Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles in this video I'm going to cover the top 22 star method interview questions and answers I want to keep this amazing wave of success going I'm really excited by the consistent results that you guys are getting and it's just prompting me to create more of these videos to get you guys into the jobs that you want so I'll include what the star method is how to use it and tons of example answers I'm Amri Celeste an interview coach and HR recruitment specialist with over 11 years hiring experience I cover tough interview questions and answers on this channel if you haven't already do like subscribe and tap the notification Bell so that you never miss a video so first what is the star method you'll need to know this to answer a star method question star stands for situation task action result and it can be referred to as the star method the star interview method or the star technique I have covered this before in this video but today's video is a deep dive that will cover all the star method interview questions and and answers so the star method is a way or technique to answer interview questions with a comprehensive answer that covers all of the points that the interviewer will be looking for if they ask a star method question so what is a star method question so star method questions are questions that are asked to prompt or give the interviewer a very specific type of answer an answer that includes a past situation a task created out of that situation the actions you took to resolve it and the ultimate result or outcome and as I said earlier that's what star stands for situation task action result so the way to make sure that your answer is super memorable is also to include a learning turning it into the style method with the L on the end so I'll also include that in some of my answers to show you how to make your answers really memorable and a lot of interviewers HR Specialists hiring managers and recruitment Specialists use this to assess whether you the candidate have fully answered the interview question so star method question question will usually start with give me or give us an example of a Time describe a time when how have you usually about how you've handled something that's happened describe a situation where which would relate to something that happened usually at work so usually they they want to work related example and also how did you again about how you've handled something in the past so what's the pattern here well all of these questions are asking about a past occurrence where something happened they are asking about a specific situation and that's when it becomes a star method question because it's asking about a situation so these questions also go by the name situational interview questions they're really common and I have a dedicated video to the top 10 situational interview questions and answers and that's in this video here I'll link that in the description below if you want more examples and situational interview questions and answers so the biggest mistake that you need to avoid when answering these kind of method questions is answering in a way that explains what you would have done or like a hypothetical situation or how you generally deal with those types of situations instead of a specific example in the past of how you have dealt with that situation so here are the top 22 star method interview questions and answers and I'll show you how to use the key elements of each answer in your interview the first star method question is tell me about the time you made a mistake I cover an alternative answer to this question in my top 22 most common interview questions and answers video I'll link that also in the description box below so that you have multiple answers to draw from so an example answer to tell me about a time you made a mistake is last year I made a mistake at work that could have cost the company money I needed to order stock from one of our stores and I ordered too much of one item and not enough of another as a result we ended up with a surplus of one product and a shortage of another and I needed to find a way to fix the mistake to resolve the issue I talked to my boss and I came up with a plan to return the excess inventory to the supplier and to offer discounts on the shortage items to encourage customers to buy them as a result of my actions we were able to avoid losing any money and we even made a small profit my boss was really pleased with how I handled the situation I learned an important lesson about paying attention to detail and a future I set up a recurring reminder to give me advance notice when products were running low and I also made sure to double check orders before placing them in future so why is this a good answer and how can I use it well first and foremost this answer fits the star method here you can see the situation was ordering too much of one item the task was to find a way to fix the mistake the action was coming up with a two-part plan to return the inventory and encourage customers to buy the shortage items and the result was that your boss was pleased and a small profit was made so this question is actually a situational question and it's also a behavioral interview question as well as being a question that fits the star method so it's situational because they asked you in the question to tell them about a time a specific time or situation when something happened as opposed to kind of asking the question how do you handle failure in general but it's also a behavioral question because not everyone handles mistakes in the same way so they want to see how you handle mistakes and also what you consider to be a mistake so whereas some people see mistakes as a normal part of the Working Day for others it would be quite distressing some people really hate making mistakes so they're also interested in your behavioral response to the situation and how you handle it so behavioral interview questions and answers are a big sticking point for most of the candidates or all clients that ask me for help so I've covered behavioral interview questions and answers in this video and I'll also link that one down in the description below for you so I highly recommend that you check that one out before any upcoming interviews so that you're fully covered and you don't get caught out so back to the answer one of the strongest parts of this answer is here where it says I talked to my boss and came up with a plan where you knew you made a mistake but you jumped into action and used that initiative to come up with a really smart plan that ended up in the company actually making a profit so you're also demonstrating