USING STAR ON AN APPLICATION FORM
Any information you give should fit the STAR technique, and set out the following information in brief:
Situation: Where were you? What were you doing / studying? What company were you working for when this example took place? Gives dates to show that your examples are up to date.
Task: What were your duties and responsibilities? Were you working individually or part of a team? What were you looking to do/ achieve/ accomplish? Make it clear what you were responsible for.
Action: Describe the action you undertook. Who did you talk to? What did you do? Did you research a subject or answer?
Result: What happened in the end? What did you learn? What could you have done differently? This section is often missed out, but it is crucial that you can demonstrate the success of your actions, or reflect on why things did not go as well as anticipated and articulate what you would do differently next time.
PREPARATION
To prepare, you could write down five specific examples which demonstrate your understanding and experience of the desired behaviour and then use the STAR technique to make sure you’ve put in all the detail which is required.
Example answers are linked on the Application Forms to help you.
Scoring your Application
Scoring of the applications will take place on an anonymised basis, and be carried out by Guild staff.
The following scores will be used for each of the five values set out on the application form:
STYLE:
0 - Did not use the STAR technique.
1 - Basic use of the STAR technique, but missing some details.
2 - Full and effective use of the STAR technique in the answers.
Minimum score: 0
Maximum score: 10 (2 points in five answers)
CONTENT:
0 - No example given.
1 - Weak context given which doesn’t demonstrate the values fully.
2 - Strong context which fully sets out an example of the values expected.
Minimum score: 0
Maximum score: 10 (2 points in five answers)
For scoring we will not be judging the example you give; there are many ways of meeting the values required from Student Leaders and no single way is going to be right.
TOTAL:
The maximum score possible for applications would be 20.
The applications will be ranked by score, from highest to lowest. This list will be used by the Subject Chair or VP Education; although neither of the elected Officers is absolutely bound to follow the scoring only and can use their own judgment on getting a good mix of representatives for the Subject Council by also considering the context of all answers given.
Applications at this stage are still anonymous, so no personal characteristics will be used to separate applicants at any stage.