One strategy for preparing for behavioral interviews is to use the SAR Technique (often referred to as the STAR and PAR techniques as well.)

Sample SAR story:

► Situation (S):

Advertising revenue was falling off for my college newspaper,the Stetson Reporter, and large numbers of long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.

► Action (A):

I designed a new promotional packet to go with the rate sheet and compared the benefits of Reporter circulation with other ad media in the area. I also set-up a special training session for the account executives with a School of Business Administration professor who discussed competitive selling strategies.

► Result (R):

We signed contracts with 15 former advertisers for daily ads and five for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by 20 percent [quantities are always good] over the same period last year.