that you have the ability to use your initiative as well so in your own answer if you're ever answering this question and you can include a positive outcome for the company the team your department or your manager that would really strengthen your answer and the brilliant thing in this answer here is IT addresses a learning so I've mentioned this before when I was explaining the star method this kind of turns the star method into the style method with the learning on the end there but essentially after you've explained the result of the situation you're then explaining what you learned and what you would do differently next time so in your own answer if you can include a learning that will take your answer up a couple of levels I don't recommend it for every answer though because it would make your answer a little bit longer but where appropriate I highly recommend that you include what you learned so question two is describe a time where you helped a friend an example answer is a few months ago one of my good friends was struggling with a presentation for work he had been working on it for weeks and he was starting to get really stressed out as he'd hit a wall and couldn't come up with any ideas I wanted to help as I could tell this was causing a significant amount of stress but he's quite proud and didn't openly ask for help I offered to spend an evening together brainstorming ideas he was really grateful and accepted I bought some presentation templates some suggestions along with me along with some snacks and drinks in order to relieve some of the stress of the situation by the end of the evening he felt a lot better and more confident about the project he finished it within a week which was ahead of schedule it was a really rewarding experience and I was glad that I could help him so a lot of people struggle with star method interview questions and answers so if this is helping you do click like it helps the video to show up for more people on YouTube and there are other ways that you can support the channel in the description box below this video so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so this question describe a time where you helped a friend is most likely to be asked in a role that involves working with others or teamwork such as retail customer service or any team-based roles whether office based or otherwise so the strongest parts of this answer are here firstly where you talk about recognizing that your friend didn't openly want to ask for help so you offered and here where you mentioned you came prepared with suggestions templates and snacks it shows that your primary goal is to alleviate your friend's stress in your own answer anything that you can include that shows that you read between the lines and took specific actions to help a friend will boost your answer it could be something as simple as a friend withdrawing socially and you're just checking in on them by text a little more regularly to show that you are paying attention when something isn't quite right so question three is tell me about a time when you failed now this is hard it's a tough interview question because you're supposed to be promoting and selling your best points in an interview not sharing your failures but this interview question is designed to see how you handle answering this so some people might say that they haven't had that experience some people say they can't remember and when some candidates are answering they they share a failure but they don't talk about how they rectified it so essentially they're just saying this is how I failed so showing how you address or rectified a failure is critical is the most important part of the answer so here's the star method example answer I was given a marketing project to manage at work and unfortunately I failed to properly delegate tasks resulting in a deadline being missed as the project was ongoing and more deadlines were coming up I needed to make sure that I had a more organized and planful approach to the rest of the project to rectify the situation I first spoke with my team members individually to get a better sense of their workloads and allocate tasks accordingly I also set up weekly check-ins so that I could monitor progress and offer assistance as needed as a result we were able to get back on track and meet all of our deadlines my team members also felt more supported and we were able to build a stronger sense of trust and collaboration going forward so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so this answer fits the star method here the situation was mismanaging the project and and failing to meet the deadline the task was to make sure the deadlines were met and the actions were checking the team's workload and weekly check-ins and the result was that you met the deadlines and strengthened your working relationships with the team so in your own answer think about how you can include some of these elements so one of the best parts of this answer here is that it's very clear what your actions were to rectify the failure that's the really key part of addressing any question about failure or mistakes there were two quick key actions and one was checking the workload and two was the specific allocation of tasks and the weekly monitoring of the progress of the project and you might have also noticed that there were two results so one was meeting the deadlines and the other was team members feeling supported and building their sense of trust and collaboration so in your own answer try to make it crystal clear as you can exactly what you did to address the failure so if you took multiple actions and if there were multiple positive outcomes then include that as well that will really boost your answer question four is tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem with an example so bear in mind when answering this that the interviewer isn't just asking for an example of a problem they are asking for an example of a difficult problem so it can't be something like my colleague was struggling to serve customers in a store so I served some customers as well to help it's got to be a little more complex and demonstrate your ability to think outside the box so an example answer is at my previous job I was responsible for coming up with new ideas to increase declining sales figures we tried a number of initiatives and customers continued to lose interest in one instance we struggled to sell a new product that had been introduced after doing some research I found that a lot of potential customers were put off by the price so rather than giving up I came up with a novel solution which was a subscription based pricing model customers would sign up to receive the product on a monthly basis they would receive a discount for the commitment and it would give them an easy way to budget for our product but the regular monthly Revenue would also mean that we could forecast and plan more accurately as a business this approach was successful and we were able to increase sales of the product significantly as a result I was recognized by leadership for my creativity and awarded a bonus so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so by now you're familiar with the star method the answers on the left here show which areas of the star method are the situation task action results so this answer shows why this was a difficult problem here where IT addresses that the company had tried initiatives and nothing had been working so it wouldn't have been an easy task in your own answer bear in mind to take a moment to think if you're asked this question before starting your answer and ensure that it's not a simple basic problem now there's two really strong parts to this answer that you want to take note of so the first one is here where it explains the solution itself the subscription-based pricing model the second is here where it breaks down the individual benefits for the customer they get the products monthly they get a discount for the commitment and it helps them to budget in your answer try to make your actions and the specific results as clear as possible so question five is tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the example answer is in my current job as an office administrator I'm constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and lighten the workload for my team one day I noticed that our supply room was in disarray and we were running out of some key supplies although it isn't part of my job I decided to infantry the supplies restock the shelves and create a system for tracking stock although it took hours I enjoyed the work as I knew it would make things smoother and easier going forward as a result we were able to avoid some costly delays and increase our overall productivity my team was very appreciative of my efforts and I was recognized by my boss for going above and beyond so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so we can see here how this fits the star method there's a theme in this answer of continuous Improvement here where it states always looking for ways to improve efficiency and lighten the workload in your answer when talking about going above and beyond the element of continuous Improvement is key and you can include this in your answer so for example I'm regularly suggesting how we can improve customer service that could be the kind of thing that you could include it shows that going above and beyond is part of your natural character and it's also a great way to start off an answer about going above and beyond the remit of your day job so other strong areas to include in your answer are here here it shows the actions you took are not part of your day job so it shows how you went above and beyond and there were four great results so avoided costly delays increase productivity appreciation of your team and recognition from your boss and one really brilliant part here where it says you enjoyed the work this is key in your own answer as someone who's interviewed thousands I can tell you that managers are always more attracted to candidates who demonstrate that they naturally enjoy similar work to the work in the role that they are being interviewed for so try to demonstrate this in your own answer by sharing an example that includes elements that you enjoyed question six is tell me about a time you showed leadership so the example answer is I was recently put in charge of heading up a new project at work I was quite nervous as it was something I had never done before but I had a lot riding on its success and I quickly realized that this was an opportunity to step up and demonstrate my leadership skills I gathered my team and laid out a plan of action I delegated tasks assigned deadlines and held weekly check-ins to ensure that everyone was on track as a result of clear leadership of the project and team over six months we were able to develop a more efficient system for logging tracking and responding to customer inquiries and and reduce the average response time to customers by 20 my team were thrilled with the results and I made sure to give them special mentions in our next department meeting I regularly cover tough interview questions and answers so if you're job hunting do subscribe guys and tap the notification Bell so that you never miss a video and also let me know any example answers that you want to see in the comments so why is this a good answer and how can I use it now I specifically chose this example because you don't need to be in a people management or leadership job like a head of department or a company director to demonstrate leadership skills you can actually share examples of situations where you led a new initiative arranged a company event or anything where you had to organize and Lead others just like in this example answer so one key part of this answer is here where it covers multiple results a more efficient system reducing customer inquiries and response times so in your own answer if you can include multiple results it will make a much more powerful and effective answer and sometimes it's just as simple as breaking down what the actual results were so that you can label each one clearly for your interviewer just like in that example answer so question seven is describe a time where you help someone the star method answer is I was working on a front desk at a hotel last year when a guest came up and asked for directions to the nearest grocery store I could tell from the map he was holding that he was staying in our hotel so I offered to walk him there he accepted and I spent the next 10 minutes walking with him and showing him where everything was when we got back to the hotel he thanked me and said that he really appreciated it and it made his stay so much better it felt personally rewarding to know that I was able to help out fully as opposed to just pointing him in the right direction and hoping he arrives at the right place and it also made me realize how important it is to be friendly and helpful to our guests so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so I love this example because it's a short and sweet simple answer No Frills but an excellent example of being naturally helpful so it's particularly effective here where it adds on not only did you walk the person there but you also took the time to show him where everything was just another clear