Behavioral Interview Preparation

I prepare all of my candidates for their final interviews. We cover the technical and behavioral portions of the interview.

Most candidates I work with usually have a good understanding about approaching technical interviews such as system design and coding. I mostly get questions from technical folks on the behavioral topics.

I always follow up with a question. “Are you familiar with the STAR ⭐ method?” About 50% have heard of it and the other half are not familiar with it at all. I’ve seen a lot of candidates do really well on the technical interviews, but fail to get an offer because they struggle with situational questions.

The STAR Method has been around for a long time. However, I thought I would share some details about it to help candidates succeed in the interview.

Situation (S): Describe the scenario with the necessary details.

Task (T): Describe your responsibilities related to the situation.

Action (A): Explain the specific steps you took to solve a problem.

Result (R): Share the outcome that was accomplished by your actions.

I do think the STAR ⭐ Method is missing one critical piece.

Learning (L): What did you learn from the situation?

It’s important to learn from your experiences so you grow as a professional. This is something that is valuable to a hiring manager. They see this as having leadership.

What other interview techniques have worked for you?