John Paul Executive Sales & Marketing Recruitment

STAR Interviewing Response Technique

One strategy for preparing for behavioural interviews is to use the STAR Technique, as outlined below. (This technique is often referred to as the SAR and PAR techniques as well.)

Situation or Task	Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalised description of what you have done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or any relevent event.
Action you took	Describe the action you took and be sure to keep focus on you. Even if you are discussing a group project or effort, describe what you did - not the efforts of the team. Don't tell what you might do, tell what you did.
Results you achieved	What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn?

Behavioural Interviewing Story

Sample SAR story:

Situation (S):
Advertising revenue was falling off for my college newspaper, the Stetson Reporter, and large numbers of long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.

Action (A):
I designed a new promotional packet to go with the rate sheet and compared the benefits of Reporter circulation with other ad media in the area. I also set-up a special training session for the account executives with a School of Business Administration professor who discussed competitive selling strategies.

Result (R):
We signed contracts with 15 former advertisers for daily ads and five for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by 20 percent [quantities are always good] over the same.

Dealing with Objections

First of all it is important to know that objections normally arise from the interviewee and not the interviewer. Even if someone has a real objection about you, the way you handle yourself in the interview can lead them not to ask you and making the objection disappear.

There are two types of objections, real and not real.

1. Not real - If an objection is not real you don’t need to deal with it so don’t be put off by this
2. Real - If an objection is real you need to do something about it. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have top overcome it, you just need to acknowledge it and work round it.

Not Real Objection

When the objection is not real it is best to ignore it and move on. If indeed it is real the interviewer will raise it again.

Real Objection

When presented with a real objection the first thing is to acknowledge it, this doesn’t mean you have to agree with it, just acknowledge it and move on. You can say something along the lines of “that’s a very good point, if we can just cover off these other areas first we can coma back to this later…” then ask a question to move the conversation on or “that’s a very good point, I can see why you would say that, if I can deal with that at the end” then ask a question to move the conversation on.

If you are pressed for an answer now you must find out how this would affect your performance in this role or what part of the role would this stop you from succeeding. By doing this you can break the objection down into more manageable pieces.

Key thing here to remember

In order to remain in control you need to be asking questions so when making statements follow these up with a question. This will stop the interviewer asking you questions making you lose control.

Sample Behavioural Interview Questions

We've pulled together a list of common behavioural-interview questions.

One of the keys to success in interviewing is practice, so we encourage you to take the time to work out answers to these questions using one of the suggested methods, such as the STAR approach. Be sure not to memorise answers; the key to interviewing success is simply being prepared for the questions and having a mental outline to follow in response to each question.

Here is one list of sample behavioural-based interview questions:

	Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things your way.
	Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation that demonstrated your coping skills.
	Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
	Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able to meet or achieve it.
	Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone's opinion.
	Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a policy with which you did not agree.
	Please discuss an important written document you were required to complete.
	Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
	Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritise your tasks.
	Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split second decision.
	What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.
	Tell me about a time you were able to successfully deal with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).
	Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year.
	Give me an example of a time when something you tried to accomplish and failed.
	Give me an example of when you showed initiative and took the lead.
	Tell me about a recent situation in which you had to deal with a very upset customer or co-worker.
	Give me an example of a time when you motivated others.
	Tell me about a time when you delegated a project effectively.
	Give me an example of a time when you used your fact-finding skills to solve a problem.
	Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem.
	Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed preventative measures.
	Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision.
	Please tell me about a time you had to fire a friend.
	Describe a time when you set your sights too high (or too low).

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