How else can you use STAR?

This post can definitely be read on its own but is probably more effective as an add-on to my blog on the STAR approach which you can find below or at http://chrismilborrow.tumblr.com/post/47011483693/the-star-approach-be-the-candidate-who-shines 

What is STAR?

To quickly recap, the aim of the blog on STAR was to introduce you to the approach and how to use it in interviews by outlining a Situation you faced, the Task you had, the Actions you took and the Results of those actions. The STAR method is not only a great way to structure your answer to keep you clear and focussed when nerves begin to kick-in, but it’s also making sure that you’re ticking the boxes for the recruiter by answering the questions in a way that they’d ideally want you to answer them.

Does it work for CV writing?

Now, this method works for interviews, but this got me thinking about my CV and how STAR can help articulate skills and experiences on paper. It might seem a little strange; STAR, after all, is a method of answering questions whereas a CV isn’t designed entirely for that. So it got me thinking about why we write a CV.

For me, the aim of a CV is simple; it’s used to convey what your strengths are through experiences that you’ve had and to prove that you have the academic record employers are looking for. For now, assuming we have the academic qualifications, the important word in there is, maybe surprisingly, ‘through’.

Why? Well, how many times have you written on your own CV or read someone’s CV that had either;

a) Skills with no context. E.g. ‘I’m a leader and organiser.’

Or

b) Experiences with no skills. (Listing Duties) E.g. ‘I was the committee member at my society for x number of years and was responsible for this, this and this.’

In an interview, if you’re vague or provide context but not much impact, the interviewer can ask you questions like ‘And how did that experience benefit you?’ or ‘How did you build your communications skills to be at the level you’re at now?’ However, when reading your CV, they can’t! This result in potentially excellent candidates not even making the interview stage and with a change of approach, this risk doesn’t even have to exist.

Bridging the skills/experiences gap.

The STAR does something else very effectively, something which wasn’t really touched on in my previous blog; it bridges the gap between skills and experiences. The STAR approach is a really effective way of saying to an employer ‘I have these skills and can show you because of this.’

Using the STAR approach is slightly different in written format for a few reasons;

1) You have limited space to answer therefore you have to be more concise.

2) There is more of an emphasis on implying your skills because the one they’re looking for isn’t explicitly asked for by a question.

3) You can really highlight areas of importance. If you have an area you want to jump out, then you can draw attention to it through different font techniques.

Looking at your CV and how STAR can be applied.

Now look at your CV, particularly your experiences section. Do you have a section in there that could benefit from using this approach? If so, take a look at the following format and compare it to what you’ve written;

I’m going to use a common example, a part-time retail assistant role, to demonstrate this method. However, this can be used for anything, so if you’ve got something else you want to use, go for it!

Part 1; Situation and Task

This is the part that outlines your role and task and should be no more than 2-3 sentences. This gives the recruiter some context and basically gives them the ‘Why?’ behind what you did.

‘In my part time role as a sales assistant, I was tasked to tidy the men’s apparel area of the store in order to make it more appealing to consumers. I noticed the product was good and had potential but the way it was organised didn’t justify this.’

Part 2; Your Actions

This is where you have identified an area that you can have an impact on and have taken steps to do so. Your actions should be justified to demonstrate your reasoning and thought process.

‘I reorganised the section, making sure there were clearly distinguished places for the different apparel products, rearranged them by colour order and freed up floor space for customers to actually enjoy shopping in the area.’

Part 3; Result

The result is the stamp of approval. No matter what you did, if you can provide tangible benefits to your actions, you’re showing an employer that you can create successful outcomes.

‘As a result, that day alone we saw more interest in the apparel section and I was given the opportunity by management to share what I had done with colleagues and briefed them on the new organisation of this section.’

Look at this  example from an employer perspective. Tick the boxes!

This isn’t just the story of how this person made a store section better. Go through this again and think like an employer would.

