By Khalilah Starks

Give me an example of a difficult problem that you solved. Describe a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty to please a customer. Tell me about a time when it was important for you to take a stand. These are all examples of Behavioral Based questions. Many companies use behavioral based questions in their interviewing process, so you should be very familiar with these types of questions and be prepared to give great answers.

The key to effectively answering these questions is to provide specific examples. But, there’s a formula that you must follow. Behavioral based questions require a STAR answer. The word STAR actually is an acronym for the formula. The S stands for Situation – What was the specific situation that you were in? The T stands for Task – What was the specific task that you were working on? The A Stands for Action – What did you do? The R stands for Result – What was your end result? It’s very important that you give the interviewer each component – the full STAR. With these types of questions you’re essentially telling the interviewer a story. A story that has a beginning, middle and end. You set it up in the beginning by giving them the specific situation, then you tell them what you did, and then finally you tell them how it ended. Anytime you hear, “Tell me about ”, “Describe ” or “Give me an example”, the interviewer is asking you a behavioral based question that requires a STAR answer.

Now that I’ve given you the formula, I’ll give you an example. If I were asked, “Tell me project that you managed from conception to completion,” I would answer – “A recent project for me was the creation of my blog, High Powered Professional.com. I decided to start my blog to provide students and professionals with career enhancing information on job search strategy and career development. To start my blog, I wrote several articles to give my initial readers a feel for the type of content that I would focus on. I contacted a web hosting company to determine the cost and process for getting my blog up and running. Once I solidified my web hosting packaging, I next focused on selecting the design and graphics for my site. After the technical piece of creating the site was completed, I then uploaded my articles. At that point, my blog was complete and ready for the world to see. But, of course, now that I had written these articles and created this wonderful site, I had to tell everyone that I knew about it. So, I created an email distribution list that included all of my contacts to send an introduction and link to my site. I also introduced my site on facebook and joined twitter. It took me four weeks from the actual conception of the project to delivering the final product for the world to view. My blog is thriving and has received great feedback from students and professionals. And, the number of visitors on my site has continued to grow.”

That’s my answer! I gave a full STAR. The Situation and Task was the creation of my blog. The Action was all of the steps that it took to get it done – I wrote the articles, found a web hosting company, selected the package, selected the design for the site, and promoted my site. And, finally the result was that I completed the site and that my blog is thriving and continuing to grow. Note that I also included the length of time that it took me to complete the project. You always want to include specific and important details that paint a vivid picture for interviewer. But, be careful, to only include information that answers the specific question that is asked. Your answers should be straight to the point, with no fillers.

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