What's the best way to balance STAR with other interview questions?

As a former executive search consultant I can attest to this from experience: What an interviewer wants to know is this: What you delivered, how you delivered it. The sooner you get to that, the longer you'll capture and sustain the interviewers interest. An executive interview isn't about your situation, it is about how your solution can be tranferable to the potential employer's problems.

The question seems to be aimed at hiring managers but the answer you give seems to be aimed at candidates. You don't get to choose the question as the candidate. If your question is aimed at how best to prepare for different types of interviews, I would focus more on competency questions as most interview questions have an element of competency about them. This is where you provide STAR examples. You also want to prepare a CV presentation on you and your career as many hiring managers ask for a 5 minute overview. I have seen too many candidates talk for too long on this. Thirdly, I would prepare for why you are interested in the role, your driver and motivators. You need a narrative on you, why you want it and what you bring to the table.

Assessing the reason behind the question is key to a successful interview and failure to do so is a key reason why you might not win the interview. You sometimes are being assessed on creativity, adaptability or versatility, for example, but worry because you don't know the "right" answer. When you answer in a way that's inconsistent with what the interviewer is looking for, they are less sure about you.

Prior to my career strategy practice, I was a retained executive search consultant for some of America's biggest companies. Here's what I told my candidates before they went in to interview with my clients: Every single person with whom you are meeting is taking time away from some urgent priority to see you. And, why? Because someone in the chain of advocacy has persuaded them that your qualifications are a solution to their problem. And, this needs to be remembered: Before you launch into any response, get clarity. Not every interviewer is a good interviewer, and most interviewers are sensitive about saying: Help, we are failing at this! Tell me how you fixed it. So it is incumbent upon the candidate to seek clarity.

I don't quite agree with Brandon's view that questions that begin with "Tell me a time.." are nonsense. However, the interviewer has to be skilled in probing the candidate's answers. If you get subjective answers, you probe further to understand what they ACTUALLY did. It is hard to lie when someone is probing and digging, what part did you play in that. How did you increase sales by 15%? What did you specifically do?

Practice your stories! This is the only way to know the best way to talk about your experience or accomplishments. It's also the best way to be clear on the stories you want to tell and the points you want to emphasize. The same story might have several key takeaways, and can be used for a variety of questions.

When I work with executive clients, we do STAR to create a narrative...a plotline so to speak on their resumes. You want to present yourself with integrity as someone who has a successful demonstrated track record of solving problems. That's why I always require resumes to include information on the employer and assigned responsibilties. That puts accomplishments in a context. Without them, it is action without a plot.

This will sound lunatic, but build a campfire equivalent and tell your stories. There are some pretty standard questions that most jobseekers will be asked (you can ask for a specific list for a specific role on Google Bard.) Run those off, gather together some friends or adult family members and answer those questions beginning each reply with: Let me start with an actual example. Then see: Are you losing them? Are they engaged? And, then ask for candid feedback.

I love the CARL strategy: Context, Action, Result and Learning. Also I want to make sure I am timing myself - I cannot keep on sharing teh context and result for 3 mins and learning for 10 seconds. The whole answer should be extremely well structured.

STAR is the framework, nor a hard rule. - If it’s hard to memorize what how when you should implement it, simplify it. Problem => Solution => Outcome. More importantly focus on telling a story vs sticking with the STAR method. At the end of the day we want to see if you can solve the type of problems we’re dealing with or not.

I would also say adding a human touch : where you allow yourself to make mistake or not too uptight so that the conversation becomes too robotic. Asking for " can I take a minute to collect my thoughts" is a great way to take a pause and add human element to your conversation.

When considering senior executive candidates, my clients during my executive search career where focused on this: . Sensitivity to corporate culture. . Awareness of team dynamics. . The ability to collaborate with disparate personalities with their own agendas. The focus should be on these elements first. An interview may seem to be about you, but the reality is you as an executive are being assessed on your ability to work with "them" as defined above.

Incorporating feelings and emotions throughout your STAR stories provides insight into your mindset, motivations, and the emotional journey you went through. This adds depth and authenticity, helping the interviewer understand the personal investment and passion you bring to your work. ??How did this challenge feel? ??Were there any moments of doubt, uncertainty, or fear? ??How did you manage those emotions and push through? ??Were there defining moments that evoked strong emotions, such as pride, satisfaction, or a sense of accomplishment? Adding human elements allows the interviewer to connect with your story. Keep your story concise and to the point. Include a few humanizing details but cut out fluff or unnecessary information.

Being authentic in your interview answers is important because it also assesses whether you would enjoy working in the culture of your prospective employer. Do they not enjoy Seinfeld jokes and references? Think about your value proposition is and what would set you apart from other candidates. Be sure to communicate this as this is another way to assess whether you would like to be part of your new employer's work culture.

Addding: Before you go in, check out the Linkedin profiles of those with whom you are interviewing. Calibrate your stories to the appropriate level and background. If you are interviewing for an engineering role, and you are speaking to an engineer that's one approach. If you're talking to the VP of Sales and Marketing who may feel that engineering doesn't always cooperate with sales, that's another.

You might use a STAR story and emphasize one point for company A, but use that same story differently for company B. Understanding how to tell the story and what to focus on will depend on what each company wants to hear. That information can be gathered through various modes of research. Always be authentic, but share your stories according to your audience.

Research, research, research. Hop onto Bard of a similar AI and ask for recent issues with the company. If you are in a specific function ask for recent issues within that function, for example, marketing. And, before you launch into an answer, ask for clarification. I've had exceptional executive candidates launch into a 15 minute discourse on how they solved that issue in their company without ever demonstrating that they have learned anything in advance about the prospective employer.

Some of the best interviews I have attended had candidates tie their value proposition to the strategic goals or problems of the organizations they were interviewing for. It showed that they took the time to research the company, its values and reputation and that they have actively thought about how they could contribute. These candidates stand out as strategic, well-prepared, innovative and willing to do the work. We live in a digital age and you can leverage this when preparing to answer interview questions. Record yourself answering various interview questions and then review the recording on your own or with a friend. Were you able to convey the value you would add? Were your stories relevant, did they clearly show your contributions

The S.T.A.R method has an advanced technique: THE PIVOT. The Pivot consist in starting a past performance question and instead of just asking and waiting for the answer (as in the competency interview), it is PIVOTED. After you answer the question with your “How” you did it in the past, the interviewer adds a follow up question, with a real situation/problem structure (situational interview), normally related to the company which you are applying. So, it starts: “Tell me about a time you managed to deliver a project with low resources” You answer: “I did this, used AI, etc” Follow up: “Great. Now we are facing a similar problem at our X company, what would you do to improve and execute here given our different characteristics?”

Make it abundantly clear that you have researched this company and its competitors. You can tell some great stories about you, but what would be even greater is being able to say: I read Competitor X is doing this and peeling off market share. In a similar situation, I countered with this successfully.

Being honest, I always talk about my ADHD to others, to encourage other people to feel comfortable or talk about their journey. People hide behind masks because their scared of being judged, I don't. I want to create environment where people can fully be themselves all the time! I feel this really helps! People feel more open about talking if they can relate, either through content or conversations, just got to be yourself!

Being yourself and understanding the purpose of life and work are things that can support us in being able to answer interview questions so that we can release our abilities more freely

Ask questions. There is an old adage in executive search: He who talks most, feels best. If the interviewer isn't talking, then you've lost them and their advocacy.

Always feel that the interview is a two way conversation: you are being interviewed yes, but you also have an opportunity to take the lead, express the interest and ask questions to show that this conversation, this role matters to you.