action that you took to be helpful so in your interview you can use Simple examples that involve being helpful and then just give a couple of details to boost your answer so for example helping someone carry groceries offering to help with a project or noticing that someone seems unsettled distant or quiet and just listening to them sometimes having someone just listen to you when you're feeling down can be incredibly helpful so question eight is tell me about a time you made a difficult decision the star method answer is after two years as a customer service rep I decided to apply for a senior position which included team coaching responsibilities in order to be considered for the role people management skills were essential to to ensure that the team were supported and developed in the right way after being selected for an initial shortlist I decided to withdraw from the process to develop my coaching skills as I identified that I still had development areas as a result my colleague who was better suited to manage at that time was offered the position the head of our department was so impressed with my decision that I was selected for an even better position as team leader a year later and I had used the year leading up to that offer to attend leadership training and develop those coaching skills I learned that sometimes patience in self-reflection is more useful than my immediate desires and results in this case my ability to wait and self-reflect earned me the attention of leadership a promotion and time to develop the skills I needed so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so I use this example because interview questions normally relate to what's involved in the role and a question like tell me about a time you made a difficult decision maybe linked to a role where you have in some capacity leadership responsibilities even though it may not be a leadership role so this answer demonstrates that you have leadership qualities and extreme maturity it takes a lot of maturity to step away from something that you want in order to be better prepared in future so the answer also shows here that you have emotional intelligence when you talk about self-reflection when you say I identified that I still had development areas this is a demonstration of self-awareness which is part of emotional intelligence then here where you share your learning you actually mention self-reflection so adding a learning always boosts and levels up a star method answer because adding a learning means that you're telling the interviewer what you learned and in some cases what you would do differently next time in your answer it's important to share as many traits associated with maturity as possible a mature approach demonstrates that you are able to handle the responsibilities that come with making difficult decisions so question nine is give an example of an occasion where you use logic to solve a problem so I answer the question give me an example of a time when you solved a problem in the free guide that I mentioned earlier covering the top 20 interview questions and answers so you can grab that in the description box below so that you have multiple answers to draw from or if you generally just struggle with a difficult interview questions and answers as it covers some of the key questions like why should we give you the job how do you handle pressure at work so an example answer is as a healthcare assistant I sometimes need to cover sick days last year one of my co-workers had been out sick for a few days and I was asked to cover their shift one of my tasks was dealing with infantry of supplies at the end of the week Unfortunately they had not left any instructions on how to do this so At first I felt overwhelmed but then I took a step back and looked at the situation logically rather than make a complete guess I reverse engineered the process to think about what a completed inventory normally looks like and then I decided to work backwards from there to work out where they normally store the information and I took the steps that I thought best to get the same results by logging items on a spreadsheet once I've done this I had a clear plan of action I was able to complete the inventory and when my colleague returned to work they were able to pick up where I left off and they commented how helpful it was to have those tasks completed so why is this a good answer and how can I use it all right so when you're answering questions about using logic remember to explain clearly where the logic part of your actions are not just explaining how you solve the problem make the logical steps really clear so in the answer here it says I looked at the situation logically I didn't make a complete guess I reverse engineered the process so that I could make a decision and then it goes on here to explain that the benefit was that your colleague didn't need to correct anything so they could just pick up where they left off the next star method question is give me an example of a time when you most motivated others so the answer is a few months ago our team was struggling to meet our sales goals morale was low and people were starting to get discouraged as a sales team leader I needed to do something about this to motivate my team I sat down with each person on the team and identified their strengths then I created a plan that would play to those strengths for example I had one team member who was particularly good at building relationships with customers so I asked her to focus on developing New Leads while another team member who excelled at closing deals took on more of the responsibility for negotiating contract renewals with existing clients by playing to individual strengths we were able to increase ourselves significantly and meet our targets the whole team was extremely grateful and I was proud to have been able to help the team succeed so why is this a good answer and how can I use it this answer is a specific example of a time in the past where a team was motivated so the strength in this answer is Clarity so here it explains I sat down with each person and identify their strengths and then it goes directly into an example of that sharing something like this in your own job interview is something that would increase the authenticity of your answer so if you're saying something like I'm motivated others by arranging a team social you wouldn't want to stop there you just explain a couple of specifics on how you did that and some positive outcomes as well so here it explains that one team member was particularly strong in a specific skill set building relationships so you recognize that and asks that team member to focus on that and