Mastering Behavioral Interviews: The STAR Method and Beyond

Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Robert Hamilton, executive coach and former Meta and Google PM, to unpack the art and science of behavioral interviews. If you’ve ever struggled with the infamous “leadership and drive” loop or wondered why your best stories aren’t landing, this episode is a must-listen.

They explore why behavioral interviews are often harder to prepare for than case-style interviews, how to identify the signal behind the questions, and why storytelling, self-awareness, and emotional authenticity are so critical. Robert shares actionable tactics like the STARLU framework (Situation, Task, Action, Result, Learning, Upgrade) and explains how to build a versatile story bank that reveals your growth mindset and values.

Whether you're actively interviewing, coaching others, or just want to improve how you tell your story as a PM, this episode is packed with practical wisdom.

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To support the podcast, please check out the links below:

* Preparing for a PM interview with tech companies like Meta and Google? Check out Ben's course for Product Sense and Analytical Thinking PM interviews (selected by Lenny Rachitsky as a Top Course in Product on Maven 🔥) and his AI Copilot for interview practice. Supra Insider listeners get 10% off the course with promo code “suprainsider”. Enrollment is now open for the next cohort starting June 17th.

* Supra has teamed up with Maven to bring you something special – courses that our own community members have personally curated. And because you're part of the Supra family, you get $100 off any of these handpicked selections with code SUPRAxMAVEN.

In this episode, we covered the following topics:

* Why behavioral interviews feel uncomfortable—and why they’re valuable

* How Meta’s “Leadership and Drive” and other behavioral interviews are structured and what they aim to measure

* The difference between project storytelling and self-reflective storytelling

* How to identify if a question is behavioral and what the interviewer is really asking

* The STARLU framework (Situation, Task, Action, Result, Learning, Upgrade) and how to use it

* How to build a story bank mapped to core evaluation criteria like ownership, collaboration, scrappiness, and communication

* The biggest mistakes candidates make (e.g., lacking authenticity or giving polished but shallow answers)

* How to prep for follow-ups and show growth through adversity

* Why interviewer calibration is often broken—especially at early-stage companies

* And more!

If you’d like to watch the video of our conversation, you can catch that on YouTube:

Links:

* Robert Hamilton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberthamiltoncoach/

* Acceleration Coach: https://www.accelerationcoach.com/

* Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbaselga/

* Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/

To support the podcast, please check out the links below:

* Preparing for a PM interview with tech companies like Meta and Google? Check out Ben's course for Product Sense and Analytical Thinking PM interviews (selected by Lenny Rachitsky as a Top Course in Product on Maven 🔥) and his AI Copilot for interview practice. Supra Insider listeners get 10% off the course with promo code “suprainsider”. Enrollment is now open for the next cohort starting June 17th.

* Supra has teamed up with Maven to bring you something special – courses that our own community members have personally curated. And because you're part of the Supra family, you get $100 off any of these handpicked selections with code SUPRAxMAVEN.

* If you enjoyed this conversation, please share it with a friend or colleague 👇

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