This document provides guidance on answering behavioral and competency-based interview questions using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method. It advises giving a specific example when addressing a situation rather than general experiences. The interviewer wants to understand the task, your actions, and the outcome or result, with a focus on what you individually did. It is also beneficial to note any lessons learned that could improve future performance.

1. Charlotte Flatley
International Recruitment Specialist
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2. *
Behavioural and competency based interviews
are the most common interview styles used by
companies today.
This acronym lays out the structure that
interviewers are looking for you to follow when
providing your specific examples to their questions
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3. *
* Situation – Describe a particular work related
circumstance.
* Task - Describe the particular task you were
undertaking.
* Action – Describe your actions.
* Result – Describe the outcome of your actions
and the overall result of the situation.
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4. *
It is great you have lots of experience within an
area…
* What the Interviewer and Recruiter want to
know is 1 particular time you were in this
situation
* What it was, how you dealt with it
* What the outcome was
* i.e. "Yes, I deal with this type of situation
regularly. One such situation was last week
when .....".
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5. * When addressing the situation, keep it to a high level
overview. The Interviewers do not need to necessarily know
all the ins and outs of what happened, they just need a feel
for it.
* Detail the task you were working on and your particular
actions; what did you specifically do (be careful of saying
‘we’) to help rectify the situation.
* Most importantly highlight the result of the situation and
what difference did your actions make to it.
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6. *
* It is always an extra value add if you can also
provide a lesson learnt from the example
* i.e. something you would do differently if given
the chance again or in the future. This helps to
demonstrate your awareness of the importance
of reflecting back and utilizing previous learning
to help better future outcomes.
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7. If you are looking for assistance with either, resume writing,
cover letters of optimizing your LinkedIn profile don't hesitate
to get in touch with the PRW team at -
Pro Resume Write wishes you all the
best for your next interview!
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