Hi there everybody. My name is Richard McMunn, and in this video,
I'm gonna teach you how to answer STAR interview questions. I'm basically gonna give you a tutorial on
what STAR is, how to create your responses, and I'm also gonna give you a number of sample
interview questions, but more importantly, I'm gonna give you some cracking answers to
all of the questions. So please, stay tuned. Watch it from beginning to end. Also, just a very warm welcome from me. That's me there on the right-hand side with
no hair. My name is Richard McMunn. I've been helping people like you to prepare
for interviews for over 20 years now. I believe I'm very good at it. I'm passionate about it. I like doing this kind of thing for free. So please do watch it from beginning to end. As I say, this video is gonna give you a series
of awesome answers to STAR interview questions. So like I say, watch it from beginning to
end as it's gonna give you some fantastic responses. Now, these answers, you don't need to take
notes because I'm actually gonna put the answers to the questions in the description below
the video and I'll also give you a link to where you can download these slides. I'll tell you that in the video. So like I say, please watch it from beginning
to end. If you do like the video, I'd very, very much
appreciate it if you gave it a thumbs up. And don't forget to subscribe because I'm
creating videos like this every week on YouTube. Okay, let's get straight into it. So, first and foremost, what is STAR? What does it mean? Well basically, these kinds of questions are
called situational questions or behavioral. So what you're doing is you're answering the
questions using the STAR technique. Okay? So what do I mean by that? Well, Star stands for situation, task, action,
result. And it means that you answer these interview
questions in detail and you give them a specific answer where you've actually done it before. Now, the reason why interview panels will
ask you these questions is they want to see evidence of where you've already done this
kind of thing. So if they say to you, "Can you give us an
example of where you've worked really hard under pressure?" Now, if you've already done this, then it's
likely that you're able to do it again in a work-related situation. Okay, so you answer each of the questions
specifically, and I'll talk more about that in a second, but you're gonna explain what
the situation was, what task you had to do, what action you took, and then the important
bit, which is the result. What happened as a result of your action. Now, put the results in green because it should
always be positive. So what you don't wanna do is say, "Well,
I was doing this and the result was negative" or "I didn't achieve anything." That's not good. We wanna always make sure it's positive. So, just to quickly recap. STAR stands for situation, task, action, result. So when you're preparing your responses to
the questions, and I'm gonna give you the answers to the questions as we go through
the video, situation is you will tell the panel what the situation you were in and you
do it in this order. So you say, "The situation I was in was X,
Y, and Z. The task that I had to carry out was." And then you explain what the task was. You say, "Now, I did the following things. I took the following action or the following
steps." And then finally, "The result following what
I did was a positive one. This is what happened." Now, if you prepare your response is using
the STAR technique. You won't go wrong. Now, having been an interviewer myself, I
can guarantee that you will get higher marks if you follow this golden tip. Really important. Make sure your answer to all of the questions
is specific. What I mean by that is you tell the panel
that you actually did something. You do not say, "Well, if that situation came
up, this is what I would do." You have to give a specific response. Don't forget they're looking for evidence. So that means you would say, "Well, whilst
at work I was tasked with delivering a project." And that's the situation. "The action I took was X, Y, and Z" and so
on and so forth. So do not be generic. Now, what generic means is you would say,
"Well I've not been in that situation, but if it did arise, this is what I would do." Okay? Now, you're gonna get less marks with that. You want where possible to be specific. "This is what I have done." So obviously, you need to think carefully
about the kind of interview questions that you were gonna ask, the situational ones or
the behavioral ones. And this is what we're going to get into right
now. So question number one. So like I say, you don't have to take notes
because I'm gonna actually give you a copy and paste the answers to these. So question one. When have you handled huge pressure in a work-related
situation? Okay. Now, this is a common one that could get asked
at your interview. So here's the answer. So, in my previous job, a work colleague left
unexpectedly. He had been responsible for a project that
had to be delivered within a very tight deadline. Now, my supervisor asked the workforce for
a volunteer to take on the project, and I decided to step up and take responsibility. To be honest, I prefer to work under pressure
anyway and I saw this as an opportunity to help out the company in their hour of need. I studied the brief carefully and then created
