Competency-based interview questions are a type of interview questions that are often used to evaluate a candidate’s key competencies, especially when you cannot make a choice between dedicated just on the basis of technical merit.
They are also known as situational, behavioral, or just competency questions.
Competency interviews can provide excellent insights into a candidate’s preferred style of working and answers to them can help you predict how a candidate will most likely behave in future situations.
If you want to find out about a candidate’s relevant experience, professional development, personality, awareness, how they cope with pressure, and so much more.
By asking candidates competency-based interview questions, you let them talk about the real-life challenges that they have faced and in this post, we will be exploring the best competency-based interview questions to ask candidates and choose the best one.
1. How do you and the team your work for usually identify and deliver the work which is required by your customers?
The answer to this question should tell you whether or not a candidate works well with others, whether they inspire their teammates and if they deliver their work on time. A great candidate should have great external awareness and planning skills.
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2. Talk us through a situation where you had to make a decision without the input of key players who would later judge you on that decision.
This is one of the better competency-based interview questions to see if a candidate can lead others with confidence, clarity, and passion.
You should seek out candidates that are proactive in finding solutions to problems and that can set goals, delegate when appropriate, anticipate and plan for change, and inspire others to improve their performance.
You should also look for answers that explain how the candidate can be effective at communicating the overall vision to the team, as well as be a sensitive listener.
3. Give me an example of when you took responsibility for delivering an expected outcome while also giving credit to other teams and teammates involved in the project.
As a hiring manager, you are most likely hiring people that can motivate others to deliver work that is both on time and high quality. This is one of the best competency-based interview questions to find out whether the candidate can do that or not.
The right candidate should have great project and time management skills and they should be self-aware.
This means that they should be able to meet deadlines, track their own progress against milestones and targets, and are aware of their own limitations and what is the trade off between the quality of work and how fast it is delivered.
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4. Tell us about a situation where your communication skills made a difference to a situation
You should seek out employees that can listen carefully, write well, and talk persuasively. Being empathic, handling customers and teammates, and adopting their communication skills are all traits of great customers.
Try to find out whether a candidate can talk both communicate informally and formally and be aware of which style suits them more, as that could be a huge factor in deciding whether or not to hire that candidate.