1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,480 Once you get past the phone stage, depending on the situation, 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:07,240 you can either have a second phone interview or go straight through 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:09,280 to the in-person interview. 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:12,160 Some of the initial preparation for both interview types are similar, 5 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,510 so we'll prepare for both using the same method. 6 00:00:14,510 --> 00:00:17,850 Being prepared for the interview makes a world of difference. 7 00:00:17,850 --> 00:00:20,200 Now that might seem like a silly comment. 8 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:22,370 Of course, you're going to prepare for a job interview. 9 00:00:22,370 --> 00:00:26,760 But the problem is that most people don't know how to prepare for interviews. 10 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,110 An interview is a sales pitch of yourself. 11 00:00:29,110 --> 00:00:33,670 You may know all your stuff, but you also need to show that you know it. 12 00:00:33,670 --> 00:00:38,310 Answering questions in a succinct but detailed manner shows the interviewer 13 00:00:38,310 --> 00:00:42,310 that you not only know your stuff, but you know how to explain it in detail. 14 00:00:42,310 --> 00:00:45,250 I'm sure there have been times when you walked out of an interview 15 00:00:45,250 --> 00:00:50,690 thinking, I had a situation relevant to that question, if I had only remembered it then. 16 00:00:50,690 --> 00:00:53,840 Those mischances may cost you the job. 17 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,250 In this video, we're going to go over an interview methodology that is 18 00:00:57,250 --> 00:01:01,540 very common today, how to best prepare for it, and make sure that when 19 00:01:01,540 --> 00:01:04,269 you pitch yourself as the best candidate for the job, 20 00:01:04,269 --> 00:01:06,330 you are covering all your bases. 21 00:01:06,330 --> 00:01:09,580 One of the most common interview methods used by companies 22 00:01:09,580 --> 00:01:11,690 worldwide is the STAR method. 23 00:01:11,690 --> 00:01:14,530 Now you won't see this referenced anywhere in the interview description, 24 00:01:14,530 --> 00:01:17,670 but preparing for an interview using the star methodology will 25 00:01:17,670 --> 00:01:19,790 ensure that you are thorough. 26 00:01:19,790 --> 00:01:26,110 STAR stands for situation, task, action, and result, and is an interview methodology 27 00:01:26,110 --> 00:01:30,510 that supposedly offers more insight into a candidate's on-the-job ability 28 00:01:30,510 --> 00:01:32,760 than any other interview techniques. 29 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,520 In the star method, you respond to behavioral interview questions 30 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:41,240 by discussing a specific situation that revolves around a certain task 31 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,220 and the actions you took with that task to arrive at a set of results. 32 00:01:45,220 --> 00:01:49,130 Being aware of what type of answer the interviewer is looking for, 33 00:01:49,130 --> 00:01:53,290 you can craft your responses early on to match up to what the interviewer wants. 34 00:01:53,290 --> 00:01:59,160 Basically, the interviewer asks you a question, and you follow the STAR method 35 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:04,180 to give a brief but detailed answer that satisfies the requirements of the question. 36 00:02:04,180 --> 00:02:07,100 Let's go over how a STAR method is structured 37 00:02:07,100 --> 00:02:09,320 and how you can answer questions with it. 38 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,480 Here's what each acronym in STAR means. 39 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,610 First up, we have S for Situation. 40 00:02:15,610 --> 00:02:19,220 When crafting a response, you start by describing the situation 41 00:02:19,220 --> 00:02:24,200 that you were in that relates to the question or the task that you needed to accomplish. 42 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:29,260 When responding to the question, offer a specific situation or event 43 00:02:29,260 --> 00:02:32,600 and not a generalized description of your work in the past. 44 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,610 The situation should be detailed enough that the interviewer 45 00:02:36,610 --> 00:02:39,860 understands that you have the experience dealing with the issue 46 00:02:39,860 --> 00:02:43,740 that the question raises but not so long that you're just rambling on. 47 00:02:43,740 --> 00:02:47,750 The situation can be from any area of life that offers that experience. 48 00:02:47,750 --> 00:02:52,410 It could be a previous job. or a volunteer experience, or any other part of your life. 49 00:02:52,410 --> 00:02:55,000 Next, you have the Task. 50 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,810 In your situation described, what was the exact goal you were working towards? 51 00:02:59,810 --> 00:03:02,310 A is for Action. 52 00:03:02,310 --> 00:03:05,920 Describe the actions you took to resolve the task at hand. 53 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:10,420 Keep the focus on yourself, and provide sufficient detail. 54 00:03:10,420 --> 00:03:15,110 What specific steps did you take, or how did you contribute to solving the problem? 55 00:03:15,110 --> 00:03:17,440 Remember, this is about you. 56 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,710 So don't use phrases like "we did this" or "as part of a group." 57 00:03:21,710 --> 00:03:24,130 An interview is a sales pitch on you. 58 00:03:24,130 --> 00:03:26,280 So don't let others creep in. 59 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,470 For once, it's okay to talk about yourself. 60 00:03:28,470 --> 00:03:31,210 Finally, we have Result. 61 00:03:31,210 --> 00:03:35,880 Describe the results of your actions using specific and measurable statements 62 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,180 that highlight the outcome of the situation. 63 00:03:38,180 --> 00:03:42,450 Make sure you cover what happened as a result of your actions, 64 00:03:42,450 --> 00:03:45,830 what you accomplished, and what you learned from that situation 65 00:03:45,830 --> 00:03:48,490 that you can now apply to similar situations. 66 00:03:48,490 --> 00:03:52,030 When answering questions, make sure you hit all points of the STAR method, 67 00:03:52,030 --> 00:03:54,900 and be as specific as you can be. 68 00:03:54,900 --> 00:03:58,840 Sometimes candidates get stuck on describing the action they took 69 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,090 and forget to fully elaborate on results. 70 00:04:01,090 --> 00:04:05,520 When coming up with actions to STAR questions, try to stick to examples 71 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,780 that paint you in a positive light. 72 00:04:07,780 --> 00:04:10,130 But also remember that you can show strengths 73 00:04:10,130 --> 00:04:13,290 by highlighting how you overcame a negative situation. 74 00:04:13,290 --> 00:04:17,709 Let's look at a sample question and the STAR response to go with it 75 00:04:17,709 --> 00:04:20,149 to get a better idea of what I'm talking about. 76 00:04:20,149 --> 00:04:24,490 >>Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you had to prioritize your tasks. 77 00:04:24,490 --> 00:04:28,570 >>Okay, well, in a previous job, I was an iPhone developer for an insurance company. 78 00:04:28,570 --> 00:04:32,300 And we actually had to go in and redesign an app. >>Tell me about that. 79 00:04:32,300 --> 00:04:36,900 >>Well, we've actually low-balled some of the timeline estimates and ended up missing quite a few of the initial deadlines. 80 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:39,270 There were many features that I wanted implemented, 81 00:04:39,270 --> 00:04:42,080 but certain core set of features that was absolutely needed. 82 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,660 The goal was to prioritize the tasks and complete the needed ones 83 00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:48,820 within the designated timeline date, and if we had time to work on 84 00:04:48,820 --> 00:04:51,760 the rest, we would, but it wasn't crucial to the project's success. 85 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:57,280 I took all the tasks at hand and assigned a priority value between 1 and 3, 86 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:01,380 1 being the highest, and I brought more people on the team and assigned the tasks to everyone. 87 00:05:01,380 --> 00:05:03,740 With the majority of the development and design effort, 88 00:05:03,740 --> 00:05:06,800 including myself, tasked to the priority 1 items. 89 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:11,370 We completed the priority 1 items well within our time limits, and we actually had enough time 90 00:05:11,370 --> 00:05:14,560 to go back and complete the task 2 and task 3 items. 91 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,060 The app was rewritten to be much more efficient than the previous one. 92 00:05:19,060 --> 00:05:23,850 And I learned, actually, a lot more about being an efficient manager 93 00:05:23,850 --> 00:05:29,330 to a development team and estimate deadlines and prioritize tasks efficiently 94 00:05:29,330 --> 00:05:31,340 and complete a project. 95 00:05:31,340 --> 00:05:34,650 >>Now you may be thinking, how in the world am I going to recall 96 00:05:34,650 --> 00:05:37,920 all that information when I'm on the spot like that at an interview? 97 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,340 The key is preparation. 98 00:05:40,340 --> 00:05:42,340 Let's go over how we can do that. 99 00:05:42,340 --> 00:05:45,960 Sit down and think about your career and experiences. 100 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:49,400 Try and recall as many recent situations as you can 101 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,460 that show favorable behaviors or actions. 102 00:05:52,460 --> 00:05:56,100 Now these could be anything that show work experience, leadership, 103 00:05:56,100 --> 00:05:58,120 teamwork, or planning. 104 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:02,550 Write down a short description of the story, including bulleted details 105 00:06:02,550 --> 00:06:05,010 on the facts you want to highlight. 106 00:06:05,010 --> 00:06:08,870 Structure the story based on the STAR method, with a situation, 107 00:06:08,870 --> 00:06:11,830 task, actionable items, and results. 108 00:06:11,830 --> 00:06:15,250 Try and use different examples from all areas of your life. 109 00:06:15,250 --> 00:06:19,370 Look over different questions, and get an idea of how to match up 110 00:06:19,370 --> 00:06:21,660 questions to examples in situations. 111 00:06:21,660 --> 00:06:24,260 This way, when you're asked a question in an interview, 112 00:06:24,260 --> 00:06:27,140 you'll have lots of examples off the top of your head. 113 00:06:27,140 --> 00:06:31,000 To give you an idea of the different types of STAR interview questions 114 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,740 that could come up, I've included a list of questions as an attachment in the Downloads section. 115 00:06:35,740 --> 00:06:37,900 Definitely check it out. 116 00:06:37,900 --> 00:06:42,600 STAR interviews are a popular method, but in technology, a key part of the interview 117 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,110 is testing your technical knowledge. 118 00:06:45,110 --> 00:06:49,820 STAR-type questions might be more common in initial screening or phone interviews, 119 00:06:49,820 --> 00:06:54,900 whereas in the actual in-person interview, you're going to have to prove your technical prowess. 120 00:06:54,900 --> 00:06:59,900 Let's go over how you can best prepare for that.