STAR interview questions 10 behavioural questions with answers, matched to selection criteria

What are STAR interview questions?

STAR interview questions are behavioural questions that ask for a real example: "Tell us about a time when...", "Give an example of...", "Describe a situation where...". You answer them with the STAR method: the Situation, your Task, the Action you took and the Result. In Australia the same method is used to write responses to selection criteria and to answer the panel in the interview.

This guide shows how the Australian Public Service, Victoria and New South Wales describe STAR, then gives ten behavioural interview questions matched to the selection criteria employers use most, each with a spoken example answer.

How the APS uses STAR in selection

The Australian Public Service Commission's guide for applicants, "Cracking the code", describes the STAR model as "one way of presenting information against selection criteria". It breaks it down like this:

The guide lists common selection criteria, including "demonstrated capacity to communicate effectively", "good organisational and administrative skills", "proven ability to work as part of a team", "well-developed customer service skills" and "proven ability to manage projects". It also says to "use only one or two of your strongest examples" for each criterion.

At interview, the APSC says panels may ask "behavioural-based questions and/or hypothetical scenario questions", using the job description as a guide. Behavioural questions "usually begin with a statement like 'Tell us about a time when…' or 'Describe a situation where…'", on the principle that "past behaviour is a good indicator of future behaviour". That is where STAR does its work.

STAR in state government jobs

Victoria. Careers Vic calls the criteria key selection criteria (KSC): "the specific skills, knowledge, experience and personal qualities an employer is looking for". It describes STAR as "a structured way to respond to KSC or interview questions", and notes that many employers ask you to show you understand the Victorian public sector values: responsiveness, integrity, impartiality, accountability, respect, leadership and human rights.

New South Wales. The NSW Public Service Commission's STAR video tells candidates to be "concise and to the point" and not to ramble. Two tips stand out: in the Action, "Don't say 'I worked hard'" but explain the specific things you did; in the Result, mention any feedback you received from the customer or team. It adds that STAR also works for a time things went wrong, as long as you talk about the lessons you learnt.

Private employers, such as banks, hospitals, retailers and mining companies, often ask the same kind of questions without calling them criteria. The method is identical.

10 behavioural interview questions with STAR answers

Each question below is matched to a common selection criterion. The answers are spoken versions, about a minute and a half each, so you can hear how STAR flows when you say it rather than write it.

1. "Tell us about a time you had to explain something complex to someone without your background."

Criterion it tests: communicates effectively

Example answer (illustration): "I was a payroll officer at a regional council when a new award came in. Supervisors kept ringing me confused about the new allowances. My job was to make sure they could approve timesheets correctly. I wrote a one-page guide with three real examples, ran two short Teams sessions and set up a shared inbox for questions. Calls to me about the award dropped right off within a month, and two other teams asked to use the guide."

Name the audience and what you changed in how you explained it.

2. "Give an example of when you managed a heavy workload with competing deadlines."

Criterion it tests: organisational and administrative skills

Example answer (illustration): "At end of financial year in a small Adelaide accounting practice, I was handling client documents for two accountants. Both had lodgement deadlines in the same fortnight. I listed every job by due date, agreed priorities with both of them on day one, and blocked my calendar in half-day chunks. Everything was lodged on time and the accountants kept the same system for the next year."

Show the system, not just the hours.

3. "Describe a time you helped a team reach a goal."

Criterion it tests: works as part of a team

Example answer (illustration): "On a FIFO site in the Pilbara, our maintenance crew kept missing handover details between shifts. I was the leading hand on nights and needed to fix it. I suggested a short written handover sheet and a five-minute overlap at shift change, and trialled it with my crew first. Missed jobs at handover stopped, and the day crew adopted the sheet too."

Make your own part clear, even in a team story.

4. "Tell us about a time you dealt with an upset customer."

Criterion it tests: customer service skills

Example answer (illustration): "I worked the front counter at a council customer service centre. A resident was angry because his bin had been missed three weeks running. I had to calm things down and get it fixed. I listened, apologised, checked the collection records, found his address was missing from the new route and booked a same-day pickup. I called him the next week to check. He thanked the council in writing."

NSW tip: mention the feedback you got.

5. "Give an example of a project you delivered from start to finish."

