Overview
Competency-based interviews, also known as situational or behavioural interviews, are a style of interview designed to allow you to discuss a situation where you previously faced a particular type of challenge or situation, and how you approached solving that problem.
Whereas unstructured interviews are more of a conversation between interviewer and interviewee, competency-based interviews are more systematic. Each question targets a specific skill or competency. Candidates are asked questions relating to their behaviour in specific circumstances, which they then need to back up with concrete examples to provide evidence of their experience and abilities.
The answer is then matched against pre-decided criteria and marked accordingly.
A lot of our candidates loathe the dreaded competency-based interview, but if you are well prepared, there is no need to fear them. You have the answers, you just need to understand how to respond effectively.
In this guide, we will give you our top tips for tackling competency-based interviews, so that you can secure your dream job.
Competences They Are Likely to Test
Key competencies regularly sought after by employers include:
- Developing client relationships
- Influencing & communication
- Using data
- Developing strategy
- Adaptability
- Commercial awareness
- Communication
- Conflict resolution
- Deciding action
- Independence
- Flexibility
- Leadership
- Problem solving
- Organisation
- Resilience
- Teamwork
- Delivering results
Example Questions and How to Answer
Competency – Influencing
Question: Give me an example of when you had to influence a particularly resistant strategic partner or stakeholder.
How to answer: This is an example of how you could structure an answer and are also follow-up questions an interviewer might ask you for this competency.
- Set the context of the situation and what you needed to do.
- What was the source of their resistance?
- How did you approach this?
- What arguments and counterarguments did you use to win them over?
- How did you adapt your influencing strategies to deliver a win-win outcome?
- How did you tailor your approach to different people? What was the outcome?
Example scoring structure: Communicating & Influence
Competency – Leadership
Question: Tell me about a time when you had to deliver a challenging objective through others. How did you empower them and gain their commitment to work towards the specific output?
How to answer: This is an example of how you could structure an answer and are also follow-up questions an interviewer might ask you for this competency.
- What was the situation?
- How did you go about getting buy-in/commitment from the team?
- How did you maintain momentum during the challenging times?
- What remedial action did you need to take?
- How did you know your approach was successful?
- On reflection, what did you learn from this situation that has enabled you to be a better leader in the future?
Example Scoring Structure: Leadership
Competency – Deciding Action
Question: Outline a decision you have made that has impacted upon other functions across the organisation.
How to answer: This is an example of how you could structure an answer and are also follow-up questions an interviewer might ask you for this competency.
- What was the decision that needed to be made?
- What broader factors did you consider?
- Talk me through how you considered the impact across the business.
- How did you explain/embed your plan with your colleagues and stakeholders?
- How did you manage the impact on other teams?
Example scoring structure: Deciding Action
Competency – Developing strategy
Question: Tell me about a time when you developed a new strategy for your business /business unit.
How to answer: This is an example of how you could structure an answer and are also follow-up questions an interviewer might ask you for this competency.
- How did you develop or create this strategy?
- Who did you involve?
- How did you mobilise your ideas and put them into practice?
- What was the impact in terms of improvements in business or bottom-line performance?
- What have you learned from this experience?
Scoring structure: Developing Strategy