that's a brilliant way to motivate others so think about that in your own answer so if you're particularly good at something using that skill will normally make you stand out it will help you to shine at work and when someone recognizes your strength it normally has a positive outcome so you could think about a similar situation where you recognized someone's strengths and then you know you encourage them to utilize those skills question 11 is tell me about time you use data to make a decision Vision so the answer is about a year ago I was considering applying to graduate school I knew that it would be a significant investment of time and money so I wanted to be sure that it was the right decision for me to help me make up my mind I collected information on a variety of factors including the cost of tuition the average salary and the employment rate for recent graduates after careful consideration of the data I decided not to apply to graduate school at this time in retrospect I'm glad that I took the time to gather and analyze data before making such a major decision so why is this a good answer and how can I use it now I usually use work related examples because they're most helpful and relevant in a job interview but this example can be used for those of you who haven't had work experience but you've had to make study based decisions plus it's an easily transferable answer to a work situation so for example if you wanted to give a work related example you could share something like looking at data to decide whether an item should be purchased for the office or you know where something might be an initial investment but would save costs for the company in the long term so another example could be using data to decide on a marketing campaign maybe for your job or for a client you could take into account sales figures customer feedback and demographic information so one thing to make your answer to this question really powerful is to include the gravity of your decision or the impact on the office so in the example answer here it actually ends with verbalizing that it's a major decision and the factors taken into account like employment rates and average salaries which are life-changing factors question 12 is describe a time where you solved a problem the answer is when I'd started my current job my boss was constantly looking over my shoulder giving me detailed instructions on how to do every task it was frustrating and draining and I quickly began to feel like I wasn't being trusted to do my job I even considered leaving my boss was very sensitive so I wanted to approach the situation carefully so I could maintain a positive working relationship I decided to try scheduling regular catch-ups twice a week with my boss so they had a clear picture of my progress without having to check in throughout each day I also sent a weekly follow-up Report with a status update on important tasks so our conversations felt more structured I was surprised but it worked as my boss had all the information he needed he felt less anxious and didn't have the desire to check in as often he started trusting me to do my job and as a result I was able to work more independently and efficiently this experience taught me the importance of open communication at work so why is this a good answer how can I use it so so if you've ever experienced micromanagement you know how annoying and soul destroying it can be you could have the best job in the world and it could still you could still end up hating it so the reason I created this example is that it demonstrates consideration as part of your decision to solve the problem it's quite specific because communication should always underpin your approach in a people-based issue such as this one as it says at the end of the answer here now this is one example when it comes to communicating with others there's no rule book on exactly how to approach it and you never know how someone will respond but here it shows you consider the sensitivity of your manager and you thought about your working relationship before you took action so in your interview if they're asking you to describe a time where you solved a problem they want to know that you take a considered approach that you don't just jump in and rush into sensitive situations and you understand the importance of preserving a strong working relay ship whether your example includes your manager or your colleagues so when you're answering a question like this make sure that your considerations and the reasons for your actions are clearly laid out in your answer interview question 13 is how have you dealt with conflicts at work so an example answer is I consider myself to be quite organized and my co-worker is quite relaxed from time to time we were both tasked with conducting job interviews with candidates applying to work at the company I like to prepare documentation beforehand and allocate questions to each interviewer so the interview is structured and we also have tons of notes should we need them for compliance reasons I also wanted the candidate to have a smooth experience my colleague wanted to Freestyle as he felt a rigid experience wasn't positive for the candidate he was so against a structured interview that he refused to attend a preparation meeting before the interview as he felt it wasn't needed I decided to try to negotiate I asked him if he he would consider attending the prep meeting if I cut it down to 10 minutes instead of a half an hour as originally planned I also agreed to cut down the preparation documents so instead of taking six documents each into the interview we would only take three each the interview questions the job description and the candidate's resume although my co-worker was still reluctant he could see that I was trying to reach out and find a Midway point so that we could work together and he agreed we actually both enjoyed the interview and I realized that I quite liked a structure that was slightly more relaxed so why is this a good answer and how can you use it so this answer is a fantastic example of demonstrating multiple skills in one while explaining how you handle conflict so if we take a look at this answer we can clearly see what the situation is one person is organized and the other person is relaxed and it causes a clash so the quick solution here is communication based where it says I decided to negotiate but one of the things I really like in this answer is explains your reasons for your Viewpoint so here it says I wanted the candidate to have a good experience I wanted to make sure we were compliant so it's not just a simple Clash of personalities in your answer I highly recommend that you