How do you tailor your STAR examples to different types of interviewers and situations?

Think of the job description as a list of problems and can be used as a guide. The keywords give you an idea of what’s important to them. You can use the STAR method to highlight similar problems you’ve resolved in the past that’s relevant to what they looking for. Also when talking about R - Results look at how solving the problem has helped to either ? increase revenue - make money ? improve processes - save money ? regulatory compliance - avoid paying money out When we focus on the common objectives for all businesses, this makes it easier for the hiring manager to connect how your experience can help them even if it’s an example from a different industry.

You can classify the challenges the company is facing in your mind in one of these common categories: 1) growth / scale, 2) product /market fit, 3) organizational processes and systems, 4) team / culture, 5) strategy and big goals / KPIs, 6) market dynamics and competitors, 7) business model, 8) execution. Earlier stage companies are likely to want people who have seen 1), 2), 4) and 7) and larger organizations will pay more attention to your experience shaping and fitting into 3), 4), 5), 6) and 8). Understand the company's / department's main 2-3 challenges and come armed with stories that illustrate your experience with these.

One thing I try to remind people of is to choose *one* example and go through it in detail (STAR). It can be difficult to resist the urge to give a lot of examples as you try to show your experience but if you do that you usually don't get past the A for any of them and you sell yourself short.

Even though it may sound logical that you should choose the right example to highlight or provide in an interview there are many candidates who do not do this. One cause for this is not reading and processing the interview question fully. Take some time to process the question and understand what the panel is trying to elicit. You can ask the panel for a few seconds to read the question. This is not a sign of weakness but of someone who pays attention to detail and thinks critically. Another way to counter this situation is to prepare responses to common interview questions beforehand. This way you do not feel put on the spot and having to search your memory banks while nervous. Remember you can always skip a question and return to it.

Some questions can be unexpected and throw you off, request a moment to gather your thoughts and place them in the STAR format where YOU are always the Hero. It is totally fine and okay to ask the interviewer(s) for a few seconds to process the question asked and think up a relatable answer. Infact, they expect that you digest the question thoroughly in order to provide a recent, specific answer.

This is one of the reasons why its important to write (type) out your STAR examples and practice them. For each example that you want *at the ready* to use, have no more than 3 or 4 bullet points. I tend to recommend that you stick with being concise and this approach will force you to stick with highlighting the most important points. If the interviewer wants to know more, they will ask the follow-up questions. You cannot lose with being concise to start. It's when you ramble too much that you risk losing the opportunity to move forward. Let the interviewer decide how much detail they want. They will ask for it.

I use the "onion" method with my clients for telling 3 levels of story detail. 1) The elevator pitch (sub 60 seconds), 2) The 1-paragraph summary (1-2 minutes), 3) the full version (2-5 minutes). When in an interview setting start with 1 or 2. Then pause and see if the person wants to dig deeper, and only then offer them part of or all of the next level version. This way you're feeding your story piecemeal, respecting the interviewer's time and allowing them to control where you go next. The worst scenario is ruining a fantastic story by diving from the deep end with your excitement and starting with the 5 min version. Give over control to the interviewer and show them you can communicate on many different levels (a fantastic skill!)

Every story should have a context or background. Maybe not a villain always, but a problem or challenge that needs to be addressed. Remember that you are the superhero or the main character of your own story. What have you done in that context to rise up to the challenge. This is all about you so you have to use the pronoun I. The most important part of any story which some candidates fail to provide is the ending. What happened? How did you actions save the day?

I give percentages to each section. S & T - 5% A - 90% R - 5% You ideally want to spend 5% of your talk time on the Situation and Task and spend 90% describing the action you took and the last 5%of the time, talking about the results. These are subject to change depending on the perceived demeanor of the Panel. Do they ask follow-up questions requesting more information from other areas? then spend a bit more time on those areas in the next questions. There is no hard and fast rule as interviewers preferences vary. The key is finding the balance early on.

Do not be afraid to showcase or brag about what you have accomplished. After all this interview is about you and how you can bring your skill set and value proposition to the next employer. Previous accomplishments and performance are a good indicator of how you will do in a new role. Keeping a running list of accomplishments and neat projects at work can help with responding to interview questions, performance management and asking for a raise. It also helps with fighting the imposter syndrome that will sometimes rear its ugly head. It also helps to celebrate your accomplishments and with your practice of gratefulness.

This is tricky. You don't want to "tell" them what you learned. You want to tell them the principles that you took away from the story, which illustrate your skill. For example, rather than say "I now have better leadership skills", say "I now look to elicit a person's ideas, even if I have the same idea, so that they can feel full ownership of it. I now am also more aware when a person is ready to take ownership of their ideas, vs. when they need more guidance and support."

A neat exercise is to record yourself on video on your phone and then see how long it takes you to respond to a common interview question. What did you think about your response? If you thought it was perfect ask a friend for constructive feedback. Just like with resumes we may not be aware of certain details we are missing in our responses or what they may imply. You should aim that your response not exceed 4 minutes. 4 minutes of someone talking continuously is a very long time.

Absolutely agree to videoing yourself. I suggest 2-3 stories for intro/phone interviews and 3-5 for F2F. Articulate the “so what”…. After every statement ask yourself if the interviewer said “so what” after your statement what’s your “Why” response. What’s in it for them. Why is that story/statement matter? It helps you build the story to be meaningful and when you have those stories planned, video yourself and your responses. Look at your hand gestures, voice inflexion, don’t forget to smile - gives you a confident look.

Don't forget to add lessons in STAR specially on questions related to weaknesses, conflict, and constructive feedback. I use the CARL framework i.e. Challenge, Action, Result & Lesson learned. Understand competencies, day-to-day tasks, and ask how is the performance measured. Do you have stories for areas of opportunity? Pick the area of opportunity, which is not related to the main KPIs, and how you are measured. Try this with the story:? hard time delegating, too direct, delivering the information concisely, limited knowledge of tools, data, skills etc. Sample answers on how to use CARL & lessons learned for tough questions. ?? https://www.teachndo.com/post/what-is-your-weakness-samples-answers-with-the-carl-formula

Mirroring during your interview. If you have not heard of this, it is very simple. It's adapting to your interviewers style and body language. If they lean forward, you lean forward. When they smile, smile back. If they refer to data and metrics, you need to respond in kind. When they ask about setting KPI's you say "That is a great question. I wonder if you could clarify which KPI's and for what teams you are referring to?" This helps you to provide the most relevant answer that aligns with what they have in mind. It's not mimicking. Mirroring is using similar words, phrases, tone and body language in appropriate ways which your interviewer displays. It creates a subtle, unconscious connection between you and your interviewer.

Remember to be human. The STAR method should be used as the framework for a meaningful conversation during the interview. To often I see it used as a monologue that can quickly lose an interviewer’s attention span.

Just remember to be yourself! Given that there are AI tools to help with tailoring your answers, make sure that when you answer it's authentic and in your own voice. Interviewers appreciate a personal story where you show your true self and it doesn't always have to result in a positive outcome as long as you learned something along the way.

Use the STAR, SGARL or other frameworks loosely. Do not try to memorize your stories verbatim, or you'll sound too scripted and the interviewer will tune out. You'll also tend to panic if you forget a word or sentence. Have practice telling them but have simple bullet points in your mind for each letter, so you can flex your style of delivery to the interviewer. Interviewer seems rushed and impatient and wants to get straight to the point? Focus on the 60 second version and keep your words super concise. A more relaxed interviewer? Speak slower, follow their tempo and cadence. The conversation should be like a dance vs. you bombarding the interviewer with precanned speeches (I've been on the receiving end of a lot of those!)