It's Richard McMunn from the interview guidance company PassMyInterview.com and in this video

training tutorial I'm going to teach you how to pass any kind of competency-based interview,

and in particular I'm going to give you some sample questions and answers that you can

use during your competency-based interview questions.

So, if you have any kind of interview coming up please watch the video from beginning to

end because I guarantee it's really going to increase your chances of success!

So, just quickly, that's me there on the right-hand side, Richard McMunn, I've been helping people

like you for over 20 years now to successfully pass their interviews and as I say, we're

going to focus on a competency-based interview.

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OK, let's get straight into it.

So, before I give you an abundance of interview questions and answers for your competency-based

interview, there’s a couple of really important things I want to cover that I think are going

to help you first of all.

So, what is a competency based interview?

So, in a nutshell, a competency-based interview is used to assess your skills and experience

based on the requirements of the role you are applying for.

So, what do I mean by that?

Well, each job that you go for will have assessable competencies.

So, for example, if you were going for a customer service role, one of the competencies might

be you are ‘able to deliver excellent customer service’ and therefore the competency interview

questions could be: “Can you give an example of when you delivered excellent customer service?”

or “Can you tell me about a time when you dealt with a difficult customer?” or “Describe

a time when you went above and beyond what was required to help a customer?”

Another example, let's say you were going for a project management role or a management

role.

The competency could be that you are ‘capable of managing difficult projects’ and the

interview question based on that competency would be: “Describe a time when you successfully

managed a difficult project?

What did you specifically do to make it a success?”

Or: “Talk me through how you would manage a project from beginning to end?” or the

interview question: “Describe a time when you motivated a team to complete a difficult

task?” and you will notice there that these interview questions are asking you to provide

a specific situation.

And that's really important.

I'm going to come onto that in just one second's time.

So, another job, let's say you were going for a team leader role, for example, one of

the competencies would be that you are ‘able to manage groups of people’ and the interview

question would be: “Describe a time when you managed an underperforming member of your

team?” or “Describe a time when you motivated a team to complete a difficult task?” or

“Describe a time when you made a mistake as a leader?”

So, these are interview questions based on the competencies.

So, you will notice as I say, that these interview questions are asking for examples.

Now, this is really, really important, so please do pay attention.

Tell the panel in your interview response what you did in a given situation as opposed

to what you would do.

So, you are going to do that by using the STAR technique, which were going to go into

detail and I'm going to give you a number of interview questions and answers.

I'm going to break them down for you using the STAR technique.

So, here's the star technique method.

So, when you sit down to answer the questions, think about STAR.

Really simple, and then you will start off your interview question response with the

SITUATION, so you say: “The situation was that I was in was XYZ.”

And then you'll move on to the TASK, you say to the panel what had to be done.

So, I was required to do this and then you tell them what ACTION you took.

So, tell the panel the panel what action you took.

And then finally, tell them the RESULT of your actions and a tip here is to make sure

the result is positive.

Now, what you might do if you really want to go into detail is tell the panel what you

learned from the situation and also what you would do later on if the situation occurred

again.

Okay, let's now take a look at some sample competency based questions and answers which

are created using the STAR technique.

So, question “Describe a time when you worked under pressure to solve a difficult problem?”

a common competency-based question.

Now the competencies that are being assessed here are your problem-solving skills, your

resilience and also your adaptability.

So, here's a sample response for you using the STAR technique.

Here we go.

“I was working in the office on a project for my manager when she came in and announced

the client whom I was working on the project for had changed their mind about the project's

specifications.

I only had seven days left to complete the project as the timeline for completion remain

the same.

I needed to start the project again from scratch and in order to meet the deadline I needed

to ask another member of the team to assist me with some technical aspects of the change

to the specification, and after finding a suitably qualified person to help me, I briefed

them on what was required and more importantly the timeline.

We both set to work on the project with enthusiasm, rigor and determination.

As the deadline was approaching I had the feeling I was not going to complete the project

on time, so I decided to work from home the hours needed to meet the target.

I'm the type of person who does not like to let my employer down, so I didn't really mind

putting in the extra hours.

My colleague and I managed to finish and deliver a project to the client with literally two

hours to spare.

I feel proud of the fact we managed to complete the project to the specifications despite

the numerous challenges we faced along the way.

The client was more than pleased with the work and they used the company again for future

projects, which was great!”

Now of course, that is an in-depth response to that question.

But for competency-based interviews, they need to be in-depth.

And if you follow this scenario” SITUATION, TASK, ACTION, RESULT for every question then

you will pass your interview, I can assure you.

And on that basis, before I move on to the next question, if you want to tell me the

name of your interview in the comments section below this video, I'll give you a list of

competency-based questions to prepare for.

Here we go.

Next question of your competency-based interview.

“Describe a time when someone within your team was underperforming?”

Okay, so what they're looking for here is for you to take control and resolve it.

You're not going to go to your manager, but you're actually going to sort it out yourself.

So, the competency being assessed here is your team working skills, your communication

skills because you'll have to communicate with the person, and also persuasion techniques.

You have the ability to get them to come on board and come on and help the team again.

So, here's my sample response for you for your competency interview.

“Describe a time when someone within your team was underperforming?”

Here we go.

“I was working with a team of five people.

We all got on generally very well as a team, we were efficient and always managed to get

the job done to a high standard.

However, I can specifically remember wanting to ask why my colleague Andrew appeared disinterested

in the project and he was taking more breaks than he was entitled to.

As a confident member of the team, I felt it was my responsibility to stop this as soon

as possible.

Other people within the team were taking note of his lack of enthusiasm.

So, I was keen to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

It was my job to find out what the problem was and to also get Andrew back performing

to a good standard.

I chose my time carefully and I asked to speak to him in private, to express my concerns.

I was entirely honest with him about my concerns, but I also asked him if he was okay and if

he had if he had any problems at home.

As it transpired, his partner of seven years had just left him, and he wasn't feeling that

great.

I empathized with him but suggested that he should try focusing on the team task to take

his mind off his home problems, and he agreed to my suggestion.

I kept in close contact with him over the next few weeks, just to make sure he was okay

and also to provide support when needed.

As the weeks and months progressed Andrew eventually got back to his usual self and

the team thrived as a result.”

So, if you were interviewing me and I gave you that response, that’s giving you loads

of evidence of where I am meeting the assessable competency which is “Describe a time when

someone within your team was underperforming?”

Next question: “Can you tell me a situation when you embraced change within an organization?”

Now this kind of question is becoming more and more popular because change helps a business

to grow.

But some people don't like change.

So, the competencies that are being assessed here are that you are open to change and that

you are strategically aware.

What I mean by that is, that you are aware that the organization has to change in order

to improve profits and increase turnover, but you are also committed to development.

So, here's my answer for you, using the STAR technique: “Can you tell me a situation

when you embraced change within an organization?”

Here we go: “I'd been working with a previous employer for more than six years and we haven't

really experienced any change during that time.

The business was performing well.

Most people saw no reason to change anything.

One day, a new manager joined the company and he started to implement change across

the board which appeared to upset most of the staff.

To be truthful, I was really looking forward to the change as I personally felt things

needed to alter.

I feel change is a positive thing because it encourages innovation and personal development.

In addition to embracing the change myself, I try to encourage other staff members just

to give it a try, simply because I felt they would come to enjoy it.

Whenever I was sat in the canteen during breaks and I overheard our staff members complaining

about the change, I used this as an opportunity to persuade them that the changes might actually

be a good thing.

Each time I would list the benefits of the change and eventually people started to change

their views.

After six or seven months the company was thriving even more.

The changes that were implemented meant that some members of staff were given promotions

due to the expansion.

I felt proud that I'd embraced and supported the change and I tried to alter the views

of some members of staff.”

That, in my opinion, is a fantastic response to the change competency question!

OK, next one: “Tell me about a time when you changed how you did something following

feedback from someone else?”

This question is designed to assess the competency of you again, being open to change, but also

assesses how you will continually improve and develop and also your adaptability.

Really important that when somebody takes you on and when you're being interviewed they

want to know whether you will take on board feedback and criticism, with a view to improving.

So, here's my suggested answer for you for the competency question: “Tell me about

a time when you changed that you did something following feedback from someone else?”

Here we go: “During an appraisal my line manager identified that I needed to improve

in a specific area.

I was working as a call handler for a large independent communications company.

Part of my role involved answering a specific number of calls per hour.

If I didn't reach the target, then this did not allow the company to meet its standards.

I found that I was falling behind on the number of calls answered and this was identified

during the appraisal.

I needed to develop my skills in the manner in which I handled the call.

M line manager first of all played back a number of recorded calls that I dealt with

and it was clear that I was taking too long.

I was spending too much time on trying to deliver a high-quality service to the customer

as opposed to working through the calls as fast as possible so that I could answer the

next one.

Despite the customers being more than pleased with the level of service and care I was providing

this approach was not helpful to the company.

I immediately took on board the comments of my line manager and also took up the offer

of development and called handling training.

After the training, which took only two weeks to complete, I was meeting my targets with

ease.