How Leaders prepare for Job Interviews

STARR Method: An Effective Framework for answering Tough Interview Questions

S.T.A.R.R. Method for Behavioral Interviewing

Behavioral interviewing is a technique employed by interviewers to evaluate your past behavior in order to predict your future behavior in a particular situation.

Answering behavioral questions is not an easy task, but proper preparation will assist you in answering them successfully.

Utilizing the S.T.A.R.R Method will help you construct an organized, specific, thoughtful, and concise answer.

S.T.A.R.R. Method…

The STARR method will enable you to answer tough job interview questions in a compelling and powerful manner.

This is a great method for closed-ended questions! (“yes” or “no” questions)

People like hearing stories. Facts are easier to remember if wrapped in a story and gets the message across!

Listeners will remember more of your answers, and the messages within them. Also, your message will be delivered in a friendly likable style.

S.T.A.R.R. Method for Interviewing:

S (Think of a work situation you were involved in that had a positive ending. A specific story or event.)

T (Describe the tasks involved in the situation)

A (Specify what actions you took in the situation to complete the tasks and

achieve your results. Focus on YOU)

R (What resulted from your actions?)

R (Reflection, what did you learn. What did you achieve?)

How to Build a S.T.A.R.R. Method Story…

A STARR story should be about 2 minutes long

Delivered with energy and enthusiasm about a real experience you have had (it should describe a relevant skill or behavior).

Example Question: Have you ever led a team before?

The above question is a terrible closed question. In an interview you want to make the most out of every closed ended question.

Situation:During my third year of college, I was elected

Vice President for Professional Programs for my student association. The duties of the position included securing speakers for our meetings, advertising the programs to the campus community, introducing speakers, and evaluating each program.

“Have you ever led a team before?”…

Task:Previous attendance at meetings had

decreased substantially due to a decrease in the overall student population. The goal was to implement programs to address the professional development of our association and increase attendance by 25% compared to the prior year's figures.

“Have you ever led a team before?”…

Action: I assembled a team to help with the program

design and speaker selection. I developed a survey to determine the members' professional interests and ideas for possible speakers and topics. My team and I had each member complete the survey. Then we randomly selected members for a focus group interview. I had learned about this research technique in my marketing class and thought it would help us identify why attendance had dropped.

“Have you ever led a team before?”…

Result:Because of the information we gathered from

the surveys and interviews, we selected speakers for the entire year, produced a brochure describing each program and the featured speaker. Under my leadership, attendance increased 150% over the previous year.

“Have you ever led a team before?”…

Situation: A relevant example would be when I

organized a campus wide canned food drive for a local food bank as President of Alpha Lambda Delta.

“Describe a time you were successful”…

Task: It was the holiday season and successful

completion of this project would mean providing meals for multiple less fortunate people in the community. As we had not done a food drive like this before in our organization, most of the officers were reluctant to work on this project

“Describe a time you were successful”…

Action:However, as I had been President of the Key

Club in high school and involved in multiple other community service organizations, I already had an understanding of what was necessary to carry out a project of this scale as well as an ability to motivate the team. Leading by example, I drew up a plan of the tasks that needed to be accomplished such as marketing the food drive and reaching out to students, to the technicalities of food storage and delivery and then delegated them to each of the officers

“Describe a time you were successful”…

Result:By delegating the tasks to everyone, no one

person was burdened with an excessive load of work and the food drive was carried out smoothly and efficiently. The overall project was seen as a great success as the additional food was a great help to the families and individuals visiting this local food bank. Without our donations, the holiday season could have been lacking. With this success, my entire team of officers continued to work together and plan new projects.

“Describe a time you were successful”…

Reflection: I believe being a leader includes motivating

others to achieve new goals, organizing a plan to carryout these goals.

“Describe a time you were successful”…

S.T.A.R.R. Method:

You need to practice your answers out loud, to ensure it's continuity and that you don't go over 2 minutes.

Answer also conveys that you have other skills and behaviors any interviewer would be interested in.

Answering tough interview questions like this will work wonders, but answering poorly worded questions will really set you apart.

Try it yourself!

STARR Video

STARR video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nN7Q7DrI6Q

Service Learning and Leadership on a Resume:

“Do employers really care about volunteering?”

Yes!

The Corporation for National and Community Service (govt agency) tracked 70,000 jobless people from 2002 -2012 Those that volunteered had a 27% higher chance of getting hired!

Center for Economic and Policy Research: Those who volunteer 20-99 hours are 7% more likely to find a job

that following year

Represents work experience and transferrable skills

Builds network

Grow resume depth and Linkedin profile

Volunteer experience requires strategic placement in a resume

Resume not just for paid work history

Need to balance space based on experiences

Don’t leave all volunteer work for a closing section headed “Other Interests” or possibly “Community Work” at the end!

Service Learning and Leadership on a Resume:

There are two options for where to place volunteer experience on a resume:

Two options for volunteer experience on a resume:

Chronological order Present volunteer experiences along with paid work in reverse

date order (most recent experience first).

Highlight that the person has been doing many things since their last paid job.

Appropriate for students seeking their first “real” job, since it places their valuable volunteer/internship experience front and center, rather than low-level jobs without any professional relevance.

Different Categories: Separate paid work experience from volunteer work experience.

This presentation highlights how the job seeker has demonstrated valuable skills in each category.

Career Services

Career Services Resume and Cover letter guide (Do’s and Do not’s and resume action words)

http://www.oakland.edu/upload/docs/Career%20Services/ResumeGuide2014.pdf

List of Employers:

http://www.oakland.edu/upload/docs/2014-2015/2015%20Winter%20Career%20Fair%20Registered%20Employers-9.pdf

Need specific career guidance? Make an appointment with Career Services: (248) 370-3250

http://www.oakland.edu/?id=14838&sid=68