Some of your best stories aren't about a task you carried out neatly, but about something that nearly went wrong. A project where half the team didn't want to come along. A budget cut halfway through. A deadline that was suddenly brought forward. Those are exactly the stories that show what someone can do, because something stood in the way. The SOAR method is designed to tell stories like these clearly.
Already familiar with the STAR method? We covered it in depth in The STAR Method: Answering Interview Questions. This article doesn't go over STAR again. Instead, it shows what SOAR does differently, when to choose which method and how to build a SOAR story step by step, with two worked examples and how to turn them into CV lines.
What is the SOAR method?
SOAR stands for four parts that together make up an achievement story:
- Situation — The context in one or two sentences: where were you working, what was going on?
- Obstacle — What stood in the way of success? Lack of time, little money, resistance, missing knowledge, conflicting interests.
- Action — What did you do to overcome that obstacle, and why did you choose that approach?
- Result — What did it achieve, and what did you learn from it?
The difference lies in the O. Where many stories get stuck at "I had to do X and I did it", the obstacle forces you to name the tension. That makes it immediately clear why your action mattered.
SOAR or STAR: when to use which?
Both methods help you tell a concrete story instead of staying vague. The difference is where the weight lies. STAR revolves around the task: what was expected of you and how did you approach it? SOAR revolves around the obstacle: what made it hard and how did you get past it?
A simple rule of thumb: can you say in one sentence what stood in the way? Then SOAR is probably the strongest format. If your story is mainly about how you fulfilled a responsibility well, STAR is the better fit.
- SOAR works well for questions like "What was your biggest challenge?", "Tell me about a setback" or "What are you most proud of?", and for written achievements on your CV or LinkedIn.
- STAR works well for questions about your role and approach, such as "How do you handle competing priorities?" or "Give an example of how you work with others."
It isn't either-or. You can often tell the same story both ways; just choose the format that best matches the question.
Building a SOAR story in five steps
- Start with the result. Pick an achievement you're proud of and can back up. Work backwards from there, so you know in advance where your story is heading.
- Name the obstacle as precisely as you can. "It was difficult" says nothing. "Half the team wanted to go back to the old system" or "The budget was cut two months before the date" makes the story tangible straight away.
- Keep the situation short. Only tell what's needed to understand the obstacle. One or two sentences are enough.
- Link every action to the obstacle. Show which choices you made and why: "Because the resistance was mainly about speed, I first..." That way the interviewer hears not only what you did, but also how you think.
- Make the result concrete and honest. Mention figures if you genuinely know them. If you don't, describe an observable outcome: the project went live, the complaint stopped coming back, other teams adopted the approach. Close with what you learned.
Example 1: resistance to a new system
Say you work as a customer service team leader and you're asked "Tell me about a change that didn't go smoothly."
Situation: "I led a customer service team that was moving to a new ticketing system."
Obstacle: "In the first few weeks the backlog of open tickets grew quickly, and part of the team wanted to go back to the old system because the new one felt slower and more cumbersome."
Action: "I first sat down with the colleagues who had the most reservations to hear exactly where it was pinching. It turned out to be mainly a handful of frequent tasks that took lots of extra clicks. Together with the supplier, I had templates set up for those. I asked two colleagues who had picked up the system quickly to act as go-to people for the rest, and for a few weeks I scheduled a short meeting every morning to share out the backlog together."
Result: "After about a month the backlog was cleared and nobody was talking about going back to the old system any more. What I learned: resistance is often about something very specific, and you only find out what by asking."
Example 2: an event after a budget cut
Say you're an events coordinator and the question is "What are you most proud of in your work?"
Situation: "I organised our company's annual customer day."
Obstacle: "Two months before the date the budget was cut significantly, while the invitations had already gone out. Cancelling or postponing would have gone down badly with customers."
Action: "I cut the programme back to the parts that, according to the previous year's evaluation, visitors mainly came for. I renegotiated with the venue for a smaller room and a simpler catering package. Two regular suppliers were willing to cover part of the costs in exchange for their own stand, and I replaced the printed materials with a digital programme guide."
Result: "The customer day went ahead on the planned date and within the new budget, and in the evaluation visitors were at least as positive as the year before. Since then I've started every budget with a list of what's essential and what's nice to have."
Note: these two examples are made up for illustration. In your own story, only use facts and figures you can back up, because everything has to hold up under follow-up questions.
SOAR on your CV: from story to bullet point
A SOAR story condenses well into one powerful CV line. The formula: what you achieved + the obstacle + how you tackled it + the result. The two examples above become:
- "Led the move to a new ticketing system despite resistance within the team; identified pain points, adapted workflows and appointed internal go-to people, clearing the backlog within a month."
- "Delivered the annual customer day after a major budget cut shortly before the date by reprioritising the programme, renegotiating with the venue and bringing in partners to share costs; went ahead on the planned date and within budget."
Not every bullet needs an obstacle. Save this format for your two or three strongest achievements, or your CV becomes heavy going. Work in the terms from the job ad as you do; our article on how to make an ATS-friendly CV explains how. You can use the same lines in the experience section of your LinkedIn profile.
SOAR in the interview
In an interview you have more room than on paper, but the same rule applies: keep it compact. A SOAR answer of about two minutes is usually enough; the interviewer will ask follow-up questions if they want to know more. A few tips:
- Mention the obstacle early. It's the hook of your story. The sooner the interviewer knows what was at stake, the better they can place your actions.
- Don't turn the obstacle into a complaint. Describe resistance or pushback factually and fairly. "My colleagues had good reasons to be sceptical" sounds stronger than "Nobody wanted to cooperate".
- Prepare a handful of stories. Alongside your STAR stories, pick a few with a clear obstacle, so you have material ready for questions about challenges and setbacks. You can see which questions to expect in the most common interview questions.
Want to get your stories down on paper faster? With MARA's SOAR Success Stories tool you turn an experience into a structured SOAR story that you then refine yourself. In the MARA Interview Simulator you can then practise out loud how it sounds.
Conclusion
The SOAR method doesn't replace STAR; it complements it. Use SOAR when the strength of your story lies in what stood in the way: name the obstacle precisely, link your actions to it and close with an honest result. That way you show not only what you did, but also how you act when things get tough. And that's exactly what employers want to know.