Criterion it tests: manages projects

Example answer (illustration): "At a Brisbane not-for-profit I was asked to move our volunteer sign-ups from paper forms to an online system, with a small budget and three months. I mapped the old process, chose a simple tool, tested it with five volunteers, fixed their issues and trained the coordinators. It went live on schedule and coordinators stopped retyping forms."

Cover the plan, the people and the finish line.

6. "Tell us about a time you had to do the right thing when it was not the easy thing."

Criterion it tests: integrity (a Victorian public sector value)

Example answer (illustration): "As a procurement officer, a supplier I knew socially bid on a contract I was assessing. I had to keep the process fair. I declared the conflict to my manager in writing, stepped out of that assessment and handed over my notes. Another officer completed it and the process stood up when it was audited later."

Values questions need a real choice, not just a principle.

7. "Describe a time you had to adapt quickly to a change at work."

Criterion it tests: adapting to change

Example answer (illustration): "I was a ward clerk at a hospital in Darwin when we moved to a new patient records system with two weeks' notice. I needed to keep admissions running. I did the training early, made a cheat sheet of the ten most-used screens and sat with the night clerks for their first shifts. Admissions kept moving during the change and the cheat sheet went into the induction pack."

Show you stayed calm and helped others too.

8. "Tell us about a mistake you made and what you learnt."

Criterion it tests: learning from a mistake

Example answer (illustration): "In my first year as a junior planner I sent a client a schedule with the wrong delivery date. I had to fix it before the trucks were booked. I rang the client straight away, owned it, sent the corrected version and told my manager. Since then I check dates against the purchase order before anything goes out, and it has not happened again."

Keep the mistake real but small, and spend the time on the fix.

9. "Give an example of when you improved the way something was done."

Criterion it tests: showing initiative

Example answer (illustration): "In a Hobart retail store, stock counts took the whole team a Sunday every month. As the assistant manager I wanted it faster. I split the store into zones, gave each person one zone with a scanner and ran counts on a quiet weekday evening. Counts were done in a few hours and Sunday trade was no longer short-staffed."

Say what you noticed first: that is the initiative.

10. "Tell us about a time you worked with people from different backgrounds."

Criterion it tests: working with diverse people

Example answer (illustration): "I coordinated a community English class at a Western Sydney library with volunteers and students from many countries. Attendance was dropping. I asked the students what was getting in the way, moved the class to after school drop-off and paired new students with a volunteer who spoke their language where we could. Attendance came back up and two students later joined as volunteers."

Show that you listened before you acted.

Turn your own notes into answers like these with the free STAR method answer generator.

Hypothetical questions: when STAR does not fit

The APSC describes hypothetical scenario questions as ones that "set up fictitious work-related problems which require a solution". "What would you do if a colleague kept missing deadlines that affected your work?" has no past example, so use a simple shape instead:

1. Clarify: what you would want to find out first.
2. Act: the steps you would take, in order.
3. Involve: who you would tell or bring in, and when.
4. Back it up: "I did something similar when..." and a one-line real example, if you have one.

From written criteria to spoken answer

For many Australian public sector jobs you write STAR responses first, then face a panel. The APSC shows how to turn STAR notes into a full paragraph for the written version. For the interview, make the same story shorter and more natural:

• Open with one sentence that answers the question directly, then tell the story.
• Use "I", not "we". The panel is scoring you.
• Have a second example ready, because the APSC suggests picking a few extra examples for the interview rather than repeating your application.
• End with the result and one line on how it relates to this job.

Mistakes panels notice

• All situation, no action. Two sentences of background is plenty.
• No result. Every answer needs an ending, even "it did not work, and here is what I learnt".
• "I worked hard." As the NSW guidance says, it is too general. Say what you actually did.
• The same example for everything. Prepare one or two per criterion.
• Made-up stories. Panels ask follow-ups such as "what did you say exactly?". Real examples hold up.

Practise your STAR answers out loud

Say each story aloud and time it. The free AI mock interview asks behavioural questions for your role in English, asks follow-ups and marks your STAR structure. In the live video interview, the ClapAssist AI interview assistant points to the example on your resume that fits each question. Check the candidate information pack first, because some employers do not allow AI help.

Also useful: interview questions in Australia and job interview tips.