include some of your justifications you don't need to elaborate or spend more than 10 to 15 seconds on it but it adds context then here it explains that the approach was to negotiate in two areas one was to cut down the time of the meeting and the other was to cut down the preparation documents but the best part of the end of the answer is here where you said I quite liked a structure that was slightly more relaxed which is brilliant to use in your own answer so if you can include multiple suggestions steps or strategies that you used to deal with the conflict that's a bonus but even better is what you learn so although this answer doesn't strictly include a learning which I explained in earlier star method Answers by saying that you enjoyed the outcome you found that you liked a different way of work working shows that you're open-minded and you found a way to work with others even when their style was totally different to yours so people who can work well with others are very attractive to potential employers question 14 is tell me about a situation when your work was criticized the example interview answer is a couple of years ago I led a new marketing campaign with the support of a small team and I thought it had turned out really well however my boss wasn't happy with the results she said that the campaign didn't reflect the company values and that it wouldn't appeal to our target audience initially it was quite hard to hear I led the campaign so I ended up feeling as though I hadn't communicated the company's vision for the project properly I decided to dig further and ask her if we could talk so I could find out more about the area she mentioned it turns out that she had two specific issues the first was that she didn't think that the imagery used in the campaign was professional enough the second issue was with the copy she felt that it was too informal and it didn't get across the the message we were trying to communicate after hearing my boss's criticism I took some time to reflect on the project I realized that she was right and I prioritized those two areas for the next campaign six months later rather than being critical she was really pleased that not only did I take the feedback but I actually took action with the feedback in mind to improve on the next round so let's look at how you can use this answer so with an answer like this one you're demonstrating maturity and the ability to overcome your emotional response of disappointment or at the very least this sting of receiving feedback that is critical so that you can find out more and make the most of what you're hearing when you're answering questions about being criticized just be sure that you don't share scenarios where things escalated into a full-blown argument or disagreement especially for a work related example like in this star method answer and make sure that you include a positive outcome that included actions that you took based on the critique or feedback that you received in this answer here there were two actions taken as a result of the feedback the first was deciding to dig further and ask questions and get as much information as possible the second was utilizing what you discovered in the next campaign with a great result here where your boss was really pleased with what you did with the feedback question 15 is describe a time where you worked in a team an example answer is I once was part of a team at work that was tasked with adapting one of our existing products we were a team of five and we all had different strengths so I thought about additional ways I could contribute to someone who is quite organized I volunteered to keep the team on track setting up a weekly meeting so that we were all communicating and working to the same goals I also created a shared online document where we could all track our progress and ideas this ended up being really helpful as not only did it help us to stay on track but also it allowed us to keep track of our individual all progress and contributions it was a lot of work but it was also a lot of fun the updated watch was a huge success with our customers despite the fact that I am now looking for a new challenge which is one of the reasons that I applied for this job I'm still very proud of the work that we did together so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so what's behind any question about teamwork is how you contributed as an individual that's what the interviewer wants to know that you can work in a team and that you can identify your own skills and use them to contribute to a positive outcome so really here all the way throughout the answer it's a demonstration of how you worked with a team but it's of course in story format with the team situation the task you were set the actions you took as an individual and the overall result within the star method and it's a great finish where you bring it back around to the interview you're in where it states this is one of the reasons I applied question 16 is when have you gone above and beyond for a customer an example answer is as a customer service rep I found myself speaking to a customer last year who was upset that a gift hadn't arrived for her son three days before Christmas no matter what I did I couldn't locate her order which meant I should have redirected her to the company website to place another one or put her through to the sales team she sounded close to tears and explained that this was the fourth time she had called and had previously been told to keep waiting I could hear how upset she was so I spent the 40 minutes on the phone with her calling different departments checking our system and finally we were able to locate the order which had been lost in our system I put the item on same day delivery and I also applied a small discount to her account due to the inconvenience after checking with my manager I spent much longer on the phone with her than I did most customers but she was relieved and extremely grateful and my manager agreed I did the right thing so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so with this answer you need to strike a fine balance because in any job you'll have a certain recommended way to interact and handle customers so that you don't cause long cues wait times or backlogs however you also need to show that you can deal with the customers like human beings so that the company doesn't get a bad reputation so taking a look back at this answer here where it says I spent the next 40 minutes on the phone calling departments checking our system it clearly answers the question which is the main thing but it has context here where it says she sounded close to tears it's the fourth time