2.1 Competency-based interview questions
A competency-based question, sometimes called a skills-based question, is one that may start with the words
‘Can you give me an example of when you…?’
or
‘Can you describe a situation where you had to…?’
Employers like to use these types of questions as they are seen to be a good indicator of future behaviour. If the employer gets a sense of what you have done in the past when confronted with that situation, then the thinking is that with this information they can better predict what you might do in the future.
Some examples of competency-based questions which would test your teamwork skills include:
- Tell me about the most successful team you have ever been part of and what you did to ensure its success.
- Give me an example of a time when you experienced conflict within a team you were part of.
- Tell me about a time when you have supported a member of your team who was struggling.
In the next activity, you’ll have an opportunity to briefly consider how you might answer one of these questions.
Activity 2 If you were on the spot
Have a look at the three competency-based questions above. Choose one of them and consider what you might say in response if you were asked this question in an interview. Note down your thoughts in the box below.
At this time don’t worry too much about what your answer looks like. Just jot down some initial thoughts of the kind of thing you would be likely to say.
Comment
How did you find that? It can be difficult to come up with a good example in just a couple of minutes (which is why pre-interview preparation is so important). For the purposes of this activity, don’t worry too much about whether your example is ‘good enough’ as it is the process that you went through that an employer is interested in so any example you can think of will be fine.
Throughout the rest of this week, you’ll learn how you can refine your thinking.
The second type of teamwork focused interview question you might come across is the strengths-based question, and you’ll look more closely at those next.