Writers' Community!
Home Page Two Columnists Q&A Submit an Article FAQs Contact Author Login
Sponsors
Article Submission
We Need YOUR Articles!
We'll Promote Them for FREE!

Author Login

New Authors
Register Here


Now Serving 7,758 Authors
70,411 Quality Articles
& 3,663 Current Users Online!
Featured Authors
Ben Morrish (7,936)
Steve Kovacs (4,545)
Sandra E. Graham (7,883)
Fran Larson (2,271)
Joel Hendon (16,285)
Shari Vaudo (418)
David Tanguay (9,577)
Michael Ramzy (633)
Missing Link (766)
E. Raymond Rock (3,068)
Gregory Lewis (1,603)
Nancy Daniels (1,550)
Mark Parsec (15,056)
David Pekrul (3,696)

View All Featured Authors
Most Recent
Five Tips to Nail the Interview in the First Five Minutes

How To Persuade Someone to Hire You In 3 Simple Steps

Working As a Game Tester - Getting Paid To Play Games

The Myth Of The Dream Job

New Careers in Truck Driving For the Unemployed

Housing Options for Travel Nursing Jobs: What You Need to Know

Online Criminal Justice Course-A very exciting career in law enforcement can be yours

Greening Your Job Tips

How Does A Songwriter Make Money On Songs?

Signs that the Earth Fractured

Home » Categories » Careers & Employment » Other Careers & Employment » Competency Based Interview Questions: How to Give Perfect Answers » Printer Friendly

Competency Based Interview Questions: How to Give Perfect Answers

Rated 2.5 out of 5
No Reader Ratings Available ?
Rate It  /  View Comments  /  View All Articles submitted by Annette Lewis
Submitted Sunday, May 07, 2006
Annette Lewis (1,285)
http://www.blueskyinterviews.co.uk
Log in to become a member of Annette Lewis's Fan Club!


The use of Competency Based Interview Questions is becoming increasingly common and not just within the largest corporations. Smaller and medium sized companies are using these tools as a means of improving their recruitment decisions.

This method of interviewing is also called Structured Interviewing and uses Behavioural Interview techniques to assess how a candidates past performance in work related situations can be used as a predictor of future performance. Every job can be described in terms of Competencies, which are the skills, abilities or behaviours required and some of which will be regarded as essential and others desirable.

You may see them categorised as Managerial Competencies, Individual Competencies, Analytical Competencies, Interpersonal Competencies and Motivational Competencies however the 12 most common competencies are: Communication, Achievement, Customer Focus, Teamwork, Leadership, Planning and Organising, Operational Awareness, Flexibility, Developing Others, Problem Solving, Analytical Thinking and Building Relationships.

These of course will vary depending on the role and the level however in the job interview, you should expect a series of Competency Based Questions exploring each competency. These are usually behavioural in nature and take the form of:

Tell me about a time when

Describe a situation

What would you do if

When you give your answer the interviewer will probe deeper and ask about the detail such as:

How exactly did you do that?

Tell me exactly what steps you took to resolve that

What was the basis for that decision?

By investigating further the interviewer is trying to discover more about your skills as well as looking for clues which may suggest that you are exaggerating your part in the process or have created a complete fabrication.

When answering competency based interview questions we suggest that you choose answers based on real experiences that you have had and be ready to give details. Your response needs to be relevant and sufficiently detailed. Be specific and tell a story. A technique to use when answering behavioural questions is what I call iPAR:

I = Talk about the part you played in IDENTIFYING or noticing the problem

P = Describe the PROBLEM, situation or task

A = Talk about the ACTION you took

R = Describe the successful RESULT by using figures and data to illustrate the benefit to the company.

And always use I" rather than we".

Prepare answers which relate to all the achievements on your resume or CV as you will surely be asked questions referring to these. You will find that you should have a sufficient stock of answers that will help you answer any competency based interview question irrespective of the style used.

More free tips and advice on Competency Based Interviews are available from Bluesky Interviews.

Annette Lewis is an accredited interviewer, job coach and career consultant. She provides free advice for job interview candidates at bluesky interviews and was involved in developing the highly successful online interview skills training system InterviewGOLD



tweet this!



Reprint Rights

Log in to become a member of Annette Lewis's Fan Club!

Comments on this article: (2 total)


» left by Anonymous (1 year 244 days ago.)
Reader Rating: 3.5 out of 5
This is all very well providing you can think of relevant examples of this or that behaviour. If you can't you are stuffed and if you make things up you're likely to be found out. Again you're stuffed.
Respond to this comment
» left by Anonymous (242 days 21 hours ago.)
This is true. What you have to do is think hard about any one situation. You have to turn it into a drama. Ask yourself HOW that situation arose, how YOU were involved, how YOU approached it and how YOU solved the problem. Look at how it helped YOU and the benefit of others or the company. Show how YOU took responsibilty, if you done something wrong how you turned it around and made it positive, making a mistake and admitting it and correcting it shows maturity. Its all about learning a new way of thinking and once you get started you can learn to answer other scenario's. Maybe you can ask friends the same questions and check out their answers and i bet you think hey thats a good answer and use that knowledge in your answer. You can find examples of questions you may be asked by searching on-line so at least you are prepared and not put on the spot. Allow yourself time to prepare and always have no distractions when the call arrives. No-one says its easy and it never used to be like that but its a way of life now and its a skill that needs mastering.

Respond to this comment

Was this article helpful to you? Leave a Public Comment or Question:

This Article has been viewed 21,416 times.
Article added to SearchWarp.com on 5/7/2006 1:28:06 PM.
View other articles written by Annette Lewis (1,285)


If you found this article interesting, you may want to check out:

Disclaimer:  All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional or organization.


Today's Most Popular
What Makes a "Good" Manager?

The Internship Interview - the top 5 questions

Competency Based Interview Questions: How to Give Perfect Answers

Working At a Fast-Food Restaurant

Coaching, Counseling and Corrective Action in the Workplace

Strange Jobs Still Pay The Bills

5 Steps To Becoming A Pilot

Why Become a Teacher? 10 Good Reasons To Consider a Teaching Career

The Secretary Interview - How to Prepare for Success

Bad Resume Writing Examples: Are You Making These Mistakes?

Viewed from Cache. Load Time: 0.016.

Home  |  Page Two  |  FAQ's  |  Contact  |  Terms of Service  |  Article Submission Guidelines  |  Questions & Answers  |  Privacy  |  Mission / About
Copyright © 1999-2009 SearchWarp.com, All Rights Reserved - SearchWarp.com is an IcoLogic, Inc. Company