is important is how you fix it and to ensure you don't make it again. They did not like my answers. It is no wonder they have thousands of complaints filed against them for horrible service and theft from their customers. If I had gotten the job, I'm sure I would have gone crazy with the way they ran their department.

Once I was interviewing for an online customer support position and they asked me about a time a customer was rude/threatened me. So I told the this story of a time a student in a face to face class tried to attack me. And how I kept my cool, helped the student calm down and told then in a form voice to go to the corner and do some exercises. They told me that story was not good enough because it was not an online event and that somehow my student was not my customer... I literally explained to you that when a crazy Karen put me in danger of bodily harm I was able to keep my cool and redirect the situation all while being professional and that is not good enough ? Some interviewers don't deserve the time of day

For alot of us we just BS the interviewer. Most people have never had the opportunity to really take leadership in a meaningfull way. Or the worst thing people dealt with was so out of their hands that the only thing to do was to just push through the problem, with nouthing changeing...

My ADHD over-sharing self would jump into an hour long story with NO hesitation. These interview questions were MADE for me.

I was expected to use the STAR method for a “big tech” interview. It allowed them to ask probing questions about my previous employers’ product line/road map and project deadlines. I refused to answer those questions and left the interview midway. The STAR method can be used by unscrupulous companies to get corporate intel on competitors. When I interview candidates, I specifically tell them to talk in general tech terms and not feel compelled to talk specifically about their current employers’ projects.

A disagreement with my supervisor led to emotions on both sides, me being very unhappy with the treatment I was receiving, and eventually leaving that company. I was there for nearly five years. We had ongoing safety issues in my dept that weren't being addressed, and I demanded something be done about them. Sweeping health and safety hazards under a rug does not make them go away.

Star just sounds like the whole story start to finish. I h8 job interviews

Interviewer: can you tell me about a time you had to take charge. Me who's always been what I call a "storyteller liar": *cracks knuckles*

The issue for me is all memory of my past life suddenly evaporates from my brain during an interview unless I have memorized everything I may need to say lol. STAR method does help simplify and guide what I choose to memorize though, so thanks.

I got a job with some of the advice from your videos. They told me i was one of the most prepared people for as young as i am! I’m 15!

At this point, I have no idea why we go through job interviews. No one is being honest or showing their true selves

Interviewer: Can you tell me about a time that you disagree with your boss? Me : So you this scar here....

Omg thank you so much. I always freeze and then feel incredibly embarrassed. I’m struggling to find work atm and this is a life saver. I’ll use this on my next interview. Thank you so much!!

“Tell me about a time that you failed” I can’t. I’ve never failed.

This only works if you have had a good experience. How about when you disagree with your boss and the boss response to that is, well it's my decision, I'm the boss.

I like how she said it all without badmouthing her last job

i’ve always been a bad interviewee and i gotta say you are doing the lords work! i wish schools weren’t such a college pipeline and taught us or at least provided information on how to be better in job interviews. thanks bestie! ❤️

Thank you, Erin! I finally landed an interview after job hunting for 4+ months and it's this afternoon 😬 doing my best to be prepared so that it can go well! I really need a job right now and this would be a pretty decent one, even if it's not my dream job. Cross your fingers for me! 🤞

My ADHD and love of story telling came in clutch for these questions

Hi Erin! Love your videos they are so inspiring and helpful!🤗 Can you do a short or video on annual reviews at work and what are some good generic type goals to add for the year? I work in IT healthcare for reference. Thank you 🙏🏻❤

I needed this at this moment. I'm doing a digital application and I took a break because of one of these. This is the first time I've watched this channel.in a few weeks so I guess the youtube gods were on my side today!

My current employer only use those questions for internal (other positions) interviews. Just for this I’m happy I had the opportunity to learn this method and lots LOTS of practice

Idk if you'd see this or not ... but your advice has literally helped get the awesomest job ... thank you so much for making these videos and helping so many of us out

Funny thing is with our company this is the entirety of our interviews and I only wish they wanted that type of STAR. Normally they want specific specific and do follow ups on your story. Overly difficult

I'm so glad I looked up some specific questions the interviewer may ask me for the specific job I applied to and I felt better prepared because I was already thinking of those type of experiences and it went smoothly.

As an interviewer we do ask questions like this and I always recommend Star or SBI frameworks for describing scenarios

I'm waiting for one star story that actually notes about how management kept trying to literally intentionally sabotage them

I just had an interview that didn't have any of that. He asked about explaining some of the experiences at the other places I've worked and more detail of what I did there and then gave me a tour and it was more like conversation. He also told me without me asking the time frame that I would expect to follow up.

