Use PAR, not STAR, for answering behavioral interview questions (2023)
This article is for those of you who know the STAR method for answering behavioral interview questions but don’t like it.
I think the STAR method is confusing to the candidate and the interviewer because the “S” and the “T” steps are asking you for repetitive information.
PAR condenses those two steps into one, so you don’t repeat the same info twice.
The STAR technique
The STAR method is a structure used to answer behavioral interview questions.
Note: Don’t use it for intro questions like “Tell me about yourself” or “Why do you want to work here?” since those aren’t behavioral questions.
The four steps in the acronym help you remember all the info you need to include in your answers.
These are the four steps:
S – Situation
T – Task
A – Action
R – Result
The downside of the STAR method
The problem with STAR is that the “situation” and “task” steps are asking for the same information.
If you tell a good story, you will include the task in the situation. For instance, if you talk about a project you worked on, you will naturally include your job title and what you were responsible for as you begin to explain the project. That’s the situation info.
But if you give the task info next, you’ll be repeating the same info. I often see this repetition from clients if they follow STAR without really understanding the steps.
What’s better than STAR
To save confusion for the candidate and the interviewer, I teach my clients to use “PAR” instead. PAR is the same as STAR but combines the S and the T steps.
Why “P” instead of “S”? S and P mean the same – situation, problem, issue – it doesn’t really matter what you call it, it’s the same thing.
It is so much clearer than STAR.
Here’s the PAR format:
P = problem/situation/issue
A = action (what did you do?)
R = result
Now use the letters as a structure to tell your story.
Will not using STAR cause problems?
Will your interviewer notice that you’re not using STAR? No. I promise you they will have no idea.
A good S section will always explain the T as well, meaning it will explain what the issue is you’re working on and what you yourself specifically are doing, so no one will even know you’ve combined S and T.
Recruiters send out interview instructions telling candidates to use STAR, but like I said, no one will notice if you use PAR instead. They will notice if your answer is unclear or lacking the proper information.
If you're one of the people who finds STAR confusing and annoying like I do, start using PAR instead.
