T is for Task (STAR Part 2)

A STAR is, at it’s core, a story. When I outline my STAR, I start from this “just the facts” portion of that story. This keeps my focus on ensuring the interviewer will understand the entire story; and then I start adding my own value to it.

We're going to use an example around a straight-forward story: you had a flat tire and needed to get to work. Let’s sketch it out further to see the whole picture:

• Situation: The tire is flat, I’ve got a big meeting at 9.
• Task: I need to find a way get to work.
• Action: I changed the tire.
• Result: I got to work. 

Not a very exciting story right now, but we definitely understand the facts. Now we can flesh it out around you and the value you brought to the story. For Situation, our previous article covers a great overview of what you need. But what do you do to better explain the Task you face? Well, the short answer* is that you need to explain why this was your goal and the impact of not meeting it, and lastly, you need to be brief about it!

Goal and Impact

I often think of Task as the “turn in the story”, the Main point, or the Thesis statement.

For our story above, this seems pretty straightforward: the goal clearly is “I need to get to work”, right? This impact should be covered in the Situation, but your goal needs to align to that. You may find when you get here to defining the task, that the goal may not align to your Stakes. For example, building on this story: did you think about calling in late to work? Taking the day off? Was the meeting that important, or could you reschedule? Could the Task have been to work on a repair option in parallel with dialing in for that meeting? Somehow, someway, your Situation led you to THIS specific Task. Make sure these are aligned. 

Similarly, you can call out some of your thoughts around how those impacts shaped your goal. This is not the same as thinking about how the decisions around your Actions, but just your thought process around your choice of Task.

“Given the Situation with that important meeting, I needed to get to work. I couldn’t take time off or move the meeting, so I had to find a way to get to work.”

Brevity is key 

Just like Situation, the Task part should take up 5-10% of the whole story. Ideally, we’re aiming for 1-3 well-turned sentences. Keep it brief and keep it punchy. This is just setting up the real meat of your story, the part you’re going to spend 75% of your time on: the Actions you took to address this task. We’ll explore this more in Part 3 of this series. Most of the time, you may even want to add the summary of your Action right here, and fully start the transition into your Action!

“Given the Situation with that important meeting, I needed to get to work. I couldn’t take time off or move the meeting, so I had to find the best way to do that. I decided to take Action to change the tire myself!”

Conclusion

Many people struggle with the transition sentence in your paragraph, and that’s what the Task really is: making the Situation matter, and transitioning cleanly to the good part of the story: the amazing things you’ve done. We’ve given you the facts, we’ve given you the impact and the goal, and we’ve set up the story to move forward. Now lets dive into the value you brought, and the behaviors you exemplify in part 3, the Action!

*Note: the short story here can actually be a little complicated. There are several schools of thought on how to break apart Task and Action. I ascribe to the Task being the Goal, while others may ascribe to Task covering the role you played in the project and solution. Feel free to move these key elements around as needed!