COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEW
1. What is a "Competency Based" Interview?
Interviewing is a two-way process. The interviewer wants to find out if you have the skills and experience that he is looking for and you want to convince him that you do.
Sometimes interviews are so informal they amount to little more than a chat. This might be less stressful for you but it isn’t always the most effective way of selecting the best candidate for the job.
One more structured type of interview is “Competence Based”. The employer decides which skills (or competencies) he needs for the role. He then designs questions which invite the candidate to give specific examples of times when they have displayed those skills.
2. Examples of competencies
Obviously, the competencies required vary from one job to another but some common ones are Customer Focus, Problem Solving, Resilience and Persuasiveness.
3. How Competency Based Interview works
Let’s take the example of Customer Focus.
Definition: Individuals who display this competency understand and believe in the importance of customer focus. They listen to and understand the needs of customers and meet and exceed their needs to ensure satisfaction.
The interviewer might ask you,
"Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a very angry customer. What was the situation? Why had it happened? What did you do? How was the situation resolved?"
He is looking for a specific example of a situation you have actually dealt with in the past. You should not generalise. Don’t say "Oh, it happens all the time." Tell him about one occasion when you dealt with a customer complaint and brought it to a satisfactory conclusion.
To help you structure your answer, you should follow the "STAR" model:
| Situation | Describe the situation or the problem you had to deal with |
| Task | Describe the task that the situation required |
| Action | Describe the action you took and the obstacles that you had to overcome |
| Results | Describe the end results emphasising the positive outcome |
To help you prepare, you should look at the job description carefully and identify the skills that are likely to be required for the role. Then identify situations that show you using these skills.
Having a few good examples well-prepared in advance will stop your mind going blank and help you make the most of the interview.
