Good STAR answers become Great when you add a 'C'

Good STAR answers become Great when you add a ‘C’.

STAR (Situation, Task, Actions, Result), is the recognised, and many would say the optimum way to structure answers to behaviour and experience-based interview questions. Essentially, STAR is a great way to tell a story.

Questions which generally start with ‘Tell us about a time when…….?’, or ‘When have you ……...?’,  demand a STAR response and it’s over to you, the interviewee.

I believe however there is an important element missing in STAR, and that is a clear identification and recognition of the Challenges faced when confronted with the Situation and Task.  

If you think about it, in difficult situations it is prudent to consider the obstacles and Challenges before ‘diving’ into your Actions. Too much haste generally results in disappointing outcomes! By staying with STAR you are in danger of missing a good opportunity to tell the interviewer why this was a difficult situation that was going to test How you behaved.

So,  start your answer by taking the interview panel though the Situation carefully pointing out the consequences if it’s not dealt with. Next, you tell them what your Task was to resolve the situation, then why this was going to be Challenging.

After all, if your story has little complexity or Challenge, you are probably not demonstrating the depth and breadth of your skills.

Using the STCAR approach provides a more powerful and complete answer.