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We’re giving you exclusive access to a teaser lesson from one of Apolitical’s most popular courses: Crafting a Successful Job Application in the Public Service. This free course teaches you the art of writing an effective job application — whether you’re getting ready to submit one now or just want to prepare for the future.
To get your application noticed in a pile of lots of other qualified applicants, it’s not enough to just say the right things — how you say them matters, too. Read on for your free lesson and learn how to apply the STAR technique to structure your answers for maximum impact.
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The STAR method is a tool to help you focus your response on the right things, in the right ratios. STAR stands for:
Situation
Task
Action
Result
STAR is especially useful for structuring competence or behavioural examples in your application — in other words, when responding to prompts like “Describe a time when you demonstrated leadership” or “Can you tell us about your experience in stakeholder management?”
STAR component | Definition |
|---|---|
Situation (20%) | This is the part of your answer where you set the scene. Include things like the context of your role, the circumstances of the situation you’re describing, the resources that were available to you and your responsibilities. Keep this section short. Although it can be tempting to give a full picture of the situation, you should give just enough context to help the hiring panel understand the situation This should take up no more than 20% of your response. |
Task (10%) | In this part of your answer, describe the challenge or problem you needed to solve or the task you needed to complete in order to meet the objectives. This should also be a relatively short part of your response, only about 10%. |
Action (60%) | This is where you should use most of your word count (about 60% of your response), describing the action: what you actually did in response to the situation and task you were faced with. Use “I” statements so it’s clear what role you played in solving the problem or delivering the objective. Even if you worked as a team to achieve an objective, try to pick out individual contributions to focus on. If you’re applying for senior positions, you may need to demonstrate how you led others to achieve an objective. In your response, focus on what you did to empower them and how your leadership enabled that outcome. |
Result (10%) | This part of your answer should address the question “So what?”: What happened as a result of the action you took? Highlight the impact you had and the outcome of the situation. This should take up around 10% of your response. If you’re not sure what the result is for a particular example, try asking yourself, “So what?”. If you have any data to back up the impact of your actions, this is a great place to highlight it. Depending on the kind of example you’re providing, you can also share what you learned from the experience. For example, if you’ve been asked to describe a time when something went wrong at work, share what you learned from the experience and what you would do differently the next time. |
Let's take a look at what the STAR technique looks like in action.
Imagine your application includes the following question: Describe a difficult decision you made at work. What did you do?
Think about how you'd respond to this question using the STAR technique, then expand the box below for an example of what your answer might look like.
Situation: In my role as a project manager, I led a team responsible for implementing a new public health initiative aimed at improving children's health outcomes. Halfway through the project, we faced unexpected budget cuts, putting the initiative's completion at risk.
Task: I had to decide whether to scale back the project's scope to match the reduced budget or to apply for additional funding, which could delay the project but help us reach our original objectives.
Action: I conducted a thorough review of the budget and identified areas where we could reduce costs. I explored different options for increasing our funding and analysed the potential effects of delaying the project. I also consulted with key stakeholders inside and outside of my team about the potential trade-offs of running a reduced project versus delaying it to pursue additional funds. After careful consideration, we decided that the impact of a delay would be worth the trade-off of securing additional funding. I put a plan in place to mitigate the effects of the delay and communicated the decision clearly to all stakeholders.
Result: We were ultimately able to deliver the project to the high standard we intended, and the delay had minimal impact on the children who were served by the project.
You've just learned how to apply the STAR format — but this is just the tip of the iceberg.
The full Crafting a Successful Job Application in the Public Service course takes roughly two hours to complete and includes tips and advice relevant to any job application, along with a customisable learning path which allows you to select what you want to learn based on your context. Join thousands of public servants who’ve already taken control of their career progression.
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