The S.T.A.R technique

The S.T.A.R technique can be used when developing your resume skills list, when answering key selection criteria and during behavioural interviews.

Please note, to describe your skills most effectively on your resume you want to create a short, concise statement only 2 or 3 lines long that focuses on the actions you took. Where possible, quantify examples with figures e.g. “Produced 18 monthly newsletters with readership of over 200” has more impact than “Produced monthly newsletter”.

Situation or Task:

• Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish and the context.
• Use a specific example; do not be vague or general.
• The example can come from any part of your life: work, volunteering, study, personal interests or hobbies.
• Give enough detail so that the employer fully understands.

Action:

• Logically take the interviewer through the steps you took to handle the situation or resolve the problem.
• Keep your answer clear and concise and focus on what you did, not what you might do.

Result:

• Explain the results of your actions.

• What did you achieve?
• How did the situation end?
• What did you learn from the experience?

• Even negative aspects and situations where things went wrong can be discussed positively as learning experiences.

Example of a S.T.A.R Answer

Situation: During my internship last summer, I was responsible for managing various events.

Task: I noticed that attendance at these events had dropped by 30% over the past 3 years and wanted to do something to improve these numbers.

Action: I designed a new promotional packet to go out to the local community businesses. I also included a rating sheet to collect feedback on our events and organized internal round table discussions to raise awareness of the issue with our employees.

Result: We utilized some of the wonderful ideas we received from the community, made our internal systems more efficient and visible and raised attendance by 18% the first year.