University of Guelph-Humber

Identify skills from the job description and think of a story to describe your experience in that area.

Remember when telling your stories to use the STAR Format!

Situation: Detail the background. Provide a context. Who? Where? When?

Task: Describe the challenge and expectations. What needed to be done? Why?

Action: Elaborate your specific action. List the steps taken to solve the problem. What did you do? How? What tools did you use?

Results: Explain the results –accomplishments, recognition, savings, etc. Quantify, and keep it positive!

Example

Tell me about a time when you provided customer service to an upset client.

Situation: I was an office assistant in a school payroll department. I was on my regular Monday morning shift when…

Task: …an angry employee came to the counter and explained that his cheque amount was too low and that he wasn’t able to pay rent on time because of this mistake.

Actions: I assured the man that we would figure out what happened & what could be done. I compared the payroll records logbook with the computer payroll database. I discovered a data error, which explained the incorrect amount. I explained what had happened, apologized for the mistake, and gave the man a cheque for his missing balance.

Results: The client thanked me and even asked to speak with my supervisor about how helpful I was. The end result was a happy customer!