In interviewing, STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result, and this method helps you create structured, concise, and engaging responses to behavioral interview questions.
These questions start with “Tell me about a time when…” and ask you to tell a story about a past work situation.
I’ve worked with Pamela Skillings, Big Interview’s Chief Coach, to write this article, and her main tip is: whenever you need to tell a story to reply to questions about your skills, STAR should be your go-to.
After reading this article, you’ll know:
- What STAR method is and how to use it for the greatest impact
- How to make your STAR answers effective (samples included)
- How to easily prepare your answers before the interview
Don’t waste days compiling overused interview techniques. Get original answers to every single question you could expect.
What Is the STAR Method?
The STAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result) method, a.k.a. the STAR format, is a way to answer behavioral interview questions and other common questions that require storytelling. It proves you’ve got the skills needed to excel in the position you applied for — based on a story about how you used those skills in the past.
Usually, you’ll need to use the STAR technique when answering behavioral interview questions, that is, questions that begin with:
- Tell me about a time when…
- Can you recall a situation in which…
- Give me an example of a time when you…
- How did you handle…
The STAR method can be useful in answering any question, whenever you’d like to use a story or illustrate something with an example. For instance, questions about:
- Your proudest accomplishments
- Times you failed
- Your strengths
- Your weaknesses
- Situational questions (questions about a hypothetical situation)
Speaking of hypothetical scenario questions, Pamela advises: “When possible, it’s better to share a short STAR example rather than just saying, ‘I think I would…’ For instance, instead of answering, ‘I’d probably stay longer even though I had plans,’ you could say, ‘I actually faced a similar situation recently, and here’s how I handled it…’ Not always possible but definitely helpful. A real example is much more memorable and convincing than theorizing.”
For more information on behavioral interviewing and how to answer these questions using the STAR method, check out the video:
How to Create Answers Using the STAR Method
Let’s break down each component of the STAR method and learn how to tell a story that stands out.
We’ll use an example of a retail sales associate being asked the following question: “Tell me about a time when you initiated a successful project or an idea.”
Situation
Describe the situation so that your interviewer understands the context. There’s no need to be too detailed. Providing a general context with the most important facts should be enough. This should take around 15% of the total answer time.
For example:
Task
Briefly describe your specific task or responsibility in that situation. No need to go into detail here either, just make sure to highlight what your role was.
This is usually the shortest part and should account for 10% of the whole answer.
For example:
Action
The main part of your STAR answer. You need to be as detailed as possible when describing what actions you took to achieve something. The Action part should take up around 60% of your answer (it might seem a lot, but remember, you have to describe what you did — step by step).
Here, interviewers will look for clues about your experience and skills. Depending on the skill the question is supposed to assess, this bit will show them:
- How you think.
- How you organize work.
- How well you work with others.
- If you have an analytical mind.
STAR spells four parts, but Pamela encourages spending more time on the “Action”, especially in technical roles where your process shows your mindset.
💡 Pro tip: The question hints about what skills you’ll need to highlight in the Action part. For example, in our case, the question “Tell me about a time when you initiated a successful project or an idea,” will look to assess:
- Your ability to take initiative (because you initiated a project)
- Your analytical skills (because you spotted potential areas of improvement)
- Your problem-solving skills (how you completed that project or idea)
- Your communication skills (because you had to successfully present an idea and get approval for its realization)
For example:
Result
Here, you should mention the tangible results of your actions. Ideally, these will be quantifiable data (%, $), but you can also include qualitative things (bonuses, positive feedback, promotions, awards).
💡 Pro tip:
I often remind people that missed “Results” are fine if you reflect on the learning, something Pamela stresses continuously. Especially for questions about less positive experiences you had, like the ones about your failures or weaknesses. In fact, Pamela worked with clients who struggled to frame failures, so once she reframed “Result” as “What did you learn?”, it turned the candidate’s story into a strength.
For example:
Here’s what the entire answer would sound like.
Sample answer using the STAR method
Interviewer: “Tell me about a time when you initiated a successful project or an idea.”
If you want to learn more about how to answer the most common interview questions, how to sell yourself in an interview, or negotiate your salary, sign up for our free course.
STAR Method in Action: Sample Questions and Answers
Sample STAR answer to a question about teamwork
Industry: IT Consulting
Interviewer: “Share an example of when you had to adapt to a team member’s working style.”
Candidate:
Situation: A few months ago, I was assigned to work on a project with a coworker from another department.
