Lessons in this course (9)
1. The STAR method
Structure every behavioural answer as:
| Step | What to say | Share of the answer |
|---|---|---|
| S — Situation | Context: where, when, what was going on | ~15% |
| T — Task | Your responsibility or goal | ~10% |
| A — Action | What you did — specific steps, decisions, why | ~60% |
| R — Result | Outcome with numbers + what you learned | ~15% |
Tips: use "I" for your actions (not only "we"); quantify results (time saved, % improvement, money, users); keep it to about 2 minutes; prepare stories that can be adapted to several questions; end with the learning.
Example (tight deadline):
S: In my last project, the client moved a regulatory reporting release forward by two weeks. T: I owned the SSIS and SQL Server part — 14 reports had to be validated. A: I listed the reports by risk, automated the reconciliation checks with T-SQL scripts instead of manual Excel comparisons, split work with two colleagues, and gave the client daily status with risks. R: We delivered 3 days early with zero defects in UAT, and the reconciliation scripts became part of the standard release checklist.