a plan of action for getting the project delivered on budget and also on time. It was tough going, but I put in the extra
hours work needed and I am pleased to say I managed to get the project finished on time
and to specification. My supervisor was thrilled with my work ethic
and effort, and he thanked me for my commitment and dedication to delivering this important
project. Okay, so that's that first question. You see, it's relatively short, but I follow
situation, task, action result. And you can apply that to any kind of situation
so you can use it for your response. Question number two. Can you describe a stressful situation and
how you handled it? Now it's important that you give a work-related
situation, not one in your personal life. Make sure it's work related. Here's my answer for you. Whilst working in an office one day on the
fifth floor, the fire alarm activated due to a small fire being reported on the first
floor. Now, people within the office did not appear
to take much notice as the alarm usually sounded only when there was a false alarm. I decided to take responsibility and I shouted
across the office that everyone needed to leave by the quickest and safest fire escape
immediately. Some people started complaining, but I insisted
they leave immediately. I was aware that we were all on the fifth
floor and any time wasted could endanger life, especially considering we could not use the
lifts in the event of a fire alarm activation. Now eventually, people within the office started
leaving by the escape stairway as per my request. I stayed until the end to make sure everyone
had evacuated and I made my way outside. I took a roll call to make sure everyone was
safe. Now, when the fire services arrived, they
did in fact find a fire on the ground floor area, so it really was a genuine emergency. Now, after the fire was extinguished and we
could return to the office, I reminded everyone of their responsibilities in the event of
a fire. I believe I handled the situation with confidence
and resilience, and although it was stressful at times, I was determined to follow company
health and safety procedures to ensure everyone was safe. So what you're doing there is you are demonstrating
that you can handle stress, but also you're taking responsibility and more importantly,
you're following company rules and procedures. Really important. Question number three. Can you give an example of how you dealt with
conflict in the workplace? Now, this might be, can you give an example
of when you've dealt with a difficult work colleague or you've not got on with someone
at work? And the fact is we don't always get on with
everybody at work, but as an employer, I want to know that you can deal with issues, you
can put your differences aside and you can resolve them amicably. So again, it's about taking responsibility. Here's my response for you. Okay. Yes, I can. In my previous job as an office administration
worker, there was one particular work colleague who seemed to dislike me. Now, during meetings, he would ignore my contributions
and he made a number of unacceptable comments in the canteen on more than one occasion. Now, I decided to tackle the situation in
a calm manner. However, before I approached him to discuss
the situation, I needed to decide what it was I wanted to achieve from the meeting or
the discussion. I understand that we can't always get on with
everyone in a workplace environment, but the problem with this type of situation is it
can be detrimental to the organization as a whole. And on that basis, I wanted to first of all
try and see if there was anything I was doing that irritated him before trying to reach
a constructive solution to the problem. Now, once I determined my goal, I approached
him whilst he was on his own and I asked him if we could have a private discussion away
from other office workers. Now, we sat down in a room away from everyone
else and I explained my concerns to him with regards to how I felt he was treating me,
I also asked him if there was anything I was doing the irritated him. His initial reaction was extremely defensive,
but I maintained my position and I repeated my feelings with regards to how he was treating
me in a calm and non-confrontational manner. Now, after a while, he accepted he was in
the wrong and he apologized for his comments and his behavior. He reassured me that it would not happen again
and we both agreed that a positive way forward would be to create and maintain a friendly
and professional working relationship. I believe it's really important to tackle
any form of conflict in a calm and professional manner with a view to reaching a positive
outcome for everyone. So what you're doing there is you're basically
showing that you are mature and you're responsible and you're not letting a situation get even
more out of hand. You are tackling it, but you're not tackling
it in front of people. You're doing it in private away to get the
situation resolved. And you also have a clear goal of what you
wanna achieve. Okay. Next question. Number four. Can you tell me about a mistake you made at
work and how you handled it? Now we all make mistakes at work, so what
you don't wanna do is say, "I've never really made a mistake." Everybody does, but what the interviewer is
