糖心原创

 By Bethany Litchfield, Careers Adviser

The STARR technique is the best way to showcase your experiences, whether that is in an application form, covering letter or during an interview. It's an easy to remember simple framework for you to use.  STARR stands for:

• Situation
• Task
• Action
• Result
• Reflection and relate

It is a simple framework to effectively showcase your experiences when making job applications, writing cover letters and during interviews.  

Applying this structure to your examples will allow you to clearly demonstrate the behaviours, and competencies required for the role. It’s likely at this stage that you won’t have much professional experience, so STAR allows you to draw on academic projects, part-time jobs, volunteering, or extracurriculars to demonstrate skills the employer is looking for.   

Potential interview questions 

Questions that require you to use the STAR technique will generally start with:  

• “Tell me about a time when…”  
• “Give me an example of…”  
• “Describe a situation where you…”  

What does each element of STAR stand for?

Situation 

• Describe the situation and when it took place 

Task

• Explain the task and what was the goal 

Action 

• Provide details about the action you took to attain this  

 Result 

• Conclude with the result of your action 

Reflection and relate 

• How have you developed from this experience? Demonstrate you understand how the skills relate to the role you’re applying for  

An example not using STARR

Here's an example where the applicant hasn’t used the framework:   

Question

Tell me about a time when you have worked under pressure, juggling multiple deadlines.

Unstructured answer

In my final year at university, I had three major deadlines in the same week—a group presentation, a lab report, and a research essay.

I created a schedule, broke tasks into smaller steps, and coordinated with my group to stay on track. It was intense, but I managed to submit everything on time and learned a lot about prioritising and staying calm under pressure. 

An example using STARR

Here's the same question using the STARR technique.

Question

Tell me about a time when you have worked under pressure, juggling multiple deadlines.

STARR answer

• Situation 

In my final year at university, I faced a week with three major deadlines: a group presentation, a lab report, and a research essay. 

• Task 

I needed to complete all three to a high standard and submit them on time, despite the pressure and competing priorities. 

• Action 

I started by listing all the tasks and estimating how long each would take.  I then created a daily schedule, blocking out time for focused work on each assignment. 

For the group presentation, I took the initiative to set up a shared document and scheduled virtual meetings to keep everyone together. I delegated tasks based on each member’s strengths and kept track of our progress. 

For the individual assignments, I used the Pomodoro technique to stay focused and avoid burnout. I also built in buffer time in case anything took longer than expected. 

• Result 

I submitted all three pieces of work on time. Our group presentation received positive feedback, and I achieved strong marks across the board. 

• Reflection and relate 

The experience helped me develop better planning habits and taught me how to stay productive under pressure.  

The difference between the answers

You can see from those two examples; a well-crafted STAR response tells a story with a clear outcome. Not only will this make it much easier for the assessor to score you highly, but your answers will also be much more engaging and memorable.   

If you want to prepare for future interviews for part-time jobs, volunteering positions, work experience placements or graduates jobs, go to our interview pages and use our free practise resources. Then, book an appointment with an adviser.