she called so you're creating context there adding specifics of the situation to show that you were empathetic to her for these reasons which is key so in your interview if you're asked about going above and beyond or going outside the normal requirement of a job the interviewer wants to see that you are able to identify when it's appropriate to do so as well as what you consider to be above and beyond the answer does that here where it says I applied a discount after getting approval from my manager and my manager agreed that I did the right thing and the good thing about this answer is that it will likely a vocal response from the interviewer so maybe not verbally but it shows your ability to empathize because most people would agree that three days before Christmas you wouldn't want to abandon someone who is upset about a gift for their child question 17 is tell me about a time where you missed a deadline an example answer is as part of my job as a customer support executive I respond to customer support tickets raised by our customers answer questions and resolve queries our system was due for an upgrade so I was given a deadline of one week to respond to all outstanding support tickets so that we could take the system offline and upgrade it to the new system as the deadline Drew closer I knew that I wouldn't be able to meet it as I still had over 100 support tickets left with only a few days to go I started to really feel the pressure as I didn't want to delay an entire system up great project and I knew that working long hours wouldn't be enough to clear the backlog I decided to speak to managers in Customer Support I.T and the system project team as those three teams would be most impacted by the delay they completely understood that the workload was too high and decided to stagger the system upgrade over a period of two weeks to give me time to get through the support tickets they also asked for volunteers in their own departments to help that did the trick and with extra support it only took a week to clear the remaining tickets why is this a good answer and how can I use it so this answer is strong because it's a comprehensive story so you've got the situation here part of the job is responding to outstanding support tickets then as part of the task section it explains how you feel you appreciated the importance of the situation because it says here I didn't want to delay an entire project the strongest part of this star method answer is the action by approaching it in this way and showing you approached key people in each area that would be impacted it shows that you're thinking of the impact on the wider business and not just your own job if you can include something like this in your own answer and show how you considered others impacted by the misdeadline it will make your answer more impactful because it shows that you can think bigger than just yourself and the impact to you question 18 is how have you dealt with a difficult customer the answer is recently a lady came into the store where I work and demanded to speak to my manager she was upset because she felt that she had been overcharged for an item and was determined to get a refund when the manager explained that the original price she paid was correct the lady became even more agitated and began to berate both me and him it was a frustrating situation but I was determined to stay calm and respectful I apologized and explained that we couldn't refund her but as a meat in the middle solution I offered an exchange of the same value she refused but seemed to be slowly calming down on it took a while but in the end the lady left without getting the refund she wanted but she wasn't as aggressive as when she first came in so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so the reason I chose this answer is because it's realistic it doesn't end with you magically saving the day because realistically that doesn't always happen with every customer and you'll know that if you ever worked in customer service the question isn't about how you resolve the customer query or help to customer it's about dealing with a difficult customer and when you're dealing with a difficult customer in a work setting the very best thing you can do is maintain your professionalism and so I've demonstrated how you can do that in this answer question 19 is give me an example of a time when you took initiative a star method answer is last year our company was going through a lot of internal changes Department moves and restructuring morale was low and many employees were looking for other jobs I decided to take the initiative and suggested organizing a series of low-cost events to improve morale my manager agreed and was happy for me to take the lead in arranging things I asked for some help from colleagues and put together potlucks happy hours and community service days the response from my colleagues was overwhelmingly positive and it really helped to boost a sense of culture and togetherness in the company for several months after people were still talking about the events staff had pinned photos of the events on staff memory boards and those events ultimately helped to improve morale within the company during a tough time so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so this is a strong answer not just because it gives specific examples of taking the initiative but also because it shows that you can do this during a difficult time when the company morale was low so taking initiative is great but doing it at a time when the company is most in need is a great quality in a candidate and very useful to demonstrate in a job interview so the second reason this answer is strong is here it says here I help to boost a sense of culture the response was overwhelmingly positive and what that does is demonstrates multiple skills in one it shows that you have motivational skills and you're aware of how to implement and use them in a way that motivates multiple people so in your interview you can give a standard answer like I suggested something at work that ended up in a cost saving which is okay or you can make your answer Stand Out by sharing multiple skills in one so making sure that there was a benefit to the company and if possible including a challenge along the way like something you suggested or did during a difficult time like in that answer so question 20 is how did you deal with a difficult co-worker the answer is I once had a co-worker who created a very uncomfortable work atmosphere she would gossip about other employees spread rumors and generally make life difficult for everyone around around her wanting to avoid a disagreement I initially tried to