looking for here is that you take responsibility, you admit to it, but then you resolve it. Okay, so honesty and integrity are really
important. Here's a response you can use. Yes. One particular time I was working in the company
warehouse, I made a mistake and the company did not have sufficient stock available over
a busy seasonal period. As soon as I noticed I had made the mistake,
I informed my line manager as I feel honesty and integrity are essential in a situation
like this. Now, whilst my supervisor was annoyed with
the mistake I'd made, he was thankful that we had the opportunity to try and rectify
it. Now, I asked him to give me the opportunity
to sort it out, which he agreed to. I immediately contacted our supplier to see
if there was any way the additional stock I had missed could be shipped to us in time
for the seasonal period. Although it took some time and persuading,
the supplier agreed to ship the additional stock the next working day, much to my relief. I then set about putting things in place to
make sure I did not make the same mistake again. So what you're doing, you've identified it,
you're being honest, you're acknowledging it, you're letting your boss know, then you're
resolving it. So once you've resolved, you are then putting
things in place to make sure it doesn't happen again. Again, it's demonstrating that you're taking
responsibility, but also you are honest. It's really important that an employer employs
people who are honest, trust me, it's really important. Very, very important. Okay. Question number five. Can you tell me about a time you had to deal
with an irate customer or an irate client? Here's a response. Yes, I can. Recently I was serving a customer beyond the
checkout. They had purchased some goods in our Winter
Sale the week before and they wanted to return them as they were not what they wanted. Now, unfortunately, because the goods were
purchased in the sale, they would not be eligible for a refund. I started to explain this to the customer. She immediately began to get irate and angry. I listened to her concerns but stated calmly
that it was company policy to not refund good goods purchased in the sale. Now, the customer continued to complain and
was becoming even more irate and vocal. I noticed a large queue forming behind her,
and so I asked my colleague to take over from me whilst I took the situation away from the
till area. After I had listened to the customer I explained
to her in a calm but firm manner that the receipt she had made it clear that sales items
were non-refundable. I explained to her that I could understand
the frustration, but that there was nothing I could do in this situation to help her and
I apologized for the inconvenience. I explained to her that if I could have helped
her I would. She then began to calm down and accepted my
explanation. Now, whilst she was not completely satisfied,
she did leave the shop with an understanding of the situation and why I was unable to assist
on this occasion. I believe that by remaining calm, listening
to the customer's complaint, and also by taking the conflict away from the other customers'
eyes and ears, I was able to resolve the situation as amicably as possible. Okay. I'm gonna give you some more of these in a
second. Okay. A list of different ones to prepare for, but
if you really wanna accelerate your learning and find out more about how to answer all
of these questions, I've created an online training course. It's free of charge. If you click the link below the video or you
go to the website, www.PassMyInterview.com there's 50 training modules, they're free
of charge, and you can download all of the answers to all the different questions. I've created an abundance of training videos
that you can tap into. So click the link below the video. Okay. Let's look at a few more STAR questions that
you should, in my opinion, prepare for. When have you been flexible in a work-related
situation? Have you ever had a disagreement with a supervisor? This is a tough one. If so, what happened? And again, in that online course area, I give
you the perfect answer to that question. When have you completed a difficult task or
project? When have you learned a new skill or qualification? How would you feel about relocating? Can you describe a time when you achieved
excellence at work and what's the best customer service you have ever witnessed? So like I say, a lot of STAR interview questions
there. If you want the answers, click the link below
the video. At the very least, have a look in the description
below because I've copied and pasted all of these answers and also given you a link to
slide-share where you can download the slides and you can copy them. And please also connect with me. If you look below the video, in the description
is my LinkedIn profile, you can connect with me on there. Don't forget you know, get access to this
course, it's free of charge, but please do subscribe to the channel. I hope you've enjoyed it and please do say
hi in the comments section below and I promise to respond to every comment and it'll really
make my day if you did that. And like I say, give the video a thumbs up,
I'd appreciate it. Guys, I hope you've enjoyed that video, and
I wish you all the very best in your pursuit to passing your interview. Thanks, guys.
