The STAR Method Explained: How to Answer Competency Questions

Competency-based questions such as "Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer" are standard in UK interviews, from retail and hospitality to the Civil Service and banking. The STAR method gives you a reliable structure for answering them.

What STAR stands for

• Situation: briefly set the scene.

• Task: explain what you were responsible for.

• Action: describe what you personally did. This is the most important part.

• Result: share the outcome, ideally with a number or clear impact, and what you learned.

Getting the balance right

Spend roughly 10 per cent on the situation, 10 per cent on the task, 60 per cent on your actions and 20 per cent on the result. Many candidates spend too long on background and rush the part the interviewer cares about.

Use "I", not "we"

Teamwork matters, but the interviewer is assessing you. Make clear what you personally decided, said and did, while still crediting colleagues where appropriate.

Prepare a bank of stories

Choose five or six strong examples covering teamwork, problem solving, leadership, handling pressure, dealing with conflict and a time you made a mistake. Most competency questions can be answered with one of these stories, adapted to the question.

Our question bank includes competency questions for every role, with model answers showing how a STAR response sounds in practice.