ü  This person noticed a problem

ü  They were pro-active and sought to come up with a common sense solution to this problem.

ü  The person was organised and understood what consumers would respond to.

ü  This affected interest (and sales) positively.

ü  The person was then given leadership opportunities to help colleagues adopt the same understanding.

Compare and contrast.

I’d like you to compare the example, above, to the one below.

Retail Assistant;

•          Responsible for organising areas of the store.
•          Serving customers and recommending products.
•          Teaching other staff on aspects of store organisation.
•          Increasing sales in apparel section.
•          100% time-keeping.

Ask yourself...

If you were recruiting for a job, who would you rather speak to based on their retail experience?

The Final Word

The STAR approach is a technique that, with some slight alterations, can be adapted to make your experiences stand out on your CV. No matter what you’ve done and achieved, by using this format you can effectively communicate and prove to an employer that you can make an impact based on your skills. The format also helps you steer clear of listing skills and not showing that you actually do have them and also makes sure you don’t fall into the trap of listing duties without really articulating what skills you developed through your experiences.

Chris Milborrow 

18th June 2013

I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and I welcome your feedback on any of my entries so far.

You can connect with me on Facebook and LinkedIn: ‘Chris Milborrow’ or on Twitter: @ChrisMilborrow 

TARGETjobs Graduate recruitment news roundup

Welcome to this week’s graduate recruitment news roundup, where we summarise all our weekly career advice pieces in one easy read.

Let’s start with two tricky graduate interview questions:

‘What is your biggest weakness?’ and ‘Where do you expect to be in five years’ time?’

If you, like many, struggle with these two questions, read our advice on how best to answer both of them –  as well as what not to say.

·         What is your biggest weakness? 

·         Where do you expect to be in five years’ time?

We also ran an article on salaries. If money is your motivator, find out what the median graduate starting salaries are in different sectors, according to a survey carried out by the Association of Graduate Recruiters. 

In finance, we discovered that graduate employers look for client skills as well as numeracy when recruiting for their actuarial graduate job positions. So here we are telling you how to show you have these skills. 

We also looked in depth at financial services and consultancy firm Mercer, listing five things you should know if you’re applying for a graduate job there

And, if you are interested in applying to Mercer, check out our article on how to impress at its graduate assessment centre 

We conclude, as always, with the roundup of the graduate job deadlines closing soon 

Happy weekend,

Jackie 

10 reasons why you should apply for The Undergraduate of the Year competition:

Ella Jakubowska winner of the Female Undergraduate of the Year Award sponsored by Rolls Royce tells you ten reasons why you should applying to 2014's awards. 

1) You might discover something you never knew about yourself:

I almost didn't apply to the Undergraduate of the Year awards because I was worried that I was not good enough. I also almost bailed at the first hurdle upon seeing that the online psychometric tests involved a considerable amount of maths. Not only am I incredibly glad that I persevered, but I realised as a result that I absolutely can not be as bad at maths as I thought, and I must have done fairly well at the logical reasoning and business analysis sections too. I am a lot more confident in my business-related skills now.

2) You might discover something you never knew about a company:

Until a few months ago, I thought that Rolls-Royce made cars. I also thought they would have absolutely no need and no opportunities for an English Literature student. I was wrong!

3) You might benefit from the challenge:

To say that the application process was rigorous would be something of an understatement. It was difficult but it was a similar process, I am told, to Rolls-Royce's graduate scheme application. Even if you don't win, the process helps you gain experience and build confidence that will be invaluable in your last year of university when you're competing for the best jobs, internships or graduate schemes.

4) You might meet some really wonderful, like-minded people:

The other women in the Female Undergraduate of the Year competition that I met were an intimidatingly successful but also interesting, impressive and kind bunch of people. At the assessment centre some of us went for dinner and it was really reassuring and made me feel like no matter who won, I would be really genuinely happy for them. I also got the chance to meet many Rolls-Royce employees, particularly high performing females, giving me an insight into what it is like for strong women in stereotypically male-dominated businesses.

