Are You Failing At Competency Based Interviews?
Put it this way: being told you’re having a competency-based interview is like someone sneaking you a very quick look at the school test before the exam. You now know what type of questions there will be, so as long as you prepare right, you’ll stand out amongst the other candidates.
So what is a competency based interview?
Competency based interviews are a technique based on the understanding that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. This means the interviewer will ask you questions about times you have showed, in the past that you are competent at certain skills and behaviours.
This approach is simply asking you to look into your own history to give them examples of doing well in the workplace or personal arena. By knowing beforehand that the interview will be competency based, this gives you the freedom to sit down at home with your CV and a pen and meander through your history, cherry-picking the moments where you’ve excelled or failed- and to show what you learnt from the experience.
And just as the questions are formulaic, your answer should be too. When faced with a question such as ‘Tell us about a time in your past when you showed negotiation skills’, the interviewer is expecting a response that follows the STAR format:
- Situation: Think of a situation where you applied the competency in question.
- Tasks: Explain what the tasks were.
- Actions: Describe the actions you took to fulfil those tasks.
- Results: Highlight the results that were achieved.
Don’t spend too long giving background on the situation and tasks- the focus should be on actions and results. Really you should be aiming for a sentence on each, so don’t get bogged down in detail. There’s also no need to get creative with the way you answer- the interviewers have a formula and are expecting answers that fit that formula. (This takes the pressure off you trying to be clever and original.)
How do you prepare for a competency-based interview?
So, now you know the format, but how do you know which competencies they’re going to ask you about?
Again, the answer to this is quite logical and will relate to the job/role in question. Look at the job ad for obvious clues – if you see mention of ‘communication skills, leadership, innovation’ then you know that there’s an excellent (although not certain) chance that these will be the competencies you are asked to show.
Also look at common competency based questions on the internet, particularly in your field. There are hundreds of possible ones, but you’ll figure out quite quickly which ones apply to your role.
Examples of common questions are:
- ‘Tell us a time when you got people to work together in a team towards a goal?’
- ‘Tell us when you solved a problem with great results’
- Tell us about a time when you were under great pressure.’
Remember, don’t be afraid to go outside work experience to show past successes, and also don’t shy away from talking about times where you haven’t succeeded. (However, don’t provide examples of ‘failure’ more than once or twice in the interview.)
Basically, if you’re told it’s going to be a competency based interview, you’re in luck. Think of it as them having just handed you a cheat code for the interview. You’ve just been told how to succeed.
Best regards,
David
About David Mattinson
David Mattinson is one of the MD's and founders at Mattinson Partnership. Specialist recruiters in six main vertical sectors covering; sustainability through civils, transport, planning, building services and the environment. To find out how they can help you secure that key role or ensure you attract high quality candidates to your team get in touch here. Mattinson Partnership. Or call one of our consultants on 0207 960 2550.