Behavioural questions and the STAR method

Behavioural questions ("Tell me about a time when…") assume past behaviour predicts future behaviour. Answer with STAR:

• Situation: the context (briefly).
• Task: your responsibility or goal.
• Action: what you did, step by step. Use "I", not just "we". This is the biggest part.
• Result: the outcome, ideally measurable, and what you learnt.

Example: a time you worked in a difficult team

• S: "In my third-year project, our four-person team was building an attendance app, and one member wasn't delivering his part."
• T: "I was the team lead, and we had 3 weeks to submit."
• A: "Instead of complaining, I spoke to him privately. He was struggling with the backend because he'd never used Firebase. I paired with him for two evenings, split his work into smaller tasks, and set short daily check-ins for the whole team."
• R: "He finished his module, we submitted 2 days early and got an A grade. I learnt that most 'lazy' teammates are actually stuck, and to check in early."

Common behavioural questions to prepare

• A challenge you overcame / a difficult problem you solved.
• A failure or mistake and what you learnt.
• A conflict with a teammate or manager.
• A time you showed leadership or took initiative.
• Working under pressure or a tight deadline.
• A time you had to learn something quickly.
• Handling criticism or feedback.
• Persuading someone / influencing without authority.
• A time you went beyond what was expected.
• A time you had to make a decision with incomplete information.

Map your 6–8 stories to these; one good story can answer several questions with a different emphasis.

Answering failure questions well

Pick a real failure with stakes, own your part without blaming others, focus on what you learnt, and show how you applied the lesson later. Interviewers distrust candidates who claim they've never failed.

Situational questions

"What would you do if…?" questions test judgement. Think aloud: understand the situation, consider stakeholders and priorities, propose a sensible course of action, and mention communicating and escalating appropriately.

Check yourself

• Write a STAR answer for "a time you failed".
• Which of your stories best shows leadership? Initiative? Learning quickly?