Reflecting on your work experience

The STARR approach

How to keep track of your work experience

  • One impactful method to demonstrate this is by maintaining a work diary. Regularly recording your daily tasks, achievements, challenges, and the skills you've developed provides evidence of your commitment and progress. It also allows you to highlight specific instances where you've applied what you've learnt.

  • When constantly changing tasks you expose yourself to a range of different experiences and therefore you will be a more rounded candidate.

What does STARR mean?

  • Situation - Where were you?

  • Task - What event are you reflecting on?

  • Action - What did you do?

  • Result - What is the result of what you did?

  • Reflection - What did you learn and plan on using in future similar situations?

Example:

“Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande explores ideas of non-maleficence, when Medicine goes wrong, when the conditions are no longer treatable. This made me reflect on my volunteering on a Lewisham University surgical ward. Working there, I cared for a cancer patient by comforting her and sharing a meal. Through being empathetic and caring she opened up to me and expressed the challenges she faced in her last 6 months. I found this disheartening as her major problem was being hospitalised instead of being able to spend time with her loved ones. Every patient had their own unique story and conditions which I enjoyed learning more about through my interactions with the nurses and doctors. I came to understand what a privilege it is to play such an important part in people's lives.