Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Some interview situations call for behavioral based interviewing and so the use of the STAR method is useful for preparing you (as an interviewee) for questions you might encounter. Your answers to interview questions are more substantive and thorough. Saying too little during an interview is a recipe for disaster when you don't say enough, and/or if there is a lot of awkward silence. STAR stands for:

Situation
Task
Action
Results
Behavioral questions are usually prefaced by “tell me about a time when” or “give me a situation where.” Behavior-based interviews focus on critical dimensions of the job you will be doing; a critical dimension refers to specific skills. I have completed a sample for you to show what I would like to see for your answers:


SITUATION I was chair of the 3rd Annual Social Science Graduate Research Symposium    
TASK I arranged speakers into panels with similar themes; finalized arrangements within meeting rooms; contacted catering, facilities management, and panelists; managed registration; and contacted the bookstore to request giveaway
ACTION    I emailed speakers with the final schedule; met with the supervisor of Facilities Management the day before the symposium; met with Sodexho a few days before the symposium; delegated registration responsibilities to my committee; and met with the manager of 3 local bookstores    
RESULTS I successfully chaired the symposium without any major setback

In addition, I recommend that you have about 10 stories about yourself that you know well and can easily tell. Since most interviews only have about 10 questions, having 10 stories about yourself prepares you for things you can say about yourself. Be sure to include 2-3 negative experiences that you can talk about, where you can also say things like "I learned a valuable lesson about,"  "I would do differently in hindsight," "Looking back, I would have handled this by," or "This experience was meaningful to me because."

Example short stories I might tell include:

Story about why I love teaching
Story about my first teaching experience
How I handled a difficult situation with ____ student
Organizing a conference
Working on ____ committee on campus


SUBMIT
Part I: List 8-10 short story topics that you can draw upon during an interview.

Part II: Write the answers down to the following questions using the STAR format:

What are two or three of your mot valuable strengths?

What are two or three of your biggest weaknesses?

Tell me about a time when you used effective communication to resolve a problem with a customer or teammate

Tell me about a time when you had to make necessary adaptations to another person or persons from a different cultural background. What did you do and what were the results?

Sometimes we are unable to complete a task or project on time; tell me about a time when you were unable to meet a deadlin