{"id":"wri-fin-rotation-star-answer","audience":"finance","category":"applications","technique":"format","title":"Answer a 'found an error' question in STAR order","free":false,"task":"You're applying to your company's internal audit rotation. The form asks about a time you found an error. Answer in exactly 4 lines labeled 'Situation:', 'Task:', 'Action:' and 'Result:', each under 25 words (under 110 words total), plain text, using the corrected dollar amount from your notes. Don't name the coworker who made the error. Write a prompt that gets that answer.","materialLabel":"Your notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"INTERNAL AUDIT ROTATION - Application question 2\n\"Describe a time you found an error that others missed. What did you do?\"\n\nMY NOTES (Priya Shah, AP Specialist)\n- Q2 close, June 2026. I was reconciling vendor payments to the general ledger.\n- Found that a vendor invoice for Coastal Freight was paid twice: once by check, once by ACH, 3 days apart.\n- I first wrote the amount down as $18,400. Rechecked the bank statement: it was $14,800 (I'd transposed the digits). Correct amount: $14,800.\n- The duplicate happened because Ken in purchasing re-entered it when the PDF didn't attach. Not his fault really, the system allowed it.\n- What I did: flagged it to my manager the same day, contacted Coastal Freight, got the $14,800 refunded within 10 days.\n- Then I proposed a duplicate-invoice check (same vendor + same amount within 30 days gets held for review). Finance adopted it in August.\n- Since August it has caught 6 more duplicates, about $22,000 total.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":110},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Writing it as a story","why":"The AI writes a long paragraph, so reviewers can't scan the structure.","fix":"Show it: \"Exactly 4 lines: Situation:, Task:, Action:, Result:.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for \"under 110 words\" and it often lands well over.","fix":"Cap each part instead: \"each line under 22 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Using the first number","why":"Your notes show $18,400 before the correction. The AI may use it, in an answer about catching errors.","fix":"Say it: \"The duplicate was $14,800.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Weak result, naming names","why":"The AI ends at the refund, misses the lasting fix, and may mention Ken.","fix":"Add: \"Result: refund in 10 days, and the new check caught 6 more ($22,000). Don't name anyone.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Forgetting where it gets pasted","why":"AI adds bold and headings by default, which show up as ** and # clutter in the application form.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no bold, no headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Uses the STAR labels","patterns":["situation","star","task:","result"]},{"label":"Uses the corrected amount","patterns":["14,?800","corrected"]},{"label":"Shows the lasting result","patterns":["22,?000","6 more","result"]},{"label":"Keeps names out","patterns":["don'?t name","no names","ken","blame"]},{"label":"Asks for plain text","patterns":["plain","no bold","no markdown","no formatting","no headings"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"Structured answers are easier to score. Give the AI the 4 labels, the corrected amount and what the result must show.","rubricLabels":["Has exactly 4 lines labeled 'Situation:', 'Task:', 'Action:' and 'Result:' in that order, with nothing before or after them","Uses $14,800 as the duplicate amount (not $18,400)","The Result line includes the refund within 10 days and/or the new duplicate check catching 6 more duplicates (about $22,000), and no line names Ken or blames purchasing"]}