Articulating career successes can be difficult. Job seekers who have studied communications or related fields may not have issues accurately and concisely explaining their career accomplishments, but others are unsure of how to properly articulate this. And explaining your career successes is important for a variety of job search steps, including writing your resume and cover letter and answering behavioral job interview questions. 
Luckily, there’s an easy-to-remember method that can help. The STAR method offers some structure for responding to behavioral interview questions in your job search or describing career accomplishments in general. Here’s how it works:
Situation: Describe the situation you were in or what task you needed to accomplish. This has to be a specific event or situation, not a generalized description. Give enough detail for the interviewer to understand the entire situation. Pull experiences from a previous job, a volunteer experience, a community event, a student group or activity you participated in–anything that may be relevant in the context of the question.
Task: What goal were you working toward? What did you need to accomplish, and what specific steps were required?
Action: Describe the actions you took to address the situation with just the right amount of detail. Keep the focus on you and what you accomplished specifically. What steps did you take? How did you contribute? Use the word “I” and avoid talking about the behavior of the group or team–keep the focus on you.
Result: Describe the outcome of your actions, and take credit for what you did. What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? Even if something went wrong, what did you learn from it? Make sure to focus on the positive outcomes before all else.
Before heading to a job interview, it can be helpful to write out a list of a few specific situations you believe clearly demonstrate your expertise and know-how. Run through how you would explain that situation to someone, as well as how you did it and what you learned. Come up with a few examples from various aspects of your life, and provide details. And the next time you’re stumped during a job interview, remember the STAR method!
The STAR method is effective for job seekers in a variety of situations. Keep it in mind when writing a cover letter, attending networking events, sending professional emails, or when conducting informational interviews or job interviews. Good luck!
Have you ever used the STAR method in your job search, or do you have another approach for gathering your thoughts? Share your stories in a comment.
