Most of us are nervous enough on job interviews. Trying to remember all your sterling qualities, without coming off like you’re bragging or are totally flattened with stage fright can seem almost impossible.
And the worst questions are those open-ended “Describe the most difficult or rewarding…” But thanks to the ever-helpful Lifehacker, we now have a framework for answering these tough questions — the STAR model.
1. Situation: Give a (brief) summary of the situation to provide context for your story. (Remember the journalist’s friends, Who, What, Where, Why, and How.)
2. Task: Describe the task you performed, and don’t forget to include specific challenges like deadlines or other concerns.
3. Action: What did you do to complete the task? This is your chance to show initiative, intelligence, dedication, etc., without coming right out and saying, “And here’s where I was awesome.”
4. Result: And where did all this get you? Hint: It should be someplace good. If you can offer specifics that help quantify the result, so much the better.
You can see a more complex version of the STAR model at the self-improvement blog Upgrade Reality.
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