Competency-based interviewing

Reviewing some interview notes at work recently, from a panel of interviewers who had met three candidates, a pattern emerged. After meeting three candidates, the interviewers loved their relevant experience and skills. I also knew that all three candidates had fine communication skills and were well-presented.

But the hiring managers had struggled to decide on a successful candidate and the area where all three had scored badly was in their competency-based interview answers.

I’ve seen this happen before; working in recruitment I’ve prepared hundreds of candidates for interview over the years but competency-based interviewing techniques are consistently something that candidates struggle with, again and again.

What are competency-based questions? You might think of them as ‘situational questions’ or ‘behavioural questions’. They are questions designed to test your behaviour in certain situations, usually by asking for a real-life example of certain things.

Can you give us an example of a time when you led a team to overcome obstacles?

When have you had to work with a diverse team in order to produce results?

Organisations like to ask such questions because they should identify deeper-lying traits in the candidate’s personality and this helps companies to choose candidates who will fit with their wider company culture. It’s also a way of trying to measure intangible characteristics in a more objective way, rather than simply judging the applicant based on gut-feeling and credibility - which are hard to justify when hiring decisions are later questioned.

The trouble is that such questions can be difficult to answer and interviewees rarely shine unless they prepare and practice in advance.

My advice to candidates entering a competency-based interview would be:

• You’re going to be asked for examples from your working experience, and this means you need to know your CV well and be able to confidently talk through previous projects and challenges. Before your interview, think about the competencies which the new job will require and think about times when you’ve show those competencies in the past. Or you could think about key projects you’ve worked in, which show multiple competencies, and make sure the details of the project are clear in your mind. That way, you’ll be able to describe it to the interviewers. The better you know your own experience, the more at-ease you will feel in the interview and the more likely you’ll be able to pick out the best examples.
• Choose examples carefully. Use examples that show off your best work and are relevant to the job you’re applying for. In general, the more complex or challenging the situation which you’re about to describe, the better. As long as you can explain it clearly. Choose an example which shows the best of your work, not a routine exercise.
• Explain yourself clearly. Interviewers might struggle to follow your example if you don’t make certain things clear to them. The simplest way might be to break your example down into ‘beginning, middle and end’. So
  1. For the ‘beginning’, set the scene. Explain when the example happened, where you were working, and some general context. What was the problem that you needed to solve?
  2. In the ‘middle’ talk about what you did and your actions in this example, adding relevant details.
  3. At the ‘end’ explain what was the outcome of your work. Was something successfully achieved? What was the value that you added? Were there any lessons learned?

• Be selfish. Interviewers are trying to find out about you, not your team. Use ‘I did this’ instead of ‘we did this’. You’re the one who’s aiming for the new job so tell the interviewers, what did you achieve? Why did you do what you did? How does that demonstrate that this company should now hire you? This last part can be a real problem for candidates in cultures where modesty is valued highly. But an interview is one time when you really should be promoting yourself above all others.

If these interview tips help or make you feel more comfortable with the process, then that’s already a good start. Remember that interviewers are on your side – they want to find the right person, so they want you to show them what you’ve got. They aren’t hoping you’ll fail – quite the opposite.