Congratulations! You’ve heard back from your top choice organization and have secured a first round interview. Great! What should you expect for this initial interview? Often organizations will use the first round interview to ask you behavioral type questions, where you can share examples from your own experiences on how you handled a previous situation in hopes that you’d apply similar behaviors to this new, future role.
The key to acing this type of interview is NOT to just answer with descriptors that you think the hiring manager wants to hear (i.e. “I’m a team player; I’m a hard worker; I’m a problem solver,” etc.). Instead, you want to provide concrete examples of how you demonstrated these key skills by weaving in your personal examples – become a masterful storyteller.
When answering questions in a storytelling format, it’s helpful to use the STAR method to talk through these narratives.
- Situation: Describe a situation you experienced relevant to the question (i.e. working on group projects, extracurricular involvement, volunteer work, or examples from before your time at Boston College).
- Task: Mention a task you had to complete in this situation.
- Action: Summarize the actions you took to complete the task.
- Result: Discuss the outcome of your actions.
If you are anxious or unsure about which stories to tell in an interview, read through the job description and organization’s website in advance of the interview to determine what values are most important to them. Then, brainstorm a few stories that best exemplify times when you exhibited these values.
Below are some common interview questions, as shared on Indeed, and how you can use the STAR storytelling method to answer them in preparation for your upcoming interview(s):
1. Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Employers often begin an interview with this storytelling question because they’re looking for a brief summary of your past. Try to answer this question with a short story of who you are by focusing on your experiences, passions and qualifications. Consider discussing your past, present and future, and try to customize your response for the specific role and company.
Example: “I’ve been interested in tech since high school, where I took an elective website design class. I loved it, and I knew I wanted to make it my career. After studying computer science at Boston College, I worked as a web developer and gained advanced HTML and CSS skills in the classroom and through LinkedIn Learning. Last year, I got the chance to work on a new software project through my senior class project, which I found to be incredibly rewarding.
I would love a role that allows me to create websites and software, which is why I’m so excited about the junior developer role at your company. I have gained experience through my involvement in the BC Tech Club and I would love a chance to work on multiple projects.”
2. Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
Employers might ask this to assess your self-reflection skills and adaptability. This question can also show how you take ownership of your work. Try to choose a mistake that you took steps to correct and learned from.
Example: “For my Physics class, our final lab reports had to be written individually, but based on experiments run by each member of our lab group. We quickly divided up who was doing which experiment and decided we’d all have our experiments done by April 15, so we’d all have time to write. I didn’t thoroughly look at my section until I was literally walking into the lab and only then realized that I needed results from other group members before I could start. I quickly reached out to my group to let them know what I’d done wrong, apologized, and asked if they had their results yet.
One person didn’t and didn’t have time in their schedule to do their experiment until the day before our deadline. Luckily, we were able to switch experiments, and I was able to complete their part and compile all the results they needed so that they could complete my original part. Since then, I’ve always made sure to lay out all of the steps and requirements for each part of a project before starting and be super clear on what I’m responsible for and how it fits into the larger picture.”
3. Tell me a story of a time you displayed leadership.
Employers often ask this question to assess leadership and what you can contribute immediately to the company. To answer, reflect on a time when you were leading a group project or a time you took on extra responsibility. Or, consider examples from past internships, volunteering or club leadership experience.
Example: “In my Political Science class, I showed leadership when planning our end of semester presentation with my project team. I realized we were all working separately and some of us were doing the same tasks. I suggested we divide the tasks to work more efficiently. I delegated responsibilities to each team member, and we planned a great presentation. The professor commented on how well organized our presentation was and how we all did a good job of equally participating.”
Although the interview process may seem daunting, with the right preparation and practice, you will feel confident and be rewarded with the perfect internship or job at an employer of your choice! You can visit the Career Center’s website for more information about interviewing skills and tips and/or make an appointment with a coach via Handshake for a practice mock interview.
Good luck!
Boston College Career Center Blog 
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