Tell me about your educational background

What do you do before an interview? You are going to prepare your _______________ to the kind of questions you will be asked. 3. What does the acronym STAR stand for? S T A R 4. What is his “really important tip” for R? Always make sure the R_________ is a _____________ one. Refer to this when preparing for your Interview assessment. More detailed information and sample responses can be found here: https://www.how2become.com/blog/star-interview-technique/ FNDS013 Advanced Academic Communication Skills The STAR Method Example Answer: S – Situation, Introduce a situation T – Task, what was required of you, when, where, who A – Action, what you did, include skills used, R – Result – what was the benefit/positive outcome of your actions? The STAR method will enable you to answer behavioural interview questions in a compelling and powerful way. People like hearing stories, and facts are easier to remember if wrapped up in a story. The interviewer will remember your answers, and your message will be delivered in a friendly style. How to build a STAR method story Behavioural Interview Question: “Tell me about a time when you disagreed with someone at work.” Situation I work at Kmart during the summer and over the holidays. Last Christmas season one of my colleagues, James, and I were asked to assemble 35 bikes during our shift. James told me he did not intend to help put together all of those bikes. He said it wasn't "his thing" and it was too much work. Task The store was so busy, and it was up to James and I to get the task done. I needed to find a way to get him to help me correctly assemble 35 bikes within our shift. Action(s) At first, I tried to convince James that it was much easier to work together. I then just asked him to help me out. When he refused, I told him that was okay. As I worked alone on the first few bikes, I made some jokes with James and started talking with him. As he relaxed, I asked him to time me how long it took to put one bike together. Then, I made some small requests such as, "Could you pass me that spanner?" Then without me asking, James then took the bikes out of the boxes and laid out the pieces. I involved him so much that eventually he was working alongside me. Result So, James went from being unhelpful to being a good work partner. Together, we correctly assembled the 35 bikes during the shift. My manager was surprised that we were able to finish the task, and she often asks James and I to work together after that. James and I became good work friends. Adapted from www.idemployee.id.tue.nl/g.w.m.rauterberg/jobs/STAR-method.pdf FNDS013 Advanced Academic Communication Skills Here are three more examples of how to answer popular behavioural interview questions using the STAR method: • Share an example of a time when you faced a difficult problem at work. How did you solve this problem? “I was working as a retail manager at a department store. A customer purchased a dress online and had it delivered to the store. One of my associates accidentally put the dress back on the rack, where another customer immediately purchased it. Before calling the customer to let her know about the mistake, I located the same dress at another store location nearby. I ordered it to be pressed and delivered to her home the morning of her special occasion, along with a gift card to thank her for her understanding. The customer was so thankful, she wrote us a five-star review on several websites.” • Describe a time when you were under a lot of pressure at work. How did you react? “In my previous job as an account executive, one of my co-workers quit immediately after signing the biggest client our firm had ever taken on. Although I was already managing a full load of accounts, I was assigned this new client as well. I knew the stakes were high and if we lost this deal, then we wouldn’t hit our quarterly goal. I made myself completely available to the client and took calls on evenings and weekends until the project was delivered. The client was so impressed with my dedication, they immediately signed an annual contract that netted our company $5 million.” • Tell me about a mistake you’ve made. How did you handle it? “I was working for an events company, and I was responsible for ordering the floral arrangements for a private event hosted by a high-profile client. Unfortunately, I mixed up the information from another event, and the flowers were delivered to the wrong venue on the other side of the city. I admitted my mistake to my boss, took an early lunch break, drove to the other venue, picked up the flowers and delivered them to the appropriate venue an hour before the event. The client never knew about my mix-up, and my boss was very grateful.” FNDS013 Advanced Academic Communication Skills Prepare answers for these questions. Your interview will be based on these questions, so preparation now is key to your success in the assessment next week. This handout will be handed in for assessment (10%). General Questions 1. Tell me about your educational background. (focus on the relevant qualifications for the job)