Coincidence! I just passed the first interview for a job opportunity using this method!

Erin can you dedicate a short to why you shouldn't disclose a disability outright until you're hired? Love your content ❤

That seriously helped my interview thank you SO MUCH ❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊

I don’t have conflicts with customers or bosses…. I don’t know what to say . I don’t have a lot of conflict experience as well. It’s hard to produce corporate bs but you talk about home narsissm you came to the right place. 😅

Erin, this channel just keeps getting better!

Erin is always impressive in her videos, and I just have nothing to say in terms of criticism lol

I've never had a job where I was paid to disagree with my boss. Whenever I was hired, the manager spelled out my responsibilities and I did them. Now, one time, one of my bosses wanted me to do a task exactly the way he used to do it, but I told him that I'm not a robot. I can't do it your way. I only do things my way. If you can't accept that, then you need to keep doing this.

Great feedback! I hate questions like this.. in one specific interview, the person wouldn't stop asking these questions.. as if they were simply looking for a self-depricating personality.

Situation, Task, Action and the Result

I live for the double tap at the end

okay this one is good!! I never realized i sort of follow a similar way to answering things and now this is going to help me more along with have an easier way to describe this method to my boyfriend who has a hard time in interviews

So I’ve been on both sides of these type of questions. And you may never think that you disagreed with a boss previously but there’s always been sometime in your life that you disagreed with an authority figure so if you can’t think about a previous job think about just a previous situation, where you didn’t agree with an authority figure. These questions are also very telling on not just a behavior, but on the attitude of the person you were interviewing. One time I was interviewing a guy who claimed that he had never ever made a mistake before. We even prompted him that it didn’t have to be work related. It could just be school related or family related, and he was adamant that he had never made a mistake before. This is not a kind of guy that we want to hire because you want somebody who can own up to mistakes and learn from them.

Where was your channel when I was looking for a new job this time last year? Well its good to have now.

Very effective method. I used that method in our practice interviews

When intervieiwng at high level jobs in the government this is exactly what i was told to do and pased 🎉. Its all about preparing these stories in advance. Practice makes perfect.

Why must I flinch when she's taps my screen 😂

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PIECES OF ADVICE ❤ YOU ARE A GEM ❤ Very helpful info 💯 that unfortunately weren't taught in school

This tip would work for the Personal Insight Question for UC application too.

I had this type of questions recently. I don't think I like them. But as a life lesson, it was good to look back what kind of failure stays to haunt me 😅 I'm more ok with that particular case now actually. So, thanks interviewer, and sorry I didn't choose your job 😳

"So, can you tell me abou-" "STAR"

I really love your content! Could you base some of these answers on middle lower class like phlebotomist or mcdonalds idk just not corporate because I feel like it's so much easier to answer these for corporate jobs

Huh.. we use STAR for note-taking, never thought about using it for interview questions! Love your videos ❤

MORE OF THESE PLEASE

As someone who got diagnosed late for autism. I've ALWAYS done this. Didn't know I should, butalwayss did because, well, masking.

Oh my gosh, i really needed this! My interview is tomorrow and hopefully i land it.

Erin´s def helping a lot of young soon to be workers :D

These are mad easy you make.uo the answer on the spot

S - Situation T - Task A - Action R- Result 😊

Well I am glad you are professional interview taker :)

oh my god i LOOOVE this method, when I write answers for interview questions (im someone who has to rehearse a 100000 times before I go into one) I ALWAYS include STAR questions and without fail 2/5 are always asked, so be prepared to have a story or 2 in your back pocket! the cool thing about zoom meetings tho is that now i can have my script on screen when I get stuck lololol ;)

i have an interview tomorrow so this helps alot TYYY

I need to use this method when telling a story because I cannot get to the point for the life of me

There’s a company I’ve interviewed for several times that REQUIRES you to answer in the STAR format. I absolutely HATE using it. For some reason, when you’re put under that pressure where you’re forced to answer in that way, it makes it almost impossible

My issue with answering these questions is that i genuinely dont have an answer for most of them...like I've never had any real conflict at work. All my roles have been very straightforward and self regulated. My history is as a server and an archaeology field tech. Both of those jobs are just "do this action all day (waiting tables or digging holes) and myob and youll be good". I do that so...what conflict is there? Ive never had to do anything but take orders. As for with coworkers i tend to get along or at least be polite with most people. Only conflict with a coworker i ever had was one woman, 15 years my senior as a teen, blew up at me and despised me because her man said he thought i was cute (i had no interest in the man and no idea he said that. He only worked at the place with us for a few weeks so i didnt really know him). I have a feeling that's not something interview appropriate 😂 but i also don't want to evade the questions by being honest and saying i havent had any workplace conflicts. Im 27 and have been working since 13 so i dont have the excuse of no work history either...