Task: Our task was to develop processes for several new services our agency introduced to our clients. After the initial meeting, I noticed big differences in how he and I approach work. I’m flexible and tend to focus on the big picture. He’s detail-oriented and prefers a structured approach.
Action: We decided to split the work accordingly. I focused on the goals of these new services and how to best follow them through procedures. I also worked on identifying key milestones and major project components. He, in turn, worked on granular steps, created structured plans for each project phase, and developed in-depth documentation and manuals explaining the processes.
Result: We ended up completing the project a week before the deadline and with minimal reiterations from the management team. The experience taught me that such a big difference in working styles is not a disadvantage: on the contrary, it’s a complementary strength that helps us contribute to the team and the company in the best possible way.
Why we like it: The candidate saw a way to turn a potentially difficult clash into a productive experience, displaying positivity and great interpersonal skills. They also proved their problem-solving skills by devising a plan where both people could contribute to the project through their unique strengths.
For a detailed guide on all behavioral questions related to teamwork, check out How to Answer Teamwork Interview Questions (Tips and Examples).
Sample STAR answer to a question about problem-solving
Industry: HR
Interviewer: “How did you approach a situation where you had multiple problems to solve at the same time?”
Candidate:
Situation: In my last position where I worked as a recruiter, we got into a high-demand hiring season where we had to fill in several key positions across several departments simultaneously.
Task: At first, I didn’t know what to focus on, as I was in charge of managing open positions and moving candidates through the hiring process effectively.
Action: I decided to structure my approach and began by researching each position thoroughly to gauge the urgency and criticality of the role. It helped me prioritize and allocate resources accordingly. I made strategic use of our applicant tracking system to streamline the sourcing and screening processes to filter out only the best, relevant candidates. I also used industry-specific platforms and forums to track people.
Result: This helped me meet the hiring goals and decrease the time needed for hiring. 2 years later, all the people I hired then are still in the company, which proves they were a good fit.
Why we like it: The candidate explained in detail their process for solving the problem, which gives the interviewer insight into their approach, problem-solving skills, prioritization, and analytical thinking.
If you want to learn all about how to answer problem-solving skills, we’ve got a super detailed guide for you: Answering Problem-Solving Interview Questions: Tips and Examples.
Sample STAR answer to a question about leadership
Industry: Email marketing
Interviewer: “Tell me about a time when you had to lead under pressure or a tight deadline.”
Candidate:
Situation: Last year, my team got a big ad-hoc project from one of our main clients.
Task: The deadline was tight, and we had to conceptualize and create 30+ BFCM promo emails.
Action: As soon as we got the brief, I scheduled a meeting to organize and divide the workload and set clear timelines. I prioritized tasks based on the email’s scheduling date and offer importance. I established the order of operations, and we had a clear process on who was doing what and when. Still, there were times when we had to improvise but transparent communication made it easy. Each person was like a piece of a puzzle and we worked tirelessly.
Result: It was like watching a well-organized sports team — their efficiency was admirable. We finished all emails on time and generated $850K in revenue from them. The client was thrilled.
Why we like it: The candidate kept their cool in a high-pressure situation and relied on their leadership and organizational skills to set an efficient process and inspire their team to give their best.
If you want to learn more about how to answer leadership questions, check out Behavioral Interview Questions: Leadership [How to Answer + Examples].
If you’re applying for your first leadership position, head here: 20+ First-Time Manager Interview Questions and Answers + Tips
Sample STAR answer to a question about communication
Industry: Education
Interviewer: “Tell me about a situation when you persuaded someone to see things your way at work.”
Candidate:
Situation: Two years ago, I wanted to integrate some practical, real-world examples into classes and courses.
Task: I especially wanted to do this in my lessons and I wanted my students to get some hands-on experience in marketing.
Action: For this, I thought about involving a local retail business. So I had to convince my coworkers, teachers, and school administration to apply this unconventional approach. To make it convincing and enjoyable, I created a mini-game where teachers would play the role of students engaging in a simulated marketing project. Before the game, during the presentation, I put a lot of emphasis on how students could benefit from this and apply their theoretical knowledge to real-world situations.
Result: They appreciated my efforts and ideas and agreed to explore the possibility of collaborating with one of our local businesses. Eventually, we did manage to make it happen, and I learned how important it is to be relatable, creative, and fun when pitching new ideas.
Why we like it: The candidate found a new angle for persuading someone to see things their way — they were relatable and used humor and entertainment as their main weaponry.
If you want to learn more about how to answer questions about communication and working in diverse teams, check out Answering Behavioral Interview Questions: Intercultural Fluency.
