Answering video interview questions with STARE

You may have heard about the STAR technique before, but STARE is what I personally used to score perfectly at interview at some of the countries top employers.

S - Situation

T - Task

A - Action

R - Result

E - Even better if

This technique is one of the best ways to ensure that you stay to the point and cover all of the basis when answering an interview question.

However, it is very important that you become natural at answering in the STARE format. Otherwise your answers will feel clunky and repetitive. Practice makes perfect here!

Situation

Set the scene. Start with a scenario where you played a key role or have relative experience with relation to the question at hand.

Describe it in enough detail to give the interviewer a clear picture, but do not make this part lengthy. The employer will care more about your actions and results.

Task

Now that we've set the scene, what was the Task?

What role did you have to fulfil, were you a part of a team completing this task or did you take full ownership of its completion?

Action

What did you do? Describe the specific actions that you took to ensure success and why you chose those over alternatives.

Results

What were the results of your actions? Did you win a competition? What was the response from the rest of the team? Do you know any statistics for the direct impact of your involvement?

Even better if

This is my personal addition to the STAR technique, and must be used in moderation.

Once you have aced your answer using the STAR technique, briefly describe what you learnt and what you may do better given the opportunity again. Were there any inefficiencies? Could you have managed the team slightly better or made better use of the skills you had available?

This is a great tool to add onto an answer that may feel insufficient or lacking in some way. It shows that you are constantly seeking improvement and are aware that you're not perfect.

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