Be A Shining 'Star' In Your Job Interviews

What do you do when you’re running late to work?

Call in and let them know

Sneak in through the back entrance

Show up and act like you have no idea that you’re late

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More and more companies and their hiring managers are adopting one of a variety of "behaviorally based" interviewing models, which means that they will probe deeply and directly into "how" you behave, and not just "what" your jobs and responsibilities were.

For example, let's say you were a manager at a McDonalds, and were applying for a better position at Burger King. An unskilled interviewer might look at your resume, showing several years of progressively growing levels of responsibility (trainee, shift supervisor, assistant manager, manager, etc.) and say "Gee, this guy's got the experience we're looking for!"

In the interview, s/he might ask "what" you did in your past positions at McDonalds, and you would answer things like, quality control, scheduling, cash management, opening/closing the store, etc. Voila! No big deal!

Not so quick! Behaviorally based or "competency based" interviewing takes it one important step further. And this is where you can either be a rising star, or a plummeting comet.

What the interviewer did not ask you in the prior example was "how" well you did these things.

Or, what were your accomplishments? Having held a job title, is not a guarantee success or even competence!

Suppose in the prior example, the interviewer asked about employee turnover, or profitability of the store, or about your most recent performance evaluation? Sure, you had the title of store manager, but perhaps your turnover was excessive, your cash flow was in the tank, your pilferage and spoilage was through the roof, and you were "responsible" for all of these things. Oops! Never mind! It's less important "what" your job called for, and more important "how" you performed it.

So, how do you counter this challenge (and still be honest)? Become a STAR! Both literally and figuratively. If you are a super-star, the challenge is easy. If not, then you need to prepare for these more savvy interviewing strategies, but thinking of STAR as an acronym for

In the example above, this would mean addressing the interviewer's question by explaining first "what" challenge you faced (i.e., a Situation) or "what" you were charged with accomplishing (i.e., a Task). That's the easy part.

But now, you continue to elaborate on your actual "Accomplishment(s)" and the "Results" for the organization. For example, in addition to saying I was responsible for the profit and loss of a $3 million dollar operation, hiring, scheduling, etc., you would follow-up with something like… "and was able to improve profitability in fiscal year 2006 by over 10% resulting in the store receiving an award for being in the top ten in the region."