Sample STAR answer to a question about initiative and ownership
Industry: Marketing
Interviewer: “Tell me about a time when you worked with little to no supervision.”
Candidate:
Situation: I worked in an internal marketing department in a marketing agency. We used to launch quarterly reports about industry trends and events that shaped the previous quarter.
Task: During a particularly busy season, the entire company was focused on client work. My coworker and I were left to write, design, publish, and promote the report without any help.
Action: We decided to split the tasks: I wrote the report, she edited it and added insights from industry experts we got in touch with. She designed the report, and I wrote the copy for the landing page and other promotional materials. Finally, we found a simple drag-and-drop page builder and created the landing page, connected it to our website and email service provider, and tested everything. Everything went pretty smoothly, and we managed to publish the report on time, as if nothing had happened.
Result: We got a lot of positive feedback from the readers. I realized I wouldn’t have been able to do it all by myself, and this experience taught me how important it is to work with someone you trust.
Why we like it: The candidate displayed resourcefulness and the ability to do the work independently. They also showed they can get along with others in high-pressure situations, and that they’re a reliable person who can deliver the work even if the circumstances are not ideal.
After rehearsing each story, ask yourself: Which action surprised me? How can I lean into that? Do I have a better example than this? That’s where you find memorable stories.
How to Prepare STAR Answers Before the Interview
Research the job
You can’t properly prepare unless you know what exactly you’re preparing for. So you’ll need to research the job to understand what skills and competencies the position requires, and what kind of experience an ideal candidate would have.
Your best bet is the job ad itself. Read it carefully, and pay special attention to sections like “What you’ll be responsible for” or “Your duties.”
You can also check the company website — perhaps you can find the company structure there, and details about the team your potential position is in, as well as how it’s connected to other teams internally.
Check out the company’s social media and website for clues about company culture, as that can help you gauge what soft skills might be a nice addition to your experience and existing skills.
Reflect on your past
Think about your achievements that might be similar (or identical) to what’s expected of you in the job you’re interviewing for.
Think about:
- Things you achieved on your own
- Things you achieved with your coworkers
- Your failures and weaknesses
- Your strengths and interests
- Lessons you learned from certain experiences
Then, think about typical skills that behavioral questions tend to explore. These are usually:
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Problem-solving
- Decision-making
- Initiative and ownership
Then, connect the dots. What is your proudest accomplishment, and what’s the skill that helped you achieve it? What’s your biggest failure? What caused it?
Write down these ideas and details and include them in the final version of your answer.
Finally, connect your past achievements or duties to potential interview questions. Draw parallels between the skills and experiences you have and the ones they need. Find a way to illustrate how you can contribute to their company.
More tips below:
Avoid negative language
Before you accuse me of being a new-age, Instagram positivity freak, hear me out. You may have a strong STAR answer, but negative framing can sabotage it.
When you start your Action part with “I had no idea how to approach this…” or “I was nervous, but…”, you’re unintentionally spotlighting your insecurities and putting doubt in the interviewer’s mind. Hiring teams are trained to notice hesitation and self-criticism, and you want to spotlight your strengths.
When you say “I was nervous, so I just tried to keep the team focused”, you lead with self-doubt.
Pamela’s tip to solve this is simple: “For example, I would suggest modifying this example to something that will show more confidence. In my last project, I led a team of four people through a tight deadline.”
See the difference? One downplays your ability, the other sets you up as a capable, I-know-what-I’m-doing professional from the opening sentence.
Practice
Practicing for interviews is key, but especially so when it comes to delivering STAR-based answers.
If you don’t practice, here’s what will happen:
- You won’t have relevant stories to illustrate your skills.
- Even if you manage to think of something on the spot, you won’t provide all the relevant details.
- You won’t figure out the key skill they’re looking to assess.
- You’ll be nervous and scramble to find the right words.
- Your delivery will be a mess.
Practicing will prevent all of these problems and make sure both your answer and your delivery are perfect — it takes some time, yes, but it also makes all the difference between “we’ll call you” and “you’re hired!”
You can use an Interview Simulator to practice for just about any behavioral question. The tool will assess the quality of your answer and suggest how to make it better by adding more power words, improving your pace of speech or vocabulary, reducing filler words, and much more.
You can have as many takes as you like, until you feel confident and excited about that interview.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Being too general
Get specific in all the components of your STAR answer! Sure, you already know that the Action part needs to be the longest and most detailed, but don’t skip over important info in other components.
If a piece of information is relevant to the story, contributes to the context, and illustrates your experience or skills, include it.
Missing the point
If a piece of info doesn’t contribute to your point in any way — drop it. There’s no need to use irrelevant details. Although there’s no fixed limit to the length of a STAR answer, it should be long enough to provide only key details that illustrate your point.
If you’re having doubts about whether or not to include a detail, ask yourself “So what?” If you can’t find a direct connection to the story, skip it.
Focusing on the wrong story
A story that doesn’t connect to the job you’re applying for or that doesn’t illustrate the right skill is useless, no matter how fun.
Anticipate common behavioral interview questions, research them, and think about what skill(s) they’re trying to assess.
The situation from the question will reveal what skill they’re trying to assess (usually what goes after “Tell me about a time when”). Once you discover what it is, you can think of additional, complementary skills that would be nice to have.
Below is a list of common behavioral questions and skills they’re seeking to uncover. The bolded elements are the main skill the question is targeting, the rest are complementary, desirable skills to display.
- Describe a time when you had to handle a conflict between two team members (Conflict resolution, teamwork, interpersonal relations, communication, leadership)
- Can you share an instance where you went over and above to help a team member? (Teamwork, taking initiative)
- Can you give an example of a time when your team disagreed with your decision, and how did you manage it? (Conflict resolution, leadership, persuasion, communication)
- Describe a situation where you had to make a tough decision with limited information (Decision-making, resourcefulness, analytical thinking, calculating risk)
- Discuss a situation where you implemented a creative solution to a problem (Problem-solving, analytical thinking, creativity)
- Share an experience of leading a team through a major organizational change (Leadership, problem-solving, interpersonal relationships, communication)
- How have you handled a non-performing team member? (Interpersonal relationships, handling feedback, leadership, problem-solving)
- How have you persuaded someone to see things your way at work? (Persuasion, communication, interpersonal relationships, teamwork)
- How have you handled communicating with a diverse group of individuals? (Communication, teamwork, creativity)
- Talk about a project or task you started on your initiative (Taking initiative, task ownership, problem-solving, analytical thinking)
Not preparing ahead of time
As we already said, preparation is key. Not preparing your stories and STAR answers in advance will seriously mess up your chances of landing that job for all the reasons discussed in the headings above: your answer will be messy, you’ll miss the point and tell the wrong story, you’ll sound unconvincing, you won’t be able to provide relevant detail, and you’ll probably get confused and start stuttering.
For this reason, anticipating the most common behavioral questions and preparing a few stories in advance is key.
Plus, a single story can serve you multiple times for multiple different questions.
Not to mention, you’ll be ready for job interviews that will come in the future. All it will take is just a bit of refreshing your memory.
The STAR Interview Method: Popular Opinion vs. Expert Advice
Assignmenthuge102 posted on Reddit:
Does anybody else feel demoralized after a STAR method interview? I can’t stand STAR method interviews (situation, task, action, result). It seems so fake and it doesn’t seem to get the most out of the candidate because of how manufactured their responses are. What are your thoughts on this method? Has anyone had success with it? What are your experience?
Career expert comments:
Like any other framework, the STAR is the template to be adjusted and changed according to a candidate’s unique experience. If used lazily, it will produce inauthentic answers.
But if used properly, it’s just a way to create meaningful answers quicker and easier – not a tool for mass-producing manufactured answers. So it’s likely that the STAR answers this person heard from others and used themselves were not correctly made.
If a candidate has strong achievements, their STAR answers won’t be boring or predictable because it’s not likely that someone else managed to earn that amount of money, or reduced churn by that percent, and similar. So I’d say to focus on results and quantify them in the STAR answer.
From there, candidates are allowed to play around. I would say that reordering the STAR elements can be a fun way to stand out. For example, starting your answer with:
“I once saved $23K for my company simply by introducing a detailed QA checklist.” is a great way to hook the listener and make them want to hear more. From there, you can work your way back and explain how you did it and why it needed to be done in the first place.
In the same thread, Confident-Mushroom80 said:
The best way to get through them is to literally sit down with a Google Sheet and copy/paste STAR questions onto it and then methodically formulate the best possible answer for them. Format it nicely so it’s effective for your eyes. Refresh the answers in any way you see fit according to the new job you are interviewing for. If you’re on Zoom or whatever you can literally have it open on a second screen and scroll through to find things in real time in case your brain flies out your ass in mid-interview.
… and BootyMcSqueak answered:
I did this too. Until they asked questions I wasn’t prepared for and tried doing STAR on the fly. I felt flustered trying to word everything in that specific format. I did not get the job.
