Competency-based interviews

November 27, 2024

What are competency-based interviews?

Competency-based interviews form an important part of the recruitment process, with many employers placing great importance on their outcomes. This guide provides practical advice on how to approach competency interview questions, including typical competencies and example competency questions to help you prepare.

While competency-based interviews can feel intimidating, with the right preparation and a variety of examples to draw from they can also be a great opportunity to showcase your skills. Competency-based interview questions use a structured approach to assess how well you fit a role by focusing on your past experiences. Employers use this method because research shows that past behaviour is a strong predictor of future performance.

To effectively demonstrate your suitability for a role, focus on sharing specific examples from your past that highlight your abilities. It is essential to explain your individual contributions rather than describing general team efforts or approaches. With preparation and strategy, you can use competency-based interviews to stand out.

Tips for competency-based interview questions

Before attending the interview:

Think about what kinds of behaviours may be important to perform well in the job
Think about times in the past when you have demonstrated your abilities e.g. successful projects, interactions with other people, convincing a difficult audience, analysing a large amount of information
Think through exactly what you did in these scenarios and separate your own actions from those of any team you were a part of

During the interview:

Listen carefully to the question and make sure you provide an example of what is being asked, not just telling the interviewer what you want them to know
Talk about a specific example, not about how you generally act
Talk about what you did in the first person
When answering competency questions, following a structure helps you to provide logical, well-structured answers which tell a relevant story

What is the STAR method?

The STAR method is an interview technique that gives you a straightforward format you can use to tell a story by laying out the Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

Situation: set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.
Task: describe what your responsibility was in that situation.
Action: explain exactly what steps you took to address it.
Result: share what outcomes your actions achieved.

Discover more about the STAR method.

Typical professional competencies and example competency questions

Below, we have outlined some typical competencies that employers explore during competency-based interviews. We have also provided example competency questions as well as some tailored legal competency questions.

Action orientation

Demonstrates a readiness to make decisions, take initiative and originate action.

Competency questions related to action orientation:

Describe a fire-fighting situation which you dealt with. What did you do and how did you resolve it?
What have you done when something has happened, or needs to happen where there are no parameters to deal with it?

Commercial awareness

Demonstrates a full understanding of how businesses and industries operate; knows their own market well and is commercially aware.

Competency questions related to commercial awareness:

How do you ensure that you keep abreast of developments in your respective market (both in terms of product and industry sector)? How does this assist you in your current role?
Tell me about an instance when you have turned business away. Why did you do it? How did you do it?

Creativity and innovation

Demonstrates an ability to approach situations with an open mind and show a unique way to solve problems as opposed to relying on others.

Competency questions related to creativity and innovation:

Give me an example of a problem in work that you have resolved with an unusual approach. What were the results?
How has your approach to solving a standard problem changed?

Drive and resilience

Remains positive and optimistic when setbacks occur; always finds a way forward.

Competency questions related to drive and resilience:

Tell me about a recent project where you have encountered some resistance. How did you deal with this? What was the outcome?
Tell me about the worst setback you have experienced in your career/personal life to date. What did you do?

Flexibility

Ability to respond differently in different situations, to different people and to different ideas. Ability to respond to changes in priority and deal with the unexpected.

Competency questions related to flexibility:

What changes have you had to handle in your job over the past six months? How fast did you adapt? How did others adapt?
Tell me about a situation you have encountered where you have had to make a major compromise.

Interpersonal sensitivity

Ability to establish solid and durable working relationships with clients and colleagues.

Competency questions related to interpersonal sensitivity:

Describe the range of different styles you adopt in dealing with other people at work. Give specific examples.
Outline the history of a strong client relationship.

Leadership

Takes control of situations and events; recognises and rewards others’ performance; motivates; coaches and develops others.

Competency questions related to leadership:

Describe a time when you have set goals for an individual or for your team. How did you go about it? Were they achieved?
How do you ensure your team gets feedback on its performance?

Oral and written communication

Effective communication, both oral and written, is essential in professional settings. This competency involves being an active listener and expressing ideas clearly and confidently across various mediums, including face-to-face, email and telephone. It also requires writing concisely, using appropriate grammar and language for the audience.

Competency questions related to oral and written communication:

What methods or approaches do you use to gain consensus in situations where there is disagreement?
In what situations do you feel uncomfortable communicating?

Personal motivation

Demonstrates a need to achieve and is committed to personal, team and company objectives.

Competency questions related to personal motivation:

How do you monitor your own performance and what drives you to achieve objectives? Have you ever been faced with a brick wall when trying to achieve an objective?
Have you felt at any time in the past six months that you achieved an objective through sheer persistence?

Persuasiveness

The ability to persuade and influence other people to gain support.

Competency questions related to persuasiveness:

Tell me about a situation where you have had to influence a person or a group of people.
Describe an unpopular change which you have had to implement/oversee. How did you achieve success? What was your intended outcome? How did you approach the situation? What challenges did you encounter? How did you resolve them?

Planning and organising

Prioritises; sets stretching but realistic targets and deadlines; plans ahead and has a structured approach to work.

Competency questions related to planning and organising:

Describe a project you have managed/been responsible for. How did you plan your time (and others’)?
In your current job, how do you schedule your time and set priorities?

Problem solving and analysis

Analyses issues and breaks them down into their component parts. Makes systematic and rational judgements based on relevant information.

Competency questions related to problem solving:

What are the major frustrations in your job and how do you deal with them?
How have you dealt with a problem which has had seemingly impossible obstacles?

Quality orientation

Delivers a high-quality service to external clients and internal colleagues, maintaining company brand standards.

Competency questions related to quality orientation:

What examples are there during the past six months where you have personally initiated action to address a quality or service issue?
How do you know what your clients think of your services?

Specialist knowledge

Has an extensive knowledge of his/her own field or department; understands the business and uses this to provide credible advice.

Competency questions related to specialist knowledge:

How do you use your specialised knowledge/ infoamtion to influence a business opportunity?
Have you made any poor decisions in the past six months? Tell me about it/them.

Strategy

Demonstrates a broad-based view of issues, events and activities and a perception of their longer-term impact or wider implications

Competency questions related to strategy:

Describe a challenge or opportunity you identified and how you developed a strategy to respond to it.

Describe a strategy you initiated to achieve a longer-term business objective. What process did you use to identify it? How did you go about assessing its impact?

Legal competency questions

Here are three examples competency-based interview questions tailored for legal professionals.

Handling ethical dilemmas

Evaluates integrity, adherence to professional ethics and sound judgment.

Describe a situation where you faced an ethical dilemma in your legal practice. What actions did you take and how did you ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards?

Adapting to changes in regulations

Checks adaptability, awareness of legal changes and ability to align legal requirements with business strategy.

Give an example of a time when a regulatory or legal change significantly impacted your work. How did you ensure compliance while also managing the organisation’s interests?