Expert Advice: Interview Tips On The Star Method

In this video, Matt turns his focus to job seekers, introducing the STAR method – a structured manner of responding to interview questions effectively. This method involves:

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• Situation: Describing the context of the experience.
• Task: Outlining the specific tasks involved.
• Action: Detailing the actions taken to address the situation.
• Result: Highlighting the outcomes and achievements.

This approach not only helps in organizing responses but also in showcasing one's skills and accomplishments in a compelling and quantifiable manner.

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Hey everyone, my name is Matt Brownlee and I serve the internal team as well as our clients and clinicians at Advantis Medical Staffing. Purpose of coming to you today is to share a quick video that we hope will be helpful for folks who are interviewing for new roles either at a new company or even for bigger opportunities within their existing company. And these are a couple of quick interview tips that might be useful to you as you're gathering your thoughts and preparing for those conversations.

So an easy method to help you navigate interview conversations with your company is what's referred to as the STAR method, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. So let's start from the top. The situation is simply what were the conditions and the situations going on with the story that you're trying to tell. This is usually around questions that begin with, tell me about a time when, or can you describe when you did this? Simply start with the situation, pretty straightforward.

Next up is simply the task. The T stands for task. So that is, what were you explicitly asked to do? What was your role? What was your task? Next up, the A stands for action. This is when you get to really describe what actions you took. What was your role in solving the issue that was at hand? How did you make it better? And lastly, the R in STAR stands for results. This is where you got to finish the swing and really describe what were the results of all the efforts and behaviors that you put forward. Now with this, the more specific you can be and more quantifiable, the better. For instance, a result that would be average in an interview might be, I did A, B and C and the patient recovered on time. That's a good start, but even better would be, I did A, B and C, the patient recovered two days earlier than they were expected to, and as a result, their family was so thrilled with our performance that they recommended us and along the lines, we were able to retain our joint commission certification. We earned additional stars for our facilities, whatever the case may be that really helped bring it home, that your actions led to wonderfully quantifiable results for your current or your previous employer or team.

I hope that these have been helpful for you today. Remember, when you're in an interview and you get asked a question, they might throw you off guard a little bit. Take a breath and think through what was the situation, what was my task, what actions did I take and what results came as a result. Good luck. Have a great week. Bye bye.