Be a STAAR - Help the Interviewer do a Better Job and Stand Out

I’ve been interviewing people for all kinds of positions for the past 25 years and rarely do I see anyone really prepared to answer a “Targeted Selection” question. A “TS” question differs from the standard fare of "what would you do" questioning. TS questions ask you to provide detailed information rather than share your feelings. For example, most untrained interviewers, who are wearing the interview hat for a half-an-hour or so and who aren’t professionally trained interviewers, may ask you something like, “Tell me how you’d handle…[fill in the blank]?” Perhaps...“Tell me how you’d handle a difficult situation.” My answer to them would be, “Tell me what you want to hear and I’ll say it!” This kind of interviewing benefits neither the interviewer or the interviewee.

Burn this acronym into your mind: “STAAR.” STAAR stands for “Situation OR Task” – “Action” – “Achievements AND/OR Results.” A trained interviewer will ask you what are known as “behavioral questions.” They are designed to get you to answer with facts and details. They seek to answer all elements of the STAAR question. They don't elicit your “opinion,” but rather seek out the facts and details of something that DID happen rather than what MIGHT happen.  It gives interviewers a much better understanding on how you WILL handle a situation and it gives YOU a better opportunity to show what you’ve got to offer the organization! It will also make you stand out among your competition who most likely will fall into the, “This is HOW I would handle it” trap. Facts vs. feelings. Which would you prefer to tell your story?

Even when you get (about 80% of the time you will) an untrained interviewer who asks you “feeling-based” questions, you’ll be prepared to give real-life examples instead  You'll have facts, figures, dates, names, times, etc. to paint your pictures and fill in the STAAR. At the end of the interview the interviewer will have pages of specific information to share with the hiring group about you and only a few notes on the "feelings" of those who were ill-prepared to answer STAAR questions with details. Burn this into your mind: Past behavior predicts furture performance.  If I'm interviewing you, those specific details will tell me how you will perform in the future.  I don't need to know, nor do I care about, how you think you will perform.

If you’re asked a question like, “Tell me how you’d handled a tough customer” instead of trying to create an example and think on-the-fly you should have already anticipated this question and, if you’ve practiced, you will be prepared to give a “STAAR” answer. If you’re asked that kind of question you should respond with something like; “That’s a good question. Let me give you an example of a situation that recently happened. One of my customers called me with a complaint about our price [The SITUATION]. I asked him to tell me why he thought our price was too high [The ACTION – ASKING FOR DETAILS - PROBING]. After he explained I shared our value statement and statistics on our high service levels from recent customer surveys. I asked him if he gets the same high-level of service from his other vendors and if he was happy with our service. He said our service, "is the best." He also said it takes a long time to get a call back from our competition. I asked him to compare our service with the competitor’s and he said ours was ‘superior.’ He said he, "loves our service." I then compared our prices to the competition’s and when he saw it side-by-side [ACTIONS – SHOWING] he said the price really wasn’t that much of a difference and he also said its worth the smaller premium to get the great service I, and the company, provide him. When I asked about continuing our relationship he even increased his last order!” [RESULTS]

Do you think the interviewer got the information they were looking for? Of course they did. If they got a “feeling” answer it was going to be just like the other 50 “feeling answers” the other 50 job candidates gave. Your STAAR answer will stand out. YOU, the candidate, helped the interviewer find what they were looking for and it not only benefited the interviewer, but you the candidate.

The key to being successful in and interview is to understand the specifics of the jobs you’re applying for prior to showing up for the interview. Anticipate what kinds of questions you may get so you can practice targeted selection answers. Try to have a STAAR answer for every question regardless of whether they ask for results or your feelings. If you can not use each of the three components of the STAAR then it’s incomplete and invalid data.

Master this and you’ll shine like the STAAR that you are!

By Bob Kinnison.  Kinnison has more than 25 years of professional sales, sales training, management, interviewing and recruiting experience and authored the book "Interview Experts."  He is currently working on his new book, "What Are You Selling?" which provides help on better communication for both your professional and personal life.

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Thursday, January 28, 2010