ignore her as much as possible then I tried subtle attempts to change the subject or highlight new topics to lift the atmosphere and it had no impact So eventually I realized that the best way to deal with her was to simply be direct and honest when I told her exactly how I felt it turned out she had no idea that her actions made me or others uncomfortable so going forward she was much more mindful of her topics of conversation I also invited her to lunch in an active effort to show that there was no animosity and that I still wanted to maintain a positive working relationship with her so why is this a good answer and how can I use it the things you can lift from this answer are here so first here where it says I wanted to avoid a disagreement it talks about taking multiple approaches before approaching the situation direct which could potentially turn into a conflict as of course you never know how someone will respond in your answer demonstrating that you took a thoughtful approach and tried multiple methods before directly addressing the issue shows that you are aware of the multiple ways that your actions could have an impact on the other person and the office environment as well it's incredibly mature to approach in your approach to demonstrate so next at the end here you took that extra step to make sure that your working relationship was maintained question 21 is how do you prioritize your workload the answer is the first step in prioritizing my work is planning I consider myself to be extremely organized I take full advantage of the tools and Tech to help me stay on track for example while Outlook reminders are commonly used for meetings and events I also use the reminders tool to schedule in time to complete admin work that I used to fall behind on I also schedule in breaks so that I'm alert and refreshed when I'm working in terms of prioritizing my work specifically although I do plan ahead unexpected tasks always pop up so in these situations I also consider what is urgent versus what is important an example of this is when I was still a junior graphic designer in my career one of the most important tasks was creating layout designs for our company's quarterly newsletter this helped to increase brand awareness and engage our customers but it wasn't as important as another task where I had to design an ad campaign that was set to launch in two weeks even though the campaign would have delayed designs for the newsletter I got to work on the campaign first because it was the most urgent task in the end I did fall slightly behind on my work but as I planned ahead I had also communicated with any of the teams or individuals that would have been affected by the delay in advance so they could plan ahead or if need be I could re-delegate the work so why is this a good answer and how can I use it now this answer is slightly longer than an average interview answer that I might give and here's why so in this first section here you're answering the question directly by starting with the first step in prioritizing his planning then this whole section includes a solid example of how you use reminders in the Outlook program in a unique way so I then move into a star method example and normally I will include a star method answer or a non-star method answer so the whole answer is essentially shorter and a little easier to digest for the interviewer however this is an example of how you can answer a question directly and still turn your answer into a star method answer by adding an example onto the end in your own interview so when you include two effective and relevant short examples it's basically a slam dunk answer now there's one other thing you need to be aware of that is included in this answer and that is here where you highlight your ability to determine urgent versus important I highly recommend you include this in your answer if you're answering a star method question about prioritizing work or conflicting priorities because sometimes you have two things that seem just as important right so you need to show that you have a way or a system of determining what is the most important and or what is the top priority I also share example answers to questions about conflicting priorities in this video so you can get some more example answers specifically related to that topic question 22 is how would you deal with a customer complaint the answer is I recently had to deal with a customer complaint at work a gentleman had received the wrong product and the item he actually ordered was for a birthday party he was really annoyed that the wrong item arrived and didn't want to exchange the item or shop with the company again he demanded a refund I listened to his complaint in full and empathize with him on how frustrating it is to receive the wrong product I then explained the company's refund policy I explained that a refund would take longer to process than an exchange and with an exchange he would at least have the item he wanted even though it was a little late with this in mind he reluctantly agreed that it would be better to arrange an exchange I arranged for fast next day delivery of the correct item and the collection of the previous item and he thanked me for the help so why is this a good answer and how can I use it so the strength in this answer is showing how you dealt with the complaint preferably in a way that has a positive outcome or a benefit to the company or customer so in this example answer you've done both of those things here so first is making the customer aware of the refund process time and that it would be more beneficial for him to receive the product he originally ordered so highlighting the benefits to the customer is one thing to bear in mind for your own answer but you've also demonstrated two more key skills one is that you understand the importance of empathy when dealing with customer complaints and the role it plays in diffusing any frustration the customer may be feeling the other is the skill of persuasion so this customer initially refused a refund he didn't want to shop with the company again the customer service rep in this example changed his mind and gently persuaded him by explaining the benefits then asking him if he would reconsider but now most companies try to avoid having to return money to the customer where possible so in an example like this there's also a benefit to the company thank you so much for watching and remember to turn on your notifications and I'll see you in the next video
A2 US answer method star customer question situation 22 STAR METHOD Interview Questions and Answers 41 2 meowu posted on 2023/06/14 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary