What is a Competency-based Interview

A competency-based interview is a thorough method of interviewing a prospective employee to assess their skills and experience against a job and personal profile. A competency-based interview will follow the STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Knowing how to structure your answers using STAR is key to delivering clear and compelling responses and more importantly they give a potential employer examples of real-life challenges which you have faced.

Many employers use competency-based interviews to determine whether a potential employee has specific skills related to a job vacancy. Competency-based questioning is common in the early interviewing process and is carried out by asking pre-defined competency-based questions which are relevant to the role you are being interviewed for. The questions allow interviewers to quickly determine how you would handle a certain situation and the behaviors you would demonstrate in different scenarios.

A competency interview allows you to focus your answers on past real scenarios. They help interviewers to establish:
• You have the right and relevant experience for the job for which you have applied.
• You can reflect well on your past work experience and give clear examples of these.
• You are clear of what the requirements of the role are and can share examples.
• You can cope with pressure.
• Your personality fits with their culture.

How to prepare for a competency-based interview
To prepare for a competency-based interview questions successfully, you need to consider the role profile in detail and decide which of your skills and experiences are relevant. Once you have done this, you then need to consider situations which can give examples of these skills and experiences and any challenges you may have experienced.

Interviewers want to learn about candidates’ experiences and understand how these would align with their job vacancy. They are also interested to understand how you would deal with different situations.
Time must be given learning how to best answer a question using the STAR interview technique. The technique allows you to structure your answers to competency-based questions using four components: the Situation, the Task at hand, the Action you took and the Result your action achieved.

What are the most common competency-based interview questions?
Competency-based interview questions often focus on specific core skills and experiences which are crucial to the role. The most common questions will likely revolve around teamwork, problem-solving, communication, adaptability and decision-making. Interviewers are increasingly seeking evidence of real-life examples, especially around leadership, customer service and resilience.