What are competency-based interview questions? These questions are based on real-life experiences and highlight your skills in communication, teamwork leadership, adaptability, etc. Unique and creative responses to these questions will help you stand out in jobs where there are many applicants with similar qualifications. You’ll learn to answer competency based questions during your interview preparation. Follow our guide for more information.
Common competency interview questions
An intelligent company will let you know what to expect during your interview. Prepare real-life examples related to the position you are applying for that align with the company’s values. Here are some examples of questions and answers based on competency.
Q: Can describe a situation where your supervisor asked you to solve a problem that he couldn’t? How did you do it?
Be careful when answering this question not to mention anything negative about your manager or to appear arrogant that you’ve succeeded where they failed. You can use it to highlight your problem-solving abilities.
Sample response: “At the shoot, I was informed that our lighting tech had called in sick. He asked me to come up with a plan because he had other things to do. I was at first stumped because we were two hours away from the nearest town and in a remote area. I then remembered that our intern had been a member of the AV Club in high school, so I invited him to help with the lighting. I encouraged him to be confident and we shot images that were used on the cover of our December issue .”
Q: How have you increased revenue in the companies that you’ve worked at?
Avoid generic answers. They are a big red flag to interviewers. Your interviewer will be more interested in your thinking and how you apply your skills, even if you haven’t made a significant difference to the bottom line of your company. Do not leave out any detail!
Answer example: “When I first joined Company XYZ I realized that the production line was using a method that could have been improved with recent technological advances. I compared the cost and time savings of new equipment and training with the costs and time saving factors. This data was presented to the board and the change implemented. The result? An 8% increase in profits .”
Q: What have you done to incorporate your most recent training into your job?
Your interviewer is looking to see how well you can learn new skills and then apply them to your current job. This question could be asked in an individual interview or in your application.
Sample response: “I realized I was not able to mentor my team in a meaningful manner when I became the leader of my team. I took a coaching course four months ago. Since then, with the help of on-the-job courses and additional training .” I have been able motivate my team to develop their talents.
Q: How did you manage a large project from the beginning to the end?
Here, your organizational skills will be put on display. Avoid anything that could call into question the coordination of your work, such as missing deadlines or spending too much.
Sample answer: As a community project, we built houses in a poor area. I divided the tasks into smaller ones and assigned a leader to each group. Each day, I met these leaders to determine what tasks were needed and then checked back later to see how things were going. I visited the teams regularly and recorded their progress in a Trello board to keep track of my schedule .”
Final Thoughts
This inside information about what employers want will help you relax in your next interview. After you’ve reviewed the most common questions, take a look at the best questions that you might be asked.