Competency-based Interviews are now the norm when it comes to interviews in the public and private sector, especially the former. As you know a competency is ‘’…the ability to do something successfully or efficiently and possessing the quality or state of having sufficient knowledge, judgment, skill, or strength…’’.
When the Interviewers ask Interviewees Competency-based Interview questions, they are expecting the Interviewee to provide them with a current or past example of where they have demonstrated this competency, preferably from a work environment. Interviewers or the hiring organisation will usually provide the Interviewees with the competencies that will be covered i.e., asked about. They are literally telling the Interviewees what they are will be asked. That is why it is important to have examples prepared and practiced well before the Competency-based Interview.
So, as part of your preparation and practice, you will need to know three things:
- Competency-based Application Form / Résumé
- Job Description
- The Hiring Organization
Competency-based Application Form / Résumé
Knowing the contents of your Competency-based Application and / or your Résumé is key to your preparation:
- Have your examples met the criteria of each competency
- Can you share the competency through an example in about 1.5 – 2 minutes
- Can you handle all ‘probing’ questions around your example…?
Job Description
The Job Description is the ‘Bible’ when it comes to Competency-based Interviews:
- Have you extracted all the key competency titles i.e., the most important skills / strengths to carry out the job successfully
- Do you really understand what the role entails
- Have you went through each bullet point and asked yourself, ‘If they asked me about this point, can I provide an example of past behaviour (because past behaviour is a great indicator of future success)…?
The Hiring Organization
You must know all about them i.e., the company that have this open position and who want to hire the best person to carry it out:
- Do you know their exact products / services
- Do you know their customers
- Do you know their problems, challenges and why they want to / should hire you…?