The hardest thing for me is to come up with an example on the spot! I mean how am I supposed to remember a time that I failed or showed leadership professionally that will also sound good in that setting? What if I can't come up with anything?

Hiring managers have a power complex.

We learned this method in school but with an extra r for reflection as in self reflection

meanwhile autism me is dying for a circumstantial random thing that relates to this question is maybe 1/2 as easy as the other questions.

What if my story time ends with me applying to the job I'm interviewing for?

I get she's trying to coach folks through Conflict Resolution Interview Questions, but that's not what these specific questions are actually meant to tell the interviewer: they're meant to get you to narc on how obedient, headstrong, and intelligent you are, and you need to walk the thin line of, "Obedient enough to not publicly question my boss, headstrong enough to push through difficult conditions, and smart enough to do the work but too dumb to form a union or quiet quit/work to rule."

I don't think fast on my feet, or under stress. So I don't interview well

I mean it's great advice if you have a story like this one to tell.

❤ good job champ

These types of interview questions make my skin crawl. certainly caught me way off guard in an interview I had once.

Pov your only job has been in a kitchen: Situation: my boss was an aggressive, confrontational jerk. Task: one of my coworkers didn't know when to go to lunch Action: i tried to explain it Result: he tore me apart, hit almost all of my anxiety and self worth triggers, i cried, and then he VERY uncomfortably wapped his arms around me saying "im sorry buddy" I dont work there anymore.

Yup. Try to think of about 3-5 times at work where you did something interesting and be ready to share those. Most of these questions will be vague enough you can probably choose between a few of them depending on how you want to frame them. Like her example story could also be used as an example of conflict resolution, showing initiative, teamwork, communication skills, resource management, or risk management.

Imagine an interviewee saying " I need to phone a friend".

Also it never a situation where there is no a villain. Never paint anyone bad when you are answer this question or admit making a mistake.

I actually just used this on my last interview I got lucky I talked to my co workers before the interview

A great example that leads into the follow-up question. To what should you lie about these scenarios. Because the presented scenario: - There was no conflict what so ever with the boss, merely a tactical disagreement in the brainstorming phase (dodging the core) - The boss decided to hear you out (absolutely not a given, especially given you're now looking for something else) - You presented your arguments properly (I hope so, or assume you'll at least claim to do so) - The outcome, in both what the boss decided to do with your arguments (actually true) and what happened as a result of the agreed solution (possibly as a result of careful word-choice, possibly because it is impossible to discern). In no way states who was correct. Conclusion: you might be good at the job, but you're pretty good at getting your boss to take you seriously and definitely skilled at providing political answers to 3rd parties. Great result, is it required to actually have had such a situation (an at least semi-decent yet not hyper-competent boss) , to present such a sales-pitch of your own diplomatic skills

The issue I think most people have with these questions is we don't necessarily have an example. When I was young I worked at a very small family owned embroidery shop and then at Disneyland, neither places allowed very much for leadership or disagreements with managers because as a little cog you basically just have to follow what you're told. With Disneyland I could be a little more free to do some stuff but most of it was so structured it didn't leave room for anything except what you're expected to do.

Amazon uses this technique 😊

These questions are the bane of my existence. 😅

I literally had my first interview a couple days ago and this would’ve helped then lol! I mean I got the job so I’m not complaining, but this would’ve helped big time!

Erin red hair would really suit you ❤

I got one of these questions one time that cost me my interview lol can you make a video on how to respond to “name a time that you persuaded someone?”

For failing talk about a club or sport and same with leadership ( unless you are passed school)

i got asked in an interview “if someone tells you to do something, will you go do it?” and “do you get along with others?” and those were the only questions asked. very strange.

I have a few stories in my pocket and tweak the details to fit the question 🤣

"Can you tell me about when you failed?" "Bla bla bla ... huge success!"

Funny thing, I got a review from a practice interview at school once and I didn't know what the star method was but that I used it really well.. by accident✨️👍✨️

Honest version... Blah blah blah blah...and in the end we did what the boss said and we are here today 😀