STAR Method Explained: How to Structure Behavioral Interview Answers

Janz's research, published in the Academy of Management Journal in 1982, demonstrated that structured behavioral interviews had predictive validity of 0.48-0.61 for job performance, compared to 0.20-0.38 for unstructured interviews. ||| "The most effective interviews are those where the candidate provides specific, detailed examples of past behavior. Hypothetical responses - 'I would do X' - provide almost no predictive value for actual job performance." - Tom Janz, Professor of Human Resources, University of Calgary ||| "The best candidates do not just answer the question I asked. They answer with a story that clearly maps to the competency I am evaluating. That level of preparation is itself a signal of the kind of structured thinking we want in the role." - Laszlo Bock, former SVP of People Operations at Google, author of Work Rules! ||| Their 2022 survey found that candidates who prepared structured stories received "recommend hire" ratings 35% more often than candidates who answered behavioral questions without preparation.