STAR Perfection

Question 1

Please explain “S/T” part of the STAR method.

Answer 1

SITUATION/TASK - Describe the situation/task you faced and the context of the story.

Answers the questions: where did this occur, when did it happen, why is it important?

Probing Questions:
􏰁 Why is this important? What was the goal?
􏰁 What was the initial scope of the project? What were the challenges?
􏰁 What were the risks and potential consequences if nothing happened?

Challenge Questions:
􏰁 Why did you choose this story to illustrate a xyz accomplishment?
􏰁 What other stories can you think of that demonstrate…xyz?
􏰁 Could you come up with an example that is more recent?

Question 2

Please explain “A” part of the STAR method.

Answer 2

ACTION - What actions did you take?
Answers the questions: what did you personally own, how did you do it, who else was involved? Probing Questions:
􏰁 Deep probe functional expertise and/or assigned core competency.
􏰁 Were you the key driver or project owner?
􏰁 What was your biggest contribution? What unique value did you bring?
􏰁 What were the most significant obstacles you faced? How did you overcome them? Challenge Questions:
􏰁 What did you do specifically versus the team?
􏰁 How did you set priorities…deal with xyz problem… or get manager buy-in?
􏰁 What decisions did you challenge? Why? How did you influence the right outcome?

Question 3

Please explain the “R” part of the STAR method.

Answer 3

RESULTS - How did you measure success for this project?

What results did you achieve?
$ Cost savings, revenue generation
# Quantify to understand volume, size, scale
% Percentage change, year over year improvements 􏰂Time to market, implementation time, time savings
􏰃 Impact on the customer, the team
􏰄 Quality improvements

Probing Questions:
􏰁 Why did you choose to focus on these results? What other results were important?
􏰁 You mentioned revenue, what percentage change is that year over year?
􏰁 What trade-offs did you have to make to achieve this? (quality, cost, time)
􏰁 I’m concerned about…(the time it took, the volume, the customer impact), tell me more… Challenge Questions:
􏰁 What were the lessons learned? What would you have done differently?
􏰁 How would you implement this at Amazon?
􏰁 How did these results compare to your actual goals? (refer back to goal stated in Situation)