Career expert comments:
Don’t do this unless you want to get flustered and ruin your chances of landing a job. Interviewers can easily spot a canned answer, doesn’t matter if you’ll read it from a Google Sheet or learn it by heart. They might not comment on it, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get away with it.
A better approach here would be to focus on the stories and how you can adjust them to answer several different questions – not on individual questions and a canned answer for each.
So prepare several strong stories that showcase your skills and then adjust them to answer the question you get in an interview. If you prepare them for the key skills relevant to pretty much any position (teamwork, problem-solving, communication, analytical skills…), you’ll be covered.
You’ll have an answer to the question, you’ll know exactly what you need to say, but you’ll do a bit of improvisation to adjust it, which will prove it’s authentic and not scripted.
There’s also this Reddit thread (now deleted), where someone complained about how “the STAR method sounded extremely rigid and uncanny”: It is absolutely maddening that interviewers ask you to answer in the most rigid way possible. I just don’t think in the way STAR frames things. I just seems like an unnecessarily complicated process that is not even getting good information.
Career expert comment:
It’s a long, fun-to-read thread, but this comment caught my attention: I actually find it really helpful, but I’m a storyteller by nature. The key for me is not to try to give equal time to each element, instead giving each the weight it naturally earns. I spend a lot of time on S and comparatively little on R because I’m a tech writer, I’m not going to save you millions or help you buy cheaper car insurance. The Situation is where I bond with the interviewer, and the Action is where I show I know what I’m doing. Task and result are almost perfunctory. If you made the company eleventy billion bucks, stretch out the R. And, as a Career Coach myself, I agree that reflection like this often leads to more authentic answers.
Summary of the Main Points
- The STAR method stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result.
- STAR is used to answer all behavioral interview questions, but it can be useful whenever you want to tell a story, regardless of the type of question you get.
- When using this framework, you should provide enough relevant information to set the context, describe the problem and your part in it, your action (how you solved it), and the results.
- The Action part of your answer needs to be the longest and most detailed: it needs to take up around 60% of your STAR answer.
- Always include quantifiable results. If this is not possible, mention qualitative results like bonuses, promotions, positive feedback, and similar.
- It’s best to mention the lessons learned in the Results part, especially when answering questions about your less flattering side: your failures and weaknesses.
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FAQs
What is the START method? Is it different from the STAR method?
START stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result, Takeaway. Essentially, it’s the same as STAR, with another component, Takeaway, in which you talk about lessons learned from the experience. That said, you should list lessons learned in the Result section whenever possible, so essentially, START and STAR are the same.
Can I use the STAR method when answering questions other than the behavioral ones?
Yes, you can use the STAR method whenever you want to tell a story to illustrate your point — at pretty much any time during the interview, not only when asked a behavioral question. You can also use it when answering situational questions, to add a realistic picture in addition to your hypothetical reaction.
Why do I find the “tell me about a time” questions so hard?
You might find the behavioral questions hard or challenging in case you don’t prepare in advance. In such cases, it’s hard to think of relevant stories on the spot, it’s difficult to properly describe relevant skills and experience, and your delivery will be poor because you’re nervous. This is why preparing and practicing answers for these questions is crucial for informative, engaging answers and confident delivery.
How to use the STAR method if I can’t think of an example of a specific situation?
If you haven’t experienced the exact situation that a question refers to, think of a similar one, or analyze the question, figure out which skill it seeks to assess, and provide a story where you displayed a similar skill. If this doesn’t work, think of situations that share similarities or certain aspects with the question asked. If that doesn’t work either, create a hypothetical scenario that demonstrates the skills from the question. However, you’ll need to be transparent and communicate that this is a hypothetical situation. In the Situation and Task parts of your answer, briefly describe the scenario you’re using as a basis for your response. In the Action part, describe what actions you would take in a situation, explaining why you made that particular choice. In the Result part, discuss the potential outcomes or the expected results.
Can I use the STAR interviewing technique effectively if I have no experience?
Yes, because your answers don’t need to be based solely on your work experience. You can draw upon other aspects of your life, like education, volunteering experience, internships, extracurricular activities, personal projects, hobbies, or any other situations where you demonstrated relevant skills or qualities.
Which interview questions, in particular, should I answer using the STAR format?
Primarily behavioral interview questions (the ones that begin with “Tell me about a time when” or “Can you recall a situation when”). But you can use the STAR method regardless of the type of question, whenever you want to showcase your experience and skills through storytelling.
