Competency-based interview: 25 questions to get you started

A competency-based interview is based on an employee's real-world experiences. You ask about different situations at the candidate's previous workplace and ask them to briefly and powerfully explain how they acted, what the result was and what the learning points are from this. By asking this out, you get a clear picture of the candidate's competencies and skills and can assess whether this person is suitable for the new position. These competency-based interviews are often used during job interviews, as well as to determine if someone is ready to advance to a new position within the organization.

What do you ask in a competency-based interview?

Of course, this always depends on the position for which the candidate is being considered. Think carefully about which competencies and skills you want to ask and come up with relevant questions. The questions can be broad: that way the candidate can choose a direction. We will give you an example.

A competency-based interview is often used in determining whether or not someone is a high potential. This is part of the succession planning process. Important competencies for a leader are: adaptability, decisiveness, results-oriented, risk-taking and innovative. We would set up the following questions for these competencies:

Adaptability

1. Have you had to deal with policy changes in any of your previous jobs? How did you deal with these?
2. In which of your previous jobs did settling in take the least effort and why? In which job the most and why?
3. Can you identify a change in the organization where you previously worked that you did not initially support? How did you deal with this change?
4. What is your reaction when you are unexpectedly assigned a rush job? Give an example of such a situation from the past.

Decisiveness

1. What has been the most complex decision you have made? How did this process go? And how did this decision turn out?
2. Have you ever made a decision that, in retrospect, you wish you hadn't made that way? How did that come about?
3. When and from whom did you last seek advice when you needed to make a decision?
4. How did the opinions of others influence your decision?
5. Have you ever had to make an unpopular decision? Looking back on it now, would you have acted differently?
6. Have you ever let an opportunity slip by because you hesitated too long?

Result-oriented

1. What results have you achieved in the past year? What were your initial goals? Why did or did not you achieve them?
2. Describe a situation in which you faced adversity. How did you ensure that you were still able to achieve your goal?
3. Give an example of how you prioritize your work.
4. You've probably run out of time when doing a task. What did you do then?
5. What did you do in a situation where you felt the right (policy) choices had not been made? What did that result in?

Risk taking

1. Give an example of a situation in which you took a risk. What was the risk? How did the situation turn out? Would you do it this way again next time?
2. In what area have you ever made a decision for which you actually lacked information or knowledge? What could have gone wrong? Why did you make that decision anyway?
3. Do you ever do something that others are afraid to do? Give an example of a recent situation where this was the case. Why did you dare and they did not?
4. What were your considerations in a recent situation where you took a risk?
5. Can you give an example of a situation in which you made a decision that was not strictly within your authority? Why did you make that decision and how did it turn out?

Innovative

1. Give an example of an innovation that resulted from your initiative. How did you convince others that your innovation was good?
2. How do you stay abreast of developments within the field? What developments do you think have the future?
3. Have you ever come up with a creative solution in a situation where common solutions did not work? How was the reaction to your solution? Was its implementation successful?
4. What opportunities do you see for our organization in terms of new products or services?
5. Change in organizations does not usually happen quickly or easily. How do you deal with that when market opportunities arise that you think should be seized?

Answering competency-based interview using the STAR method

As the candidate answers, pay close attention to whether they are answered using the STAR methods. This includes:

Situation: what was going on?
Task: what were your duties in this?
Activities: what did you do?
Result: what was the result?

Competency assessments

In addition to conducting a competency-based interview, you can also tease out competencies using an online assessment. Are you looking for such a competency test? Then take a look at our competency assessments!