Competency based questions or competency questions are interview questions that
require candidates to provide real life examples as the basis of their answers. Candidates
should not talk in broad terms, be too general or use their imagination when replying to
interviewers. Instead, candidates should use specific situations from their life as examples
when answering this type of interview question. Candidates should explain why they made
certain decisions, how they implemented these decisions and why certain outcomes took
place.
Why are Competency Questions used in Interviews?
Recruitment professionals believe that the best way to distinguish a candidate's potential
future performance is to find out about examples of past performance. However graduate
candidates don't usually have any experience of the industry to which they are applying and
consequently it is impossible for interviewers to discuss previous job roles. Instead
interviewers use competency questions to force candidates to reveal how they have
performed in various situations in the past, revealing individual personality traits. These are a
great help for interviewers interested in finding out exactly who a candidate is and how they
may act if employed.
Interviewers usually isolate specific key competencies that they believe suitable employees
should possess and ask competency based interview questions designed to force candidates
to reveal their skills in these areas.
Examples of key competencies interviewers ask about are: Teamwork, Responsibility,
Decision making, Communication, Leadership, Commitment to career, Commercial
awareness and Career motivation.
How to Answer Competency Questions
An example of a typical competency interview question is:
"Tell me about a time when you failed to complete a task or project on time, despite
intending to do so?"
In your response your interviewer will want to find out how you manage your time during
difficult tasks and the reason why you failed to meet your deadline on this occasion (and
consequently a reason why you may fail to meet deadlines in the future).
Interviewers using behaviour-based interviewing techniques such as competency questions
are likely to probe for additional details during your responses. Always make sure you provide
concise, highly specific answers that are well explained, thought out and detailed.
Although your interviewer will at times ask you to give examples of past failures (such as the
question above) rather than achievements, you must adequately justify why you failed to
complete tasks, and defend the reasons for your failure. Clever candidates will justify failure
by giving examples of positive personality traits. Consider the following answers:
Competency answer one: Positive justification for missed deadline
"During my final year at university I failed to deliver my dissertation on the due date. This was
because I was heavily involved in cutting edge research right up until the end of my course
and was waiting for imminent results from surveys being undertaken by researchers at other
academic institutions.
Considering this was my final piece of academic work, I wanted to ensure it was based on the
most accurate and up to date sources of information available, even if this meant a delay in
production. To ensure no marks were deducted from my dissertation, I contacted my course
director and personal tutor two weeks before my dissertation due date to discuss my
particular situation. I argued my case, and was consequently allowed an extra two weeks to
produce my work.
Although my work was delayed, I feel that this delay was justified in that the work was of the
highest quality it could be. Furthermore, I sufficiently organised myself in relation to my
department and tutors, so that all relevant people were aware of a possible delay in the
production of my dissertation."
Compare this answer to those below, which justify failure with much weaker, negative
responses:
Competency answer two: Negative justification for missed deadline
"During my final year at university I failed to deliver my dissertation on the due date. This was
because I was ill for a couple of weeks during my final semester."
Competency answer three: Negative justification for missed deadline
"During my final year at university I failed to deliver my dissertation on the due date. One of
my worst characteristics is poor organisation, especially in relation to time."
Tips for answering competency based interview questions
o When answering competency questions you can give examples from work, study or
personal life, but make sure you give a wide variety of examples and a different example to
answer each question.
o Don't go into too much background detail when answering competency questions.
Your interviewer only wants to know about your past behaviours. Further detail is
redundant.
o Make sure your answers and examples you use are the most relevant to the
questions asked, rather than the most impressive or elaborate.
o Don't make your answers up! Your interviewer will find this very easy to spot.
Techniques for Answering Competency Questions
There are several ways to answer competency questions in an interview.
The STAR Technique
This is also sometimes known as SOAR, where "Task" is replaced by "Objective".
o Situation: Describe the situation.
o Task: Describe what task was required of you.
o Action: Tell the interviewer what action you took.
o Result: Conclude by describing the result of that action.
Be positive about your actions throughout your response and do not make up an example as
you will NOT come across as believable. If you cannot think of good examples instantly, ask
the interviewer for a moment or two to think about the question and then give your answer.
The CAR Approach
One way of dealing with this type of question is by using the CAR approach. CAR stands for
Context, Action, Result. It helps you to structure your answer like a mini essay.
"Context" is your introduction, where you describing the scenario you faced, date and place.
The "Action" forms the main body and should be the longest part of your answer. The "Result"
is the conclusion and like the introduction, should be quite short.
o Context: Describe the situation and the task you were faced with, when, where, with
whom?
o Action: How? What action did YOU take? Sometimes people focus on what the
group did without mentioning their individual contribution.
o Result: What results did you achieve/conclusions did you reach/what did you learn
from the experience?
Examples of Competency Interview Questions and Answers
o Competency Question: Give an example of when you've lead a team.
o Answer:
o Competency Question: Give an example of when you've overcome a problem at
work.
o Answer:
o Competency Question: Give an example of when you've excelled yourself at work in
the past.
o Answer:
