Understanding the S in STAR

Bob sits across a table from Asha, his interviewer. She’s just asked him a “Tell me about a time when you...” type question, and he’s thinking about how to respond. A story comes to his mind from last year, when he worked on a complex scheduling system. It’s a great story, but to understand it, Bob thinks, Asha needs to understand the full context.

So, he launches into a five-minute explanation of the project, his team, the culture on his team, the folks involved with the project, stakeholder back and forth, and so on. It’s all great info, but as he talks, Bob notices Asha’s eyes starting to glaze.

He breaks out in a nervous sweat. His terrific story isn’t landing. He needs this job. He needs Asha to recommend hiring him. But, by the looks of it, she’d rather be anywhere but here. Why? What is he doing wrong?

Infodumping

There’s a concept in fiction writing circles called an infodump, where an inexperienced author dumps a huge load of non-essential background information about the story world, character backgrounds, and so on. Even experienced authors do this at times because it’s such an easy trap to fall into. When you’re close to your story, every detail seems essential.

The exact same thing happens when telling stories in an interview setting. The context seems essential for the interviewer to understand.

It isn’t.

At the end of the interview, the interviewer will write up notes mostly having to do with the Action part of STAR – the steps you took to resolve the situation. The  So, context then must be the bare minimum amount of information to understand that action.

Keeping it brief

Just like in a fiction story, those are:

• When. When did the story occur? (“This happened last year,)
• Where. Which of your jobs did this happen at? (“... while I was working at Cyberdyne.”)
• Situation. What was the general situation? (“We were working on a new type of CPU to enable faster LLM processing.”)
• Stakes. What was at stake? What would happen if the project failed? (“If we could not get the CPU working in time, we’d miss out on a $3B contract from the DoD.”)

The stakes, especially, are super-important as they’re what creates the interest in the story. If the cost of failure is negligible, the outcome doesn’t matter. Sounds like a truism, doesn’t it? Stakes dictate the pressure those involved in the story are under, and often the decisions they make. You shouldn’t need more than a sentence or two, but those two sentences will make a huge difference!

The Situation part of your story should take a maximum of 30 seconds to get through. It should contain the info mentioned above and nothing else.  After all, the S part of the story is just the prerequisites needed for the interviewer to understand it. Get to the fun part as soon as you can!

Conclusion

A common issue I encounter when coaching this sort of storytelling is the false impression that knowing your story and knowing how to tell it is enough to tell it well. Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple. Just like an actor going onstage, you as an interview candidate need to not merely know your lines but be able to deliver them with energy and gusto. Memorizing these stories won’t work either, as your interviewer will easily be able to tell a recited story from a told one.

The answer to this conundrum is practice, practice, practice. Several good options exist to enable you to do just that:

1. Practice in front of a mirror. Tell your story, timing each part. Remember how Situation should take no more than 30 seconds? Time that.
2. Film yourself telling the story, then watch the recording noticing where you’re struggling. Practice those parts.
3. Tell the story to your friends and family. Get their reactions. They may not understand all the technical particulars, but they should get the gist of the Ownership, Enthusiasm, Competence and Collaboration you displayed.
4. Tell the story to a ChatGPT practice bot. There are a bunch of custom interview practice bots out there, even some that will give you feedback on how well your story aligns to STAR.
5. Employ group or 1:1 coaching. We at EIC have organized such a service because we find that, ultimately, nothing beats a conversation with an actual hiring manager. If you wish to find out more, visit us at InterviewMentors.