Are you a STAR at interviewing?

Pulses Article Submission Template 

By: Angela Hartsig, PharmD, BCACP

In Fall 2020, I distributed an anonymous, online survey to all PharmD students enrolled in the Husson University School of Pharmacy. The survey contained 21 Likert scale items related to student knowledge and perceptions of career skills. What caught my attention from the results was the lowest scoring question – interviewing skills! While 93% of students believed that preparing for an interview was important for successful post-graduate employment, only 3.5% agreed with the statement, “I am familiar with using the STAR method to answer interview questions.” 

How can we help PharmD students become interview STARs?

Whether applying for a residency, fellowship, or job, PharmD students will be expected to interview for the position. On average, employers typically interview fewer than 10 candidates for a position, which usually means that only 2-3% of applicants receive an interview.¹ With this competitive job market, it is important that we equip our students with the skills needed to succeed in interviews as well as in clinical practice.

Most hiring decisions come down to soft skills with 75% of employers currently using behavioral interviews to assess such skills.² Behavioral interviewing is a technique which focuses on a candidate’s past experiences, behaviors, knowledge, skills, and abilities.³ The purpose is to gain insight into how a candidate may react in certain workplace scenarios. Behavioral interviewing is said to be 55% predictive of future on-the-job behavior.⁴ 

Have you used a behavioral interviewing technique? Tell us your experience by responding below.

Use of behavioral questions is very common in post-graduate pharmacy employment interviews. Employers want to see your thought process, critical thinking and problem solving abilities, and communication skills all of which directly relate to the Curriculum Outcomes and Entrustable Professional Activities (COEPA) for PharmD students. These questions will require candidates to draw upon past experiences related to clinical rotations, team experiences, group projects, extracurricular activities, leadership roles, or community service. When answering behavioral questions, it is essential that you give a real-life example as employers are looking to understand how you acted and handled a situation previously. 

What is the STAR method?

Behavioral questions typically start off with the phrase, “Tell me about a time when you…”  When asked such questions, the STAR method is a commonly used interviewing strategy to deliver all desired information in a story format. This method is helpful in allowing you to discuss your accomplishments and skills in a concise manner. 

Below are the components of the STAR method,⁵ along with a pharmacy-related example response for the question, “Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult patient.”

	Description	Example
Situation	Describe the context of the situation by giving a couple of relevant and important details about the challenge. The description of the situation should be brief yet cover the “who, what, where, when.”	While I was on my 6-week Ambulatory Care APPE, I was often tasked with finding affordable medication options for patients.
Task	Describe your responsibility in the situation by briefly stating the goal you needed to accomplish. Here you should discuss your exact role and a concise statement on how you planned to solve the problem.	I remember one challenging patient who hadn’t been using her maintenance COPD inhalers as they were too expensive. The team asked me to find strategies to help improve this patient’s adherence to prevent future COPD exacerbations.
Action	Explain how you completed the task or overcame the challenge by giving specific action steps utilizing “I” pronouns. This is the most difficult, but most important part of your answer. Be sure to explain your thought process and the rationale behind your actions.	The first step I took was to look at which inhalers the patient was using and if they were covered by her insurance. She was taking two preferred inhalers indicated for COPD; however, both of these were brand name and tier 3 per her insurance. The next step I took was to determine if we could simplify her inhaler regimen by utilizing one inhaler, which would allow for one copay.
Result	Explain the outcomes resulting from your actions and what you learned from the experience. Summarize the end results and how things improved because of your actions.	I recommended switching to a triple ingredient inhaler, which would still provide the patient with the same medications, but would allow for better adherence and reduced cost with one copay. The team accepted my recommendation, and I was able to show the valuable role of a pharmacist in an interprofessional team.

The STAR method is a valuable interviewing response strategy to answer behavioral questions. Providing PharmD students with ample opportunities to practice using this method is important to adequately prepare students for post-graduate employment interviews.

How do you integrate interviewing strategies into the PharmD curriculum?

References

1. Clark, Biron. Career Sidekick. How Many Interviews For One Job? (Stats From a Recruiter). Available at: https://careersidekick.com/interviews-per-job/. Accessed July 17, 2023.
2. LinkedIn. 2019 Global Talent Trends. Available at: https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/pdfs/global_talent_trends_2019_emea.pdf. Accessed July 17, 2023.
3. Society for Human Resource Management. Behavioral-Based Interviewing. Available at: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-glossary/pages/behavioral-based-interviewing.aspx. Accessed July 17, 2023.
4. Hansen, Katharine. Behavioral Interviewing Strategies for Job-Seekers. Available at: http://www.bakeru.edu/images/pdf/CDC/Behavioral_Interviewing_Strategies_for_Jobseekers.pdf. Accessed July 17, 2023.
5. Birt, Jamie. Indeed. How To Use the STAR Interview Response Technique. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/how-to-use-the-star-interview-response-technique. Accessed July 17, 2023.

---

Author Bio(s):

---

Pulses is a scholarly blog supported by Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning