One of the areas of a company’s daily operations that consumes the largest share of resources – both time and money – is undoubtedly the recruitment of new employees. What’s more, you can never be sure that the person hired will prove themselves in the position and decide to stay with the company for the long term, to the satisfaction of both parties. To increase the likelihood of such an outcome, companies in various industries are turning to advanced recruitment techniques. Particularly popular among them is the so-called STAR method (or competence interview). Below we explain how this technique can be used to conduct interviews.
The STAR method is most often referred to candidates for whom an interview can be a source of great stress – it guides how they should construct their answers to recruiters’ questions to show their best side. After all, an HR professional or hiring manager needs more than dry “yes” or “no” answers to be able to get to know and evaluate a person sufficiently. STAR is thus an acronym for the four elements of importance to the recruiter – Situation, Task, Action and Result. To apply this method, ask the candidate to elaborate on the following issues:
The STAR technique allows the recruiter to effectively assess both hard (knowledge, experience, abilities) and soft (interpersonal, working under pressure, managing oneself in time, etc.) skills, making it possible to discover the candidate’s full potential. The STAR method encompasses four categories of questions that provide a frame of reference for acquiring the assessment. These concern learning candidates’ work experience, acknowledging the nature of performed tasks (which allows verification of hard competencies), the actions taken (in which soft skills will certainly be evident) and the results delivered.
Particularly important for the recruiter is the last mentioned element, as it somehow indicates what results the employee can bring to the company. Thus, one gets a preview of all the candidate’s skills, which significantly improves the processes conducted.
Applying the method described above enables you to check both hard and soft competencies – however, it is imperative that after asking the first question you address further questions related to difficulties, actions taken or results. Of course, what questions to ask depends primarily on the position the candidate is applying for (especially about hard knowledge) or the level (rank vs. managerial). However, the following are the most common, general questions that are worth asking as “baseline” and can use the STAR method:
The most important characteristics that distinguish today’s labor market are undoubtedly high competition (companies outdo each other in conducting activities to attract candidates), difficulty in attracting top talent, and hiring processes that consume a large portion of resources (time and money). For this reason, companies in various industries are turning to advanced recruitment techniques – such as the STAR method – to ensure that the best person for the job is hired. If you’re looking to improve your company’s recruitment processes, reach for this very questioning technique. You will quickly see that a properly asked question is the basis of an effective interview.
Read also: Top 4 digital workplace trends to watch in 2023
If you like our content, join our busy bees community on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok.
Author: Nicole Mankin
HR manager with an excellent ability to build a positive atmosphere and create a valuable environment for employees. She loves to see the potential of talented people and mobilize them to develop.
Pinterest, which made its debut on the social media scene a decade ago, never gained…
Thinking carefully on a question of how to promote a startup will allow you to…
A podcast in marketing still seems to be a little underrated. But it changes. It…
Video marketing for small business is an excellent strategy of internet marketing. The art of…
Are you wondering how to promote a startup business? We present crowdfunding platforms and websites…
How to use social media to increase sales? Well, let's start like that. Over 2.3…