How to prepare for competency-based interview questions?

For any interview, it’s essential to translate your strong skills and extensive academic or professional experience. But, to demonstrate your potential to make a positive impact, you must prepare for competency-based interview questions. 

How do competency-based interview questions and answers differ from normal ones? 

So what is a competency-based interview? And how do these questions differ from those in a behavioural interview? 

A standard behavioural interview focuses on general questions. This approach helps managers to gain a broader impression of you and how you might fit within an organisation. They might ask: “how would a team member describe you?” or similar. You should certainly prepare for these types of questions and practise your answers ahead of your interview.

Competency-based questions, on the other hand, test for specific attributes. For example, the interviewer may ask you to “tell me about a time you worked well in a team”.

The interviewer isn’t trying to trip you up by asking this. They want to be certain that you can perform to the standards that the job description requires. Therefore, when preparing to talk about your competencies, I urge you to keep your answers factual and honest.

Answering competency-based interview questions

When answering competency-based questions, use the STAR technique to structure your answers.

STAR approach:

The STAR method focuses on situation, task, action and result. You should ideally structure your answers in this way so that they communicate points about your key skills clearly and concisely. Our helpful guide to the STAR technique should get you started, but to summarise:

Situation: Describe a situation you were in, at work or beyond 

Task: Tell the interviewer what you needed to do

Action: Describe what you actually did in response to the task

Result: Explain what happened as a result of your actions and whether you achieved success.

Following this set method may also come in handy if you find your mind going blank in a job interview.

Which key competencies will you need to prove?

We’ve compiled a list of the main competencies that most hiring managers will look for. You may find that the interviewer focuses on some requirements more than others.

Before your interview, study the job description and expected duties involved. Use your knowledge of the role and the person specification to judge which competencies are most important. Focus your interview preparation on ways to address these targeted competencies.

Beyond job-specific skills and interview answers, you should also consider the following key competencies. You should prepare for a competency-based question on any of the below for almost every job:

Competency 1: Specific technical skills 

Start by identifying the core abilities needed for this role. These will be skills which require some degree of training and education, for example, Microsoft Excel. Give examples of times that you have used these skills or programmes in the past.

For instance, an interview might ask:

“Can you talk about what you used Microsoft Excel for in your previous role?” 

Try to highlight the key technical skills required for the job before your interview. Prepare some examples of times you have demonstrated these skills throughout your work experience to date. If you have a lot of experience in this area, talk about your most recent examples.

Try to be as specific as possible. Interviewers may interpret generic answers as a lack of clear experience.

Competency 2: Being a team player

Generic skills, such as your ability to work in a team, are essential for most jobs. A hiring manager will want to understand how you can support productivity and company goals. They may test if you are a strong team player by asking:

“Tell me about a time that you and your team worked together to achieve a good result”

Reflect back to all of the times you worked closely with other people to reach a shared objective. Have a couple of examples up your sleeve and focus on how you collaborated and used your interpersonal skills. Try to highlight your own contribution amongst the work of your team members.

Competency 3: Communication skills

The ability to communicate clearly and effectively to a variety of people is essential to just about any role. The hiring manager may ask you something like:

“Can you talk about a time where you built up a strong professional rapport with somebody?”

When giving your answer, mention how you maintained an open, communicative working relationship. Remember that communication goes in two directions. So discuss how you used your listening skills as well as your ability to articulate yourself clearly.

Competency 4: Decision making

In most roles you will need to show that you can make well-informed decisions using your own judgement and knowledge. With this in mind, expect interviewers to ask you a competency-based question like:

“Can you give an example of when you last made a decision which had a positive outcome?”

As you talk through your chosen example, be sure to explain how you came to this decision. Mention criteria such as timeframe, budget, and prioritisation. You should also talk about the results that you achieved.

Competency 5: Organisation

Finding someone who is able to organise their workload will be another key focus for your hiring manager. They may ask you a variation of:

“How do you manage your workload effectively?”

Everyone has their own way of keeping on top of their tasks and responsibilities. Perhaps you have a list of tasks which you order by priority. Be prepared to talk about how you stay organised and in control of your own workload.

Competency 6: Problem solving

The employees who can think of innovative ways to solve a problem are the ones who go on to achieve great things. Taking this into account, your manager may ask something like:

“What’s the biggest challenge you have faced at work?”

Think back, and be ready to talk about this experience positively. It’s important to emphasise how you solved the issue by thinking outside of the box.

Preparing for competency-based interviewing

Every role will vary, but it’s important that you prepare clear, truthful anecdotes which reflect essential employee qualities.

Practise structuring your interview answers using the STAR method. This approach will stand you in good stead for any competency-based interview.

And finally, make sure you practise talking about your skills and experience in a confident and concise way. This, combined with your other interview preparation, will give you the best chance for achieving interview success.

• Change your thinking and calm your interview nerves
• “Tell me about a time you failed”
• Got a second interview? Here’s what to expect
• Eight tricky interview questions – and how to answer them