Behavioral Interview Process (STAR)
S.T.A.R.: Describe a Situation that includes a Task that needed to be accomplished, the Action you took to accomplish the task, and the Result of your action.
S – Situation - Details about the situation or task
T – Task - What led up to the situation or task?
A - Action - Who was involved?
R – Result or outcome - What was your particular role or what was the outcome?
Key Competencies:
1) ABILITY TO LEARN – Actively identifying new areas for learning; regularly creating and taking advantage of learning opportunities; assimilating and applying, in a timely manner, new job-related information that may vary in complexity.
2) ADAPTABILITY – Maintaining effectiveness in changing environments and with different technologies, people, responsibilities, and/or markets.
How do you feel about situations when you have to turn on a dime and stop what you are doing? What bothers you most about changing positions or work assignments? What type of job responsibilities are the most frustrating for you? Describe the kind of boss you are least comfortable with? What is your ideal job?
3) ATTENTION TO DETAIL – Being dissatisfied with average performance; self-imposing standards of excellence rather than having standards imposed by others. Accomplishing tasks through concern for all areas involved, no matter how small; showing concern for all aspects of the job; accurately checking processes and tasks.
When you have several things to do at the same time, how do you handle the situation? What were your most important performance goals for the past year? Did you accomplish them? What do you do to clean up a large backlog of work? How do you set priorities and timing?
4) BUILDS RELATIONSHIPS/PARTNERSHIPS – Using appropriate interpersonal styles and communication methods to work effectively with business partners (peers, co-workers, colleagues, external vendors, etc.) to meet mutual goals and objectives.
When you see someone having difficulty with her or his work - what do you do about it? If you are asked to do something that is not part of your job - what do you do? How do you feel about that? How do you go about getting something from somebody who does not work with you? How do you effectively manage difficult people? What is an effective technique for managing people in conflict?
5) COMMUNICATION – Expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas effectively in written, individual, and group situations (including nonverbal communication); presenting ideas effectively when given time for preparation (including use of visual aids).
How do you know when you are communicating effectively with other people? What do you do when you think someone not listening to you? How important are the communication of your co-workers to your career success?
6) CUSTOMER FOCUS – Actively seeks input from internal and/or external customers to better understand customer needs, perceptions, etc.; makes efforts to ensure that customer needs are listened to by self and other team members, thus making customer focus a driving force behind program/project activities.
Tell me about a time when you went the extra mile for a customer or account. Tell me about the actions you took and what was the end result? What kinds of problems do people bring to you? What do you do when people waste your time? How do you deal with people presenting chronic problems?
7) DECISION MAKING – Committing to an action after developing alternative courses of action that are based on logical assumptions and factual information and that takes into consideration resources, constraints, and organizational values.
What were the three toughest decisions you made last year? What alternatives did you consider in each case? What were the key elements that triggered your decision? What types of decisions do you defer?
8) DIVERSITY – Creating and maintaining an environment that naturally enables all participants to contribute to their fullest potential in pursuit of organizational objectives.
9) FUNCTIONAL EXPERTISE / PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE – Demonstrates a satisfactory level of technical and professional skills in job-related areas; keeps abreast of current product developments and trends in areas of expertise; knows where to get in-depth expertise on specific technical areas.
10) INITIATIVE – Asserting one’s influence over events to achieve goals; self-starting rather than accepting passively; taking action to achieve goals beyond what is required; being proactive.
What are a few things you have done on your job which have not been done before? What are some things you have done in the organization on your own without being asked or told to do? What have been some of your best ideas and how did you sell them to others?
11) MANAGING THE JOB / PROJECTS – Establishing a course of action to accomplish completion of the job and projects; managing and planning assignments along with priority goals and requirements, and areas of opportunity; appropriate allocation of resources; developing contingency plans.
Give me an example of a time when you were not able to complete an assignment within a given time frame. What did you do? What was the outcome? What are some of the kinds of things which might cause you to change or shift your priorities?
12) MOTIVATIONAL FIT – The extent to which the key demands of the job are consistent with those demands of a job that the individual finds satisfying and motivating.
What are some things you have done in your position that you are most proud of? What are some things you have done to increase your job satisfaction to make you job more interesting?
13) PROBLEM ANALYSIS – Securing relevant information and identifying key issues and relationships from a base of information; relating and comparing data from different sources; identifying cause-effect relationships.
14) RESULTS ORIENTATION – Indicates through actions and decisions a sense of importance to get the job done; focuses on the most important things; demonstrates impatience with obstacles and lack of movement; takes actions to overcome obstacles and seek solutions.
How do you know when you are doing an excellent job? What are the kinds of things that cause you to be disappointed in your own performance? What are some characteristics of a person who you would consider to be highly successful?
15) TEAMWORK – Active participation in, and facilitation of, team effectiveness; taking actions that demonstrate consideration for the feelings and needs of others; being aware of the effect of one’s behaviors on others.
Tell me about a time you had to work on a team. What problems arose? How did you solve the problems? What was the outcome? What was your role/contribution to the team?