Prepare for your next interview with the SAR method

If you have spent the last week preparing for your job search, you may have come across a lot of acronyms like STAR, CAR, PAR, and SAR. The world of job searching is full of acronyms various people came up with so that you can get your job search prep done easier. Today, we are going to be discussing the SAR method and how it can help you prepare for your next job interview.

What is the SAR method?

SAR stands for:

• S – Situation
• A – Action
• R – Result

You might already know a thing or two about the SAR method if you work in healthcare (SBAR format). This is a handy method to answer interview questions like a pro and impress your interviewers. The key to mastering the SAR method is to think in terms of these three components whenever you need to answer an interview question. Let’s take a closer look at each letter and see what it can teach you.

Situation

The key to scoring high during an interview is to retain the interviewer’s attention throughout your answers. For this, you will need to answer the questions as if you are a storyteller instead of giving short and robotic answers. First, set the stage for your answer before diving into the details. Share some information about the background. This will help your interviewer grasp the true extent of the impact of your contribution.

Action

Once the interviewer is showing interest in your answer, it is time to show them what you did to address the situation. This is where you need to give specific details about your actions. You can mention the tools you used, the problem-solving path you took, highlight important decisions you made, and the skills you employed. Give as much information as you need to tie your skills and achievements back to the job, but avoid rambling. It is best to keep your answers concise and impactful.

Result

Now comes the juiciest part. This is the portion of your answer that the interviewers are the most interested in. This is also the place where you can impress them the most. Show them the results of your actions. Your impact on the business is more apparent when you share specific details with your interviewer. Instead of simply describing the results qualitatively, try to quantify them as well. Numbers help make your achievements sound more impressive.

Let’s see the SAR method in action with a common interview question

Question: Explain an obstacle that you had to overcome at your last job.

How you would have answered it before you read this article: Our social media reach was low, and I improved it a lot. That helped us increase the sales of our new product.

How you will answer the question with the SAR method: When I joined Company A, the social media reach was low on all platforms. None of our social media channels had over 500 followers. I devised new content strategies and consulted with our SEO specialist to improve the content shared over the platforms. Over the course of 3 months, we grew a follower base of 5,000 across our channels. Using targeted ad campaigns through the improved accounts, I managed to improve the sales of our new essential oils line by 35% within two months.

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