Accomplishment STAR Techniques for Job Interviews

In this article, we are going to focus on three learning objectives:

1. Create an Accomplishment STAR Technique for Job Interviews.
2. Create an Accomplishment STAR Technique Using a Job Description.
3. Identify phases and statements that make a poor Accomplishment STAR Statement.

Create an Accomplishment STAR Technique for Job Interviews

STAR Technique
Hiring managers prefer to hear stories on how you solved problems; your leadership; your creativity and your communication and team building skills. The STAR Technique is a unique technique to help you develop stories to showcase your professional skills and your professional accomplishments during the job interview.

STAR technique is widely used when interviewing with recruiters and hiring managers. During the interview, the recruiter and the hiring manager will ask you several behavior questions. These questions are designed for you to showcase your skills and show the hiring manager that you’re the right person for the job.

• The S in STAR is the SITUATION — Tell me about a situation you faced.
• The T in STAR are the TASKS — What challenges were barriers in the situation?
• The A in STAR are the ACTIONS — What specific actions did you take to solve the problem?
• The R in STAR are the RESULTS — What were the overall results you achieved?

SITUATION

Behavioral Question:
“Tell me about a time you undertook a major project that required urgency to research, design, and implement the project within two months. How successful were you, and what were the results?”

Situation Technique Samples:

“Several years ago, I worked for a small accounting and tax Firm in their Human Resources department. Like most start-ups, processes and procedures were not currently in place. My director requested I create and launch a Tax Task Force Team and an Audit Task Force Team to help reduce the Firm’s overall turnover rate.”

“My supervisor requested help training new hires on how to use Google slides. Although I am proficient in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, I had never used Google docs, slides, or Google sheets before.”

“My manager requested I revamp our onboarding new hire program for our software engineering group and implement it within 30 days.”

As you can see the situation was described in detail. A good situation would catch the attention of the recruiter and the hiring manager. When writing your situation, think about a compelling, interesting situation. The hiring manager will have other candidates who could do the job and find other candidates that can organize. Be creative and think of a situation that will impress the hiring manager.

TASKS

Behavioral Question :
“Tell me about a time you undertook a major project that required urgency to research, design and implement the project in two months. How successful were you, and what were the results?”

Task Technique Samples:
“I was new to the Firm and not yet familiar with the senior management or the key stakeholders in the Firm. I was the only one in my department and I had not received a budget to hire new staff or spend resources. In my past jobs, I had time to prepare and organize my thoughts. I knew this would be a challenge but I also knew I could do the job.”

“The computers in my company were old and outdated and my director was relying on me to learn Google slides quickly. I wanted to show my manager that I could problem solve and think quickly on my feet, and I knew the department was counting on me and, I must say, I did feel pressure. I thought of other times I needed to produce and that helped me to move forward.”

“Although I have created onboarding programs in the past, I’d never created an onboarding program for software engineers. This was a challenge as most of my professional background was in the nonprofit sector.”

As you can see a good task would catch the attention of the hiring manager. It helps the manager see how well you deal with challenges. Challengers are part of life. It’s how well we deal with them that makes us successful. This is a time to show the hiring manager you can solve problem and think outside the box.

ACTION

Behavioral Question:
“Tell me about a time you undertook a major project that required urgency to research, design and implement the project in two months. How successful were you, and what were the results?”

Action Technique Samples:
“I researched and interviewed a select group of senior managers in the Firm and I asked for help with selecting high-performing employees within the Firm. I also scheduled a 1:1 meeting with senior management for feedback and suggestions and for Firm buy-in. Afterward, I met with the stakeholders and presented my plans to the executive team for approval. I had to make significant changes to my presentation and present again within a week. I then interviewed more people in the Firm and sought out a mentor for direction.”

“I took an online LinkedIn Learning course on Google slides and watched several Youtube videos to improve my new skills”

“I met with the director of engineering for suggestions and I requested a subject matter expert to assist me with the content. I also met with line-managers as well as individual contributors as I wanted buy-in from the group. I met weekly with the subject matter expert for content changes.”

The Action technique is the time to showcase your talents and your expertise. Having a good action technique, the hiring manager is now looking for the best answer, but also how you think, how you solve problems, how you collaborate with others, and your leadership skills. This is the time to shine. Be prepared to talk as much as you can, as this is the time the hiring manager will probably stop you and interrupt you to ask more questions about your actions. The more compelling your actions, the better the interview.

RESULT

Behavioral Question:
“Tell me about a time you undertook a major project that required urgency to research, design and implement the project in two months. How successful were you, and what were the results?”

Result Technique Samples:
“Although it was a learning experience, I was able to create and launch the Tax and Audit Task Force Talent Management Teams within 2 months of the request. I reduced the Firm turnover by 20%. In addition, senior management prompted me to become director of HR with an increase in pay. I was also given an award for excellent teamwork and excellent leadership skills.”

“I was able to learn Google docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets within 1 month! My supervisor rewarded me with lunch at Lucy’s Restaurant for two.”

“I was able to launch a new onboarding new hire program within 3 weeks. I received excellent comments from the Vice President of Engineering; the Director of Engineering as well as other software engineer contributors. My director rewarded me with a pay increase and certificate of appreciation.”

The Result Technique is the time to tell the hiring manager what the outcome was or how did the situation end. Good result techniques will catch the attention of the hiring manager. It shows you that you will follow through and that you can execute when needed.

Create an Accomplishment STAR Technique Using a Job Description

In this section, we’re going to create an accomplishment STAR technique using a job description.

let’s look at the below project manager’s job description. Before the interview, it’s best to review the company’s job description. That way you can tell your STAR technique to what the company’s needs are rather than what you have done throughout your career.

what you can use as a situation. (Green)

• Monitor project progress and handle any issues that arise

Identify key responsibilities to develop a STAR statement. (Blue)

• Strong client-facing and teamwork skills
• Coordinate project management activities, resources, equipment, and information
• Assign tasks to internal teams and assist with schedule management

Identify key skills that you think are good key skills. (Red)

• Solid organizational skills, including multitasking and time-management
• Strong client-facing and teamwork skills

Attributes that a candidate would have to be competitive in this situation. (Purple)

• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Project
• PMP / PRINCE2 certification is a plus

Now that we’ve identified key information to write an accomplishment STAR statement.

STAR statement using Project Manager job description

S — Situation: “I project managed a new payroll system that required weekly monitoring as well as management issues that may arise.”

T — Tasks: “The project required strong organizational and time management skills. It also required strong client-facing and teamwork skills. Although I felt I could successfully do the job, my concern was managing my time effectively.”

A — Actions: “I am PMP/PRINCE2 certified and I have a strong working knowledge of Microsoft Projects. I quickly put these skills to use. I created a spreadsheet in Google slides and scheduled weekly meetings with the subject matter experts and key stakeholders. Every Friday, I emailed updates on new meeting notes and resolved any new issues that arise.”

R — Results: “The project was successful. Because of my strong organizational and time-management skills, the project was completed on time with minimal flaws. My director rewarded me a gift certificate for dinner for two at the Old Ranch Steakhouse.”

Of course, not everyone would have all the skills listed in a job description. It is best to select the job description areas that best match your strength to help the company move forward.

Identify phases and statements that make a poor Accomplishment STAR Statement

Let’s take a look at these samples of poorly written STAR accomplishment statements highlighted in red.

• “but this request was not in my job description” | “Besides, I had just completed a project without help from any of my team members”: This tells a hiring manager you are not a team player.
• “I spent my time on weekends taking online classes and reading articles on current program coverages for performance and budgets. My manager was not clear from the beginning about what was needed. It took me over 2 months to complete this project”: Complaining, and blaming others tells a hiring manager you’re not taking responsibility for your own actions and again you’re not displaying teamwork.
• “I completed the project for my manager, and I did a good job”: This shows a lack of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm in that what you did, you were able, you’re very successful, you increase the situation by 20%, you saved cost or money, etc.

• “Working with difficult people”: This shows that you want to show the hiring manager that you work well with others and that you can compromise to complete the goal you’re working on as a team. Working with people can be difficult, but you want to show the hiring manager you can work well with others, and you can compromise to work as a team.
• “I delegated most of my work to other team members as my time was limited. By delegating my work, it helped me realize I have excellent leadership skills”: Delegating isn’t an excellent leadership skill. However, when you’re not capable of doing the job yourself, you want to work together as a team and help your team be successful.

• “Creating the executive team building workshop was difficult. I spent most of my time scheduling and rescheduling 1:1 meetings with most of the executives. This was frustrating and I felt my time was wasted. I shared my frustrations with my director and she sent an email to the executive team to cooperate.”: Your director selected you, which is a great compliment. So rather than complaining, show your director you can solve the problem and you can be a team player, you can take care of the situation yourself, and you have the skills to do this.
• “I was able to create a successful executive team building workshop.”: Although the team building workshop was very successful, it’s good to show some outcomes, such as an increase in leadership skills through focus groups, or survey data information that you received.

Write your own Accomplishment STAR Statement

Try to write your own accomplishment STAR statement for this behavior question by following the STAR guidelines.

Behavioral Question: “Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.”

Here is my accomplishment STAR statement

S — Situation: “My HR department had a 25% increase in new hires in 1 week.”

T — Tasks: “All new hires were required to attend an onboarding new hire session on day one of their employment.”

A — Actions: “I worked overtime to prepare presentation slides and I scheduled and rescheduled additional speakers to meet the increased need. I also scheduled additional training rooms to accommodate the additional new hires for that week.”

R — Results: “The onboarding sessions were a success. All new hires were services and were able to start their new employment with the company as scheduled.”

Recite your STAR Technique in 60–90 seconds

STAR Technique Timetable

Situation: 10–15 seconds
Tasks: 10–15 seconds
Actions: 60–90 Seconds
Results: 10–15 Seconds

Reciting an accomplishment STAR technique will take practice and it’s best to use the accomplishment STAR timetable. So as not to ramble on and on. Hiring managers would have other interview questions to ask, so try not to ramble on and on, especially during the Situation Technique. If you need to talk more, do so during the Action Technique. If you felt your time was too short, add more to your Action Technique. And if you felt your time was too long, consider trimming down the added words.

Here’s an example of a STAR technique statement that was a bit too long. So I’ve trimmed here and there. So look at the added words you can remove to time it. 60 to 90 seconds is plenty of time to recite your STAR technique.

Star Technique Additional Links And Reading Material

• How to Use the STAR Interview Response Method.
  www.thebalancecareers.com
• STAR Method
  www.vawizard.org
• How to Use the STAR Method to Ace Your Job Interview
  www.themuse.com

Thank you for staying until the end of this article. If you enjoyed reading it, please press that clap👏 a few times, leave a comment and please share if you think this article will help someone else as well.

If you’re interested in more articles like this, Follow me on Medium!