5) You might make some connections that could influence your entire career:

I have met people from Rolls-Royce, TARGETjobs, other Undergraduate of the Year categories, and my LinkedIn inbox has been overflowing with congratulations from professionals from big companies ever since I won. With networking being so important to a career, these effortless connections are sure to help me once I leave university.

6) You might benefit from the overall experience:

As I mentioned, it is challenging. But you come to realise that although it is such a privilege to be in the last round of selection, you got there because of your hard work. Being able to stand up and stand out in an environment filled with strong candidates is something that you can genuinely feel very proud of, even if you don't win. I actually had a lot of fun during the process, which was something I was not expecting.

7) You have nothing to lose but potentially a lot to gain:

One of the things that the overall process has reinforced in my mind is that you should always go for everything, take chances and a lot the other clichés about how if you never try you'll never know. As Thomas Edison supposedly said: "I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work".  As if you can’t tell from the title of this post, I can’t emphasise enough how strongly I advocate going for it and just applying for one of the categories next year because it can not do any harm but could do a world of good.

8) You might get to go to the (swanky) Awards Ceremony:

The venue...The drinks reception...The food...The speeches. Before the winners are announced, the top 10 from each category are invited to a very prestigious awards ceremony and not only is it a gorgeous venue and really exciting event, but the main course was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.

9) You might meet Sir Trevor MacDonald:

I think this one speaks for itself. 

10) You might just win:

I hadn't even hoped that I might win. The other candidates were so strong but I must have been stronger than I thought I was to win it! Not only did I win an iPad and a fantastic internship that I am greatly looking forward to starting in a few weeks, but I feel like I am making positive things happen that are shaping my entire future. The more I learn about what my internship will entail, the more excited I become - it will not be your standard making tea and doing photocopying internship! As I sit here writing this on my shiny new iPad, it is ridiculous to think that the night before the initial application was due in, I almost went out instead of staying in to submit my application. I'm glad that there was a little voice in my head telling me that despite all my doubts, I might just win.

By Ella Jakubowska, winner of the 2013 TARGETjobs Female Undergraduate of the Year.

Are you tempted to apply - pre-register here to be the first to know when the awards open 

TARGETjobs News Roundup

Hello and welcome to our latest graduate recruitment news round-up blog. Here you will find the latest news and career advice we’ve posted on targetjobs.co.uk this week.

Let’s get straight to it:

Many of you are graduating this month and if, unfortunately, you’ve received a lower grade than you’d hoped for, worry not. We are here to tell you which employers in the public sector recruit graduates with a 2.2. 

We can also tell which graduate employers recruit students with a 2.2 in the hospitality, leisure and travel sector. 

On the subject of 2.2s, I am bringing out an oldie we published earlier this year, ‘How to job hunt if you get a 2.2 when you graduate’. 

Good luck job hunters!

In other news, if you want an accountancy job, you don’t have to have a finance internship to convince recruiters that you have the skills theyseek. Here we tell you how to make the most of the skills you’ve developed from your part-time jobs, course and extra-curricular activities. 

On a completely different note, we want to welcome our editorial interns! They will be here all summer working on some exciting projects for you and they will also be blogging about their time here, giving you insightful career tips they have picked up.

If you haven’t already, take this opportunity to meet them in their introductory blog. Stay tuned to follow their journey.

And, finally, here are next week’s graduate jobs deadlines.

Happy weekend!

Jackie 

Meet the TARGETjobs interns

Our summer editorial interns are in the building. They will be blogging this summer letting you know more about themselves and their time spent at TARGETjobs together with some helpful tips on employability. Hope you all join me in giving them a big warm TARGETjobs welcome.

