My name is Richard McMunn, and in this video, I'm gonna teach you how to answer STAR interview

questions.

I'm basically gonna give you a tutorial on what STAR is, how to create your responses,

and I'm also gonna give you a number of sample interview questions, but more importantly,

I'm gonna give you some cracking answers to all of the questions.

So please, stay tuned.

Watch it from beginning to end.

Also, just a very warm welcome from me.

That's me there on the right-hand side with no hair.

My name is Richard McMunn.

I've been helping people like you to prepare for interviews for over 20 years now.

I believe I'm very good at it.

I'm passionate about it.

I like doing this kind of thing for free.

So please do watch it from beginning to end.

As I say, this video is gonna give you a series of awesome answers to STAR interview questions.

So like I say, watch it from beginning to end as it's gonna give you some fantastic

responses.

Now, these answers, you don't need to take notes because I'm actually gonna put the answers

to the questions in the description below the video and I'll also give you a link to

where you can download these slides.

I'll tell you that in the video.

So like I say, please watch it from beginning to end.

If you do like the video, I'd very, very much appreciate it if you gave it a thumbs up.

And don't forget to subscribe because I'm creating videos like this every week on YouTube.

Okay, let's get straight into it.

So, first and foremost, what is STAR?

What does it mean?

Well basically, these kinds of questions are called situational questions or behavioral.

So what you're doing is you're answering the questions using the STAR technique.

Okay?

So what do I mean by that?

Well, Star stands for situation, task, action, result.

And it means that you answer these interview questions in detail and you give them a specific

answer where you've actually done it before.

Now, the reason why interview panels will ask you these questions is they want to see

evidence of where you've already done this kind of thing.

So if they say to you, "Can you give us an example of where you've worked really hard

under pressure?"

Now, if you've already done this, then it's likely that you're able to do it again in

a work-related situation.

Okay, so you answer each of the questions specifically, and I'll talk more about that

in a second, but you're gonna explain what the situation was, what task you had to do,

what action you took, and then the important bit, which is the result.

What happened as a result of your action.

Now, put the results in green because it should always be positive.

So what you don't wanna do is say, "Well, I was doing this and the result was negative"

or "I didn't achieve anything."

That's not good.

We wanna always make sure it's positive.

So, just to quickly recap.

STAR stands for situation, task, action, result.

So when you're preparing your responses to the questions, and I'm gonna give you the

answers to the questions as we go through the video, situation is you will tell the

panel what the situation you were in and you do it in this order.

So you say, "The situation I was in was X, Y, and Z.

The task that I had to carry out was."

And then you explain what the task was.

You say, "Now, I did the following things.

I took the following action or the following steps."

And then finally, "The result following what I did was a positive one.

This is what happened."

Now, if you prepare your response is using the STAR technique.

You won't go wrong.

Now, having been an interviewer myself, I can guarantee that you will get higher marks

if you follow this golden tip.

Really important.

Make sure your answer to all of the questions is specific.

What I mean by that is you tell the panel that you actually did something.

You do not say, "Well, if that situation came up, this is what I would do."

You have to give a specific response.

Don't forget they're looking for evidence.

So that means you would say, "Well, whilst at work I was tasked with delivering a project."

And that's the situation.

"The action I took was X, Y, and Z" and so on and so forth.

So do not be generic.

Now, what generic means is you would say, "Well I've not been in that situation, but

if it did arise, this is what I would do."

Okay?

Now, you're gonna get less marks with that.

You want where possible to be specific.

"This is what I have done."

So obviously, you need to think carefully about the kind of interview questions that

you were gonna ask, the situational ones or the behavioral ones.

And this is what we're going to get into right now.

So question number one.

So like I say, you don't have to take notes because I'm gonna actually give you a copy

and paste the answers to these.

So question one.

When have you handled huge pressure in a work-related situation?

Okay.

Now, this is a common one that could get asked at your interview.

So here's the answer.

So, in my previous job, a work colleague left unexpectedly.

He had been responsible for a project that had to be delivered within a very tight deadline.

Now, my supervisor asked the workforce for a volunteer to take on the project, and I

decided to step up and take responsibility.

To be honest, I prefer to work under pressure anyway and I saw this as an opportunity to

help out the company in their hour of need.

I studied the brief carefully and then created a plan of action for getting the project delivered

on budget and also on time.

It was tough going, but I put in the extra hours work needed and I am pleased to say

I managed to get the project finished on time and to specification.

My supervisor was thrilled with my work ethic and effort, and he thanked me for my commitment

and dedication to delivering this important project.

Okay, so that's that first question.

You see, it's relatively short, but I follow situation, task, action result.

And you can apply that to any kind of situation so you can use it for your response.

Question number two.

Can you describe a stressful situation and how you handled it?

