Pretest
Welcome to our E-learning Course Preparation for Behavioral Interviews
Before diving into the mini-lesson, please answer the questions below. This will help us understand your current state and warm you up for the lesson.
You are in the middle of a behavioral interview for a dream job, and the interviewer asks:
Question:
"Can you describe a specific instance from your academic or extracurricular experience where you had to work in a team to overcome a challenge?”
As a college student stepping into the professional world, you might find yourself encountering behavioral interviews – a common yet challenging part of the job application process. In this mini-lesson, you will be learning concepts and methods around using the STAR framework that helps you structure your interview answers.
After the lesson, you will be able to:
1. Know the types of behavioral questions you may encounter in the interview.2. Know what key components to include in Situation, Task, Action, and Result.3. Structure an answer to a behavioral question that covers key components of the STAR framework.
1. Know the types of behavioral questions you may encounter in the interview.
2. Know what key components to include in Situation, Task, Action, and Result.
3. Structure an answer to a behavioral question that covers key components of the STAR framework.
Interviewers believe that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Therefore, during these interviews, they ask specific behavioral questions to assess your past experiences, behaviors, knowledge, skills, and abilities. By answering these behavioral questions, you provide tangible evidence of your capabilities to handle various situations and challenges in the past and how you are likely to perform in similar situations in the future.
Behavioral interview questions often start with phrases like "Tell me about a time when..." or "Give me an example of...". They focus on various situations and competencies, such as:
1. Communication - Give an example of when you persuaded someone at work towards your point of view. Was it a positive outcome?
2. Adaptability - Tell me about a situation where you had to adjust to changes. How did you handle it?
3. Teamwork - Can you tell me about a time when a coworker was not doing their work on a difficult project? What did you do?
4. Prioritization - Have you ever worked on multiple projects at the same time? How did you manage your time, and what were the results?
5. Leadership - Can you talk about a time when you had to build credibility with stakeholders? Describe the actions you took.
How Can the STAR Framework Help You?
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Each component is crucial in painting a complete picture of your experience, decision-making process, and personal development.
Example
In the following section of this lesson, we will show you step by step how to answer this behavioral interview question:
“Tell me about a time in your academic or extracurricular experience when you overcame a challenge.”
Once you are done, you can organize these key components to form a comprehensive description, here are two examples from a Business School graduate, Kevin:
Academic experience:
"During my final year in college, around spring 2021, I was part of a team project in our Advanced Marketing Strategies class. The stakeholders involved were my team members, myself, and our professor, who acted as our client for the project. My role was as the team coordinator. We were commissioned to develop a comprehensive marketing plan for a local nonprofit organization. The situation arose as part of our course curriculum, designed to give us real-world marketing experience. Our resources included access to the university's research databases, marketing software, and direct communication with the nonprofit for insights."
Extracurricular experience:
"In the summer of 2022, I interned at TechSolutions Inc., a mid-sized tech company specializing in software development. I was part of a diverse intern team, with our project overseen by a senior project manager. As an intern, my role involved assisting with the development of a new client management software. The project was initiated due to the company's need to improve client interaction and streamline its service process. Our resources included access to the company's software development tools, mentorship from experienced developers, and direct feedback from potential software users within the company."
Feedback
The key components to cover when describing Situation are:
1. Time
2. Stakeholders
3. My Role
4. Exact Situation
5. Reason for situation
6. Available Resources
Next, describe the specific problem or opportunity you encountered and the expectations placed upon you during that situation. During this stage, outline the following key components:
"The primary challenge we faced was the nonprofit's limited budget and lack of online presence, which was crucial during the pandemic. My job was to lead the team in creating a cost-effective, digital-first marketing strategy that could be easily implemented by the nonprofit with their limited resources."
"Our team's challenge was to integrate user feedback into the software development process to enhance usability and functionality. My specific job was to gather and analyze this feedback, translating it into actionable development tasks."
The key components to cover when describing Task are:
1. the problems or opportunities I was presented
2. my specific job to be done
In the action stage, you can delve into the steps you took to address the task, highlighting your approach, strategies, and skills used by outlining the following key components:
"To tackle this, I initiated a series of brainstorming sessions where we analyzed the nonprofit's current market position and audience. We decided to leverage social media and community outreach as primary channels. I advocated for this approach because it aligned with our budget constraints and the nonprofit’s need for a sustainable, long-term marketing solution. We divided the tasks among team members based on individual strengths – I focused on digital strategy, others on content creation and community engagement."
"I conducted interviews with various company departments to understand their needs and pain points. Then, I collaborated with the development team to incorporate this feedback into the software design. My approach was to create a feedback loop, where initial user responses would directly inform subsequent development stages, ensuring the software was closely aligned with user requirements. This method was chosen to guarantee practicality and relevance of the software to its end-users."