Here they are:

Hi, I’m Harriet. I’m currently in between my second and third years at Durham University. This summer I’m working as an editorial intern here at TARGETjobs in Wallingford until my term starts again in October. At university I study English literature, co-run a student theatre company, work on my college’s toastie bar, write for various uni publications and have researched and presented for Durham Student TV. Over the past few months I’ve really started to think about what I’m going to be doing the year after next and of possible ways to avoid staying in my pyjamas all day and eating ice cream for every meal. This seems to be a good time to begin planning and refining my answer to the question ‘what do you want to do after graduation?’ from ‘yeah… um, the media?’ to something less likely to kill a conversation. Lots of you will, I expect, be in the same boat as me – or similar ones. I’ll be sharing my findings about the graduate world that is fast approaching, as well as writing about my thoughts and experiences from here at TARGETjobs.  

Hi, I’m Hollie. I’ve just graduated from Glasgow University and I’m an editorial intern here at TARGETjobs. I took the ‘scenic route’ through higher education – a change in unis and a switch of courses meant that I was a student for over five years. As a result the thought of entering the real world is slightly daunting! Now I have a degree in mathematics and English literature under my belt, and like some of you I’m in the process of looking for a graduate scheme that appeals to me. I’m going to be spending the next few months researching what’s on offer and applying to various things so I’ll be keeping you updated on my progress. The application process can be scary as there’s often a lot of competition and rigorous interviews but the important thing is to keep trying. Most people have to apply for a few different jobs before they’re successful so just remember to see any rejections as good practice runs for the future. I’ve already had one pretty disastrous interview but stay tuned and I’ll tell you all about that later!  If you have any questions about my hunt for graduate employment you can get in touch with me at hgjones1102@gmail.com or @chocaholliec.

Interesting fact: I once shaved my head for charity and spent the following few months resembling a potato

Hi there, I’m Craig. I’m an editorial summer intern for TARGETjobs currently working with the editors on productions such as Guardian UK 300 and TARGETjobs IT & Technology.

I am a fourth year student of English and Latin at the University of St Andrews and the editor-in-chief of the independent student newspaper, The Saint. In previous summers I have been fortunate enough to work briefly in the editorial departments of different publishing houses and I am now confident that I want to pursue a career in editorial. So, if you’re interested in student journalism and/or publishing, read on, and I’ll share what I’ve learned so far about the two industries. I’ll also keep you updated with what it’s like to be an intern for TARGETjobs and what makes working for a media company like GTI different to working in newspaper offices and publishing houses.

Interesting fact: This summer I will be wading through McNae's Essential Law for Journalists; if you’re a wannabe hack, watch this space for legal minefields and how to avoid them!

Slightly more interesting fact: I am a keen fan of drag racing, and head to Santa Pod whenever I can!

Hi bloggers, I’m Laura and I’m one of the editorial interns at TARGETjobs. I’ll be working here over the next couple of months and will keep you posted on my experience. Currently, I’m half way through my degree in Law with study in continental Europe at the University of Bristol. This means that over the summer, alongside working here at TARGETjobs, I’ll be frantically trying to keep up my French reading (or not) for my year abroad at the University of Poitiers starting in September.

Luckily, this also means I’ve still got two whole years to go before I seriously need to focus on graduate jobs and my career path, which seems a long time now, but, as I’ve been reminded repeatedly by parents, teachers and lecturers, preparation is key! I don’t have a job at uni as the hours just don’t allow for it, but during the holidays, I’ve done various jobs and work experience placements, on which I’ll say more in a later post (if you can handle the suspense…)

At the moment I’m weighing up a career in journalism and the more obvious (though far from easy) route into legal practice. Often my thoughts on what I want to do after graduating change literally from one day to the next, so I am by no means set on a specific career path as yet! However, I’m looking forward to sharing my insights into the big wide world of work with you over the next few months.

If you have any questions or want to know more information, feel free to email me at lauradavidson1993@hotmail.co.uk or follow my blog http://laurasbookcase.blogspot.co.uk/

Laura