5 STAR Method

5 STAR Example Answer Builder

Outline the problem or Task

(S.T.A.R.) Situation/Task

1. Clearly and concisely describe the situation, problem, or task. Resist the temptation to go into too much detail about the back story. Stick to only enough key details to provide proper context.

2. Remember to provide enough detail to clarify your role and ensure understanding of the degree of difficulty, complexity, and/or size of the challenge.

3. Briefly explain any terms or abbreviations that the interviewer may not know.

4. You should have stories based on specific tasks completed and stories that demonstrate your response to broader situations/problems. In an interview, you will use different types of stories for different behavioral questions.

What approach did you take?

(S.T.A.R.) Approach/Action

1. Describe the actions you took to complete the task, solve the problem, address the issue, improve the situation.

2. Show your thinking and approach.

3. Mention any relevant skills used, competencies demonstrated.

4. Be clear about your specific role. It's fine to talk about "we" when describing team goals or activities, but the interviewer will want to know about YOUR responsibilities and actions.

5. This will be the longest section of your story. However, you must stay focused on the key details and avoid going off on tangents.

6. Develop a concise description that focuses on the most important aspects of your approach.

What were your results?

(S.T.A.R.) Results / Outcome

1. All good stories have a happy ending. Describe yours.

2. Outline any tangible results (revenue generated, costs reduced, time saved, promotion earned) and/or feedback that you received from clients, manager, coworkers.

3. Many candidates spend a lot of time detailing their approach and forget to share the results. Don't make this mistake -- interviewers want to know what you can contribute to an organization.

4. If telling a story about a failure, mention lessons learned and how you continue to apply them.

What competencies are you demonstrating?

For each of your interview stories, identify which job-related competencies it demonstrates.

This will help you understand which stories will work best for which behavioral questions.

Examples of competencies include problem solving, creativity, leadership, and time management.

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