The key components to cover when describing Action are:
1. steps I took to complete the task
2. the reason why I chose to complete the task this way
In the last stage, you should focus on the outcomes of your actions, ideally quantified with data or specific achievements. It also includes your reflections on the outcome, the insights gained, and how the experience has prepared you for future similar situations.
You can outline the following key components:
"Our marketing plan was a success. The nonprofit implemented our strategy, resulting in a 40% increase in their online engagement within the first three months and a noticeable rise in local awareness. I felt incredibly proud and validated in our team’s ability to make a tangible impact. This experience taught me the importance of adaptability, strategic thinking, and the power of a well-coordinated team. It has since prepared me to face similar challenges in my professional life, especially in situations requiring innovative solutions on a tight budget."
"The outcome was a successful launch of the client management software, which was well-received by the company. In the first two months post-launch, there was a 25% increase in efficiency in client handling processes, as reported by the user departments. This experience left me feeling incredibly satisfied, knowing that my contributions had a direct positive impact on the company's operations. I gained invaluable insights into the importance of user-centered design in software development and learned how effective communication between different departments can drive project success. This internship has equipped me with the skills and confidence to handle similar tasks in future roles, especially those involving cross-department collaboration and user experience design."
1. The outcome - quantify the results with data or specific achievements
Academic experience - Task
The primary challenge we faced was the nonprofit's limited budget and lack of online presence, which was crucial during the pandemic. My job was to lead the team in creating a cost-effective, digital-first marketing strategy that could be easily implemented by the nonprofit with their limited resources.
Academic experience - Action
To tackle this, I initiated a series of brainstorming sessions where we analyzed the nonprofit's current market position and audience. We decided to leverage social media and community outreach as primary channels. I advocated for this approach because it aligned with our budget constraints and the nonprofit’s need for a sustainable, long-term marketing solution. We divided the tasks among team members based on individual strengths – I focused on digital strategy, others on content creation and community engagement.
Academic experience - Result
Our marketing plan was a success. The nonprofit implemented our strategy, resulting in a 40% increase in their online engagement within the first three months and a noticeable rise in local awareness. I felt incredibly proud and validated in our team’s ability to make a tangible impact. This experience taught me the importance of adaptability, strategic thinking, and the power of a well-coordinated team. It has since prepared me to face similar challenges in my professional life, especially in situations requiring innovative solutions on a tight budget.
Our team's challenge was to integrate user feedback into the software development process to enhance usability and functionality. My specific job was to gather and analyze this feedback, translating it into actionable development tasks.
I conducted interviews with various company departments to understand their needs and pain points. Then, I collaborated with the development team to incorporate this feedback into the software design. My approach was to create a feedback loop, where initial user responses would directly inform subsequent development stages, ensuring the software was closely aligned with user requirements. This method was chosen to guarantee practicality and relevance of the software to its end-users.
The outcome was a successful launch of the client management software, which was well- received by the company. In the first two months post-launch, there was a 25% increase in efficiency in client handling processes, as reported by the user departments. This experience left me feeling incredibly satisfied, knowing that my contributions had a direct positive impact on the company's operations. I gained invaluable insights into the importance of user-centered design in software development and learned how effective communication between different departments can drive project success. This internship has equipped me with the skills and confidence to handle similar tasks in future roles, especially those involving cross-department collaboration and user experience design.
More Hints on Behavioral Interviews
During a real interview, it’s important to keep in mind that you have limited time, typically no more than 3 minutes, to answer the questions.
Therefore, you should be flexible to adjust the proportion of each stage to emphasize the part that matters the most to the interviewer based on the specific behavioral question you receive.
Here are some examples that demonstrate what would be more important for these behavioral questions:
Example 1
If you were asked:
“Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a conflict within a team."
The majority of your response time to the Action stage, as it is the most crucial part for showcasing conflict resolution skills and techniques, such as facilitating open communication and actively listening to both sides.
Example 2
"Tell me about a time when you implemented a process improvement that had a significant impact on productivity."
You are in the middle of a behavioral interview, and the interviewer asks:
"Have you ever worked on multiple projects at the same time? How did you manage your time, and what were the results?"
Please briefly describe how you would answer this interview question (e.g. what key components you want to cover; how you would allocate your time).
Feedback (Example Answer)
To answer this question, you should consider emphasizing the action and result of your experience. You should also provide some context and briefly mention the tasks involved to answer the question cohesively.
Situation (20 - 30 seconds):
Time
Stakeholders
My Role
Exact Situation
Reason for Situation
Available Resources
Task (10 - 20 seconds):
The problems/ opportunities I was presented
My specific job to be done
Action (50 - 60 seconds):
Steps I took to complete the task
Reason for completing the task this way
Result (30 - 40 seconds):
The outcome
How I felt about the outcome
Insights I gained
How the experience prepared me for the future
Post Test
Now we have come to the end of this mini course on the STAR strategy. We have the same assessment questions from the pre-test to assess what you’ve learned. Please take some time to answer the following questions:
Evaluation object score