Now it's important that you give a work-related situation, not one in your personal life.

Make sure it's work related.

Here's my answer for you.

Whilst working in an office one day on the fifth floor, the fire alarm activated due

to a small fire being reported on the first floor.

Now, people within the office did not appear to take much notice as the alarm usually sounded

only when there was a false alarm.

I decided to take responsibility and I shouted across the office that everyone needed to

leave by the quickest and safest fire escape immediately.

Some people started complaining, but I insisted they leave immediately.

I was aware that we were all on the fifth floor and any time wasted could endanger life,

especially considering we could not use the lifts in the event of a fire alarm activation.

Now eventually, people within the office started leaving by the escape stairway as per my request.

I stayed until the end to make sure everyone had evacuated and I made my way outside.

I took a roll call to make sure everyone was safe.

Now, when the fire services arrived, they did in fact find a fire on the ground floor

area, so it really was a genuine emergency.

Now, after the fire was extinguished and we could return to the office, I reminded everyone

of their responsibilities in the event of a fire.

I believe I handled the situation with confidence and resilience, and although it was stressful

at times, I was determined to follow company health and safety procedures to ensure everyone

was safe.

So what you're doing there is you are demonstrating that you can handle stress, but also you're

taking responsibility and more importantly, you're following company rules and procedures.

Really important.

Question number three.

Can you give an example of how you dealt with conflict in the workplace?

Now, this might be, can you give an example of when you've dealt with a difficult work

colleague or you've not got on with someone at work?

And the fact is we don't always get on with everybody at work, but as an employer, I want

to know that you can deal with issues, you can put your differences aside and you can

resolve them amicably.

So again, it's about taking responsibility.

Here's my response for you.

Okay.

Yes, I can.

In my previous job as an office administration worker, there was one particular work colleague

who seemed to dislike me.

Now, during meetings, he would ignore my contributions and he made a number of unacceptable comments

in the canteen on more than one occasion.

Now, I decided to tackle the situation in a calm manner.

However, before I approached him to discuss the situation, I needed to decide what it

was I wanted to achieve from the meeting or the discussion.

I understand that we can't always get on with everyone in a workplace environment, but the

problem with this type of situation is it can be detrimental to the organization as

a whole.

And on that basis, I wanted to first of all try and see if there was anything I was doing

that irritated him before trying to reach a constructive solution to the problem.

Now, once I determined my goal, I approached him whilst he was on his own and I asked him

if we could have a private discussion away from other office workers.

Now, we sat down in a room away from everyone else and I explained my concerns to him with

regards to how I felt he was treating me, I also asked him if there was anything I was

doing the irritated him.

His initial reaction was extremely defensive, but I maintained my position and I repeated

my feelings with regards to how he was treating me in a calm and non-confrontational manner.

Now, after a while, he accepted he was in the wrong and he apologized for his comments

and his behavior.

He reassured me that it would not happen again and we both agreed that a positive way forward

would be to create and maintain a friendly and professional working relationship.

I believe it's really important to tackle any form of conflict in a calm and professional

manner with a view to reaching a positive outcome for everyone.

So what you're doing there is you're basically showing that you are mature and you're responsible

and you're not letting a situation get even more out of hand.

You are tackling it, but you're not tackling it in front of people.

You're doing it in private away to get the situation resolved.

And you also have a clear goal of what you wanna achieve.

Okay.

Next question.

Number four.

Can you tell me about a mistake you made at work and how you handled it?

Now we all make mistakes at work, so what you don't wanna do is say, "I've never really

made a mistake."

Everybody does, but what the interviewer is looking for here is that you take responsibility,

you admit to it, but then you resolve it.

Okay, so honesty and integrity are really important.

Here's a response you can use.

Yes.

One particular time I was working in the company warehouse, I made a mistake and the company

did not have sufficient stock available over a busy seasonal period.

As soon as I noticed I had made the mistake, I informed my line manager as I feel honesty

and integrity are essential in a situation like this.

Now, whilst my supervisor was annoyed with the mistake I'd made, he was thankful that

we had the opportunity to try and rectify it.

Now, I asked him to give me the opportunity to sort it out, which he agreed to.

I immediately contacted our supplier to see if there was any way the additional stock

I had missed could be shipped to us in time for the seasonal period.

Although it took some time and persuading, the supplier agreed to ship the additional

stock the next working day, much to my relief.

I then set about putting things in place to make sure I did not make the same mistake

again.

So what you're doing, you've identified it, you're being honest, you're acknowledging

it, you're letting your boss know, then you're resolving it.

So once you've resolved, you are then putting things in place to make sure it doesn't happen

again.

Again, it's demonstrating that you're taking responsibility, but also you are honest.

It's really important that an employer employs people who are honest, trust me, it's really

important.