When I was doing a lot of interviewing it wouldn’t be uncommon to see up to 8 job candidates per day. The only way I could accomplish this objective was to have a focused approach to the interview (Targeted Selection), which meant that the questions I asked each candidate were the same. In one of the positions that I was interviewing candidates for the role called for seven key areas that would be required for the person to perform the job effectively. For example, in these sales positions one of the areas was obviously their sales ability. Since the position required a great deal of autonomy daily and reliability regarding the sales person’s large budget, integrity was an important KRA. Applied intelligence was another KRA. Applied intelligence meant being able to learn a task and actually being able to apply it to the position or task. My goal was to ask 3 questions from each of the seven KRAs with most of the questions focusing on their recent past. Using the STAAR approach it was important that I received specific answers that would demonstrate their past behaviors. I needed to have a “Situation and/or Task,” the “Actions” the person took (or didn’t) and the “Achievements and/or Results” gained from those actions/inactions.
By asking each candidate the same questions it was easy for me to build STAARs in able to gage and compare how each person would perform in the position. If I couldn’t build a complete STAAR I deemed the data incomplete and therefore wouldn’t use it. It was to the interviewee’s benefit to be specific. You, as an interviewee, should always strive to build complete STAARs for your interviewer regardless of the type of question you get. ALWAYS try to provide a specific example of a past experience that would relate to the interviewer’s question. As I pointed out my STAAR post, most interviewers are not properly trained in how to ask targeted selection questions and rely on the old, “How would you….” questions or “futuristic questions.” Those don’t benefit anyone, especially the candidate since they are effectively trying to figure out what the person wants to hear, not what they need to hear.
Long before you ever show up at the interview you should have done your research into the position. Learn what the KRAs of this position would be. Talk to the recruiter ahead of time if possible. Ask questions about the job. Ask for a job description which will probably give you all the KRAs. Talk to current employees who hold a similar position and get their take on the job functions. Once you’ve fully understood the KRAs you should start to think about potential questions that you may be asked. Again, regardless of whether the recruiter asks you “how did you” or “how would you” your answer should be the same…”Great question, let me give you an example…” You should provide the situation and/or task, the specific actions you took and the achievements/results of those actions. Each answer should be concise, specific and leave the recruiter with a complete and “positive” STAAR. Your answer shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes long.
It is possible to provide a complete STAAR answer, yet be a “negative” STAAR. As an example I once asked this question to several college seniors who had applied for an entry-level sales position. I wanted to get a feel for their integrity. “Have you ever cheated on a test?” The answer that seven of the eight gave was, “No, I never cheat on a test!” “I think it’s wrong.” They went on to babble about how they did it once in third grade, but never in college. Not having a STAAR answer I asked a follow up question, “Have you ever seen anyone cheat while here at college.” “Sure,” they all answered. I then asked, “What did you do about it?” That really threw them! They all said that they’ve seen someone cheating (The Situation), but that they thought it was horrible and they, personally, wouldn’t cheat.” (Inaction). The Result was that the other person got away with it and probably affected the candidate’s grade because the curve was skewed. That is a negative STAAR. Only one person gave a positive STAAR. His answer was: “Yes, when I was a kid I cheated, but never in high school or college.” When asked about seeing someone cheat his answer was: “Yes. I have a class that is very hard and is graded on a curve. I saw these two guys cheating on the first couple of tests and quizzes. I knew that I was borderline A or B because of the difficulty of the material and if they affected the curve it might unfairly give bump me to a B.” I asked what he did about it. He said, “I went to the professor and told him what was going on and about my concern about the curve. I didn’t want to rat on the guys, so I suggested that he bring in teaching assistants for the next tests so they could proctor the exams. He agreed and did bring in three TAs who watched the class like hawks. The two guys, or anyone else, could no longer get away with it and didn’t they didn’t do very well in the class. As a result, I barely got an A, but I got the A.”
That was a great answer! He hit all three components, the Situation, the Actions and the Results AND it was a positive STAAR! This candidate was asked twenty-one questions and had twenty-one STAARs that day. He was offered the position.
The Lesson? Be Prepared
By Bob Kinnison. Kinnison has more than 25 years of professional interviewing and recruiting experience and is the auther of Interview Experts. He is currently working on his new book, "What Are You Selling?" which provides help on better communication in both your professional and personal lives.
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Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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