Example Competency Based Interview Questions

Adaptability

Adjusts to changing environments whilst maintaining effectiveness

• Which change of job did you find the most difficult to make?
• Tell us about the biggest change that you have had to deal with. How did you cope with it?

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Compliance

Conforms to company policies and procedures

• How do you ensure compliance with policies in your area of responsibility?
• Tell us about a time when you went against company policy. Why did you do it and how did you handle it?

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Communication

Communicates effectively, listens sensitively, adapts communication to audience and fosters effective communication with others

Verbal

• Tell us about a situation where your communication skills made a difference to a situation.
• Describe a time when you had to win someone over, who was reluctant or unresponsive.
• Describe a situation where you had to explain something complex to a colleague or a client. Which problems did you encounter and how did you deal with them?What is the worst communication situation that you have experienced?
• How do you prepare for an important meeting?
• Tell us about a situation when you failed to communicate appropriately.
• Demonstrate how you vary your communication approach according to the audience that you are addressing.
• Describe a situation when you had to communicate a message to someone, knowing that you were right and that they were wrong and reluctant to accept your point of view.

Listening

• Give us an example where your listening skills proved crucial to an outcome.
• Tell us about a time when you were asked to summarise complex points.
• Tell us about a time when you had trouble remaining focused on your audience. How did you handle this?
• What place does empathy play in your work? Give an example where you needed to show empathy.
• Describe a situation where you had to deal with an angry customer.

Written

• What type of writing have you done? Give examples. What makes you think that you are good at it?
• How do you feel writing a report differs from preparing an oral presentation?
• What positive and negative feedback have you received about your writing skills? Give an example where one of your reports was criticised.
• How do you plan the writing of a report?

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Conflict management

Encourages creative tension and differences of opinions. Anticipates and takes steps to prevent counter-productive confrontations. Manages and resolves conflicts and disagreements in a constructive manner.

• Tell us about a time when you felt that conflict or differences were a positive driving force in your organisation. How did handle the conflict to optimise its benefit?
• Tell us about a time when you had to deal with a conflict within your team.
• Tell us about a situation where conflict led to a negative outcome. How did you handle the situation and what did you learn from it?
• Give us an example where you were unable to deal with a difficult member of your team.

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Creativity and Innovation

Develops new insights into situations; questions conventional approaches; encourages new ideas and innovations; designs and implements new or cutting edge programs/processes.

• Tell us about a project or situation where you felt that the conventional approach would not be suitable. How did you derive and manage a new approach? Which challenges did you face and how did you address them?
• Tell us about a situation where you trusted your team to derive a new approach to an old problem. How did you manage the process?
• Tell us about a time when you had to convince a senior colleague that change was necessary. What made you think that your new approach would be better suited

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Decisiveness

Makes well-informed, effective, and timely decisions, even when data are limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences; perceives the impact and implications of decisions.

• What big decision did you make recently. How did you go about it?
• How did you reach the decision that you wanted to change your job?
• Give an example of a time when you had to delay a decision to reflect on the situation.
• What is the decision that you have put off the longest? Why?
• When is the last time that you have refused to make a decision?
• Give us an example of a situation where you had to make a decision without the input of key players, but knowing that these key players would judge you on that decision (i.e. superior unavailable at the time).
• Tell us about a time when you had to make a decision without knowledge of the full facts.
• Tell us about a situation where you made a decision that involuntarily impacted negatively on others. How did you make that decision and how did you handle its consequences?
• Tell us about a decision that you made, which you knew would be unpopular with a group of people. How did you handle the decision-making process and how did you manage expectations?
• Tell us about a situation where you made a decision too quickly and got it wrong. Why made you take that decision?

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Delegation

Able to make full and best use of subordinate, providing appropriate support.

• What type of responsibilities do you delegate? Give examples of projects where you made best use of delegation.
• Give an example of a project or task that you felt compelled to complete on your own. What stopped you from delegating?
• Give an example of a situation where you reluctantly delegated to a colleague. How did you feel about it?
• Give an example where you delegated a task to the wrong person? How did you make that decision at the time, what happened and what did you learn from it?
• How do you cope with having to go away from the office for long periods of time (i.e. holidays). Explain how you would delegate responsibilities based on you current situation.

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External Awareness

Understands and keeps up-to-date on local, national, and international policies and trends that affect the organization and shape stakeholders’ views; is aware of the organisation’s impact on the external environment.

• Describe through examples drawn from your experience how you measure and take account of the impact of your decisions on external parties.
• Give an example where you underestimated the impact of your decisions on stakeholders external to your organisation.

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Flexibility

Modifies his or her approach to achieve a goal. Is open to change and new information; rapidly adapts to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles.

• Describe a situation where you had to change your approach half-way through a project or task following new input into the project.
• Describe a situation where you started off thinking that your approach was the best, but needed to alter your course during the implementation.
• Describe a situation where one of your projects suffered a setback due to an unexpected change in circumstances.
• Describe a situation where you were asked to do something that you had never attempted previously.
• Give us an example of a situation where your initial approach failed and you had to change tack.
• Describe your strongest and your weakest colleagues. How do you cope with such diversity of personalities?
• If we gave you a new project to manage, how would you decide how to approach it?

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Independence

Acts based on his/her convictions and not systematically the accepted wisdom

• When did you depart from the “party line” to accomplish your goal?
• Which decisions do you feel able to make on your own and which do you require senior support to make?
• Describe a situation where you had a disagreement or an argument with a superior. How did you handle it?
• When do you feel that it is justified for you to go against accepted principles or policy?
• Which constraints are imposed on you in your current job and how do you deal with these?
• When did you make a decision that wasn’t yours to make?
• Describe a project or situation where you took a project to completion despite important opposition.
• When have you gone beyond the limits of your authority in making a decision?

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Influencing

Ability to convince others to own expressed point of view, gain agreement and acceptance of plans, activities or products.

• Describe a situation where you were able to influence others on an important issue. What approaches or strategies did you use?
• Describe a situation where you needed to influence different stakeholders who had different agendas. What approaches or strategies did you use?
• Tell us about an idea that you manage to sell to your superior, which represented a challenge.
• What is your worst selling experience?
• Describe the project or idea that you were most satisfied to sell to your management.
• Describe a time where you failed to sell an idea that you knew was the right one.

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Integrity

Ability to maintain job related, social, organisational and ethical norms.

• When have you had to lie to achieve your aims? Why did you do so? How do you feel you could have achieved the same aim in a different way?
• Tell me about a time when you showed integrity and professionalism.
• Tell us about a time when someone asked you something that you objected to. How did you handle the situation?
• Have you ever been asked to do something illegal, immoral or against your principles? What did you do?
• What would you do if your boss asked you to do something illegal?
• Tell us about a situation where you had to remind a colleague of the meaning of “integrity”.

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Leadership

• Acts as a role model. Anticipates and plans for change. Communicates a vision to a team.
• Tell us about a situation where you had to get a team to improve its performance. What were the problems and how did you address them?
• Describe a situation where you had to drive a team through change. How did you achieve this?
• Describe a situation where you needed to inspire a team. What challenges did you meet and how did you achieve your objectives?
• Tell us about a situation where you faced reluctance from your team to accept the direction that you were setting.
• Describe a project or situation where you had to use different leadership styles to reach your goal.
• Tell me about a time when you were less successful as a leader than you would have wanted to be.

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Organisational Awareness

Demonstrates an understanding of underlying organisational issues

• Describe a project where you needed to involve input from other departments. How did you identify that need and how did you ensure buy-in from the appropriate leaders and managers?
• Describe a time when you failed to engage at the right level in your organisation. Why did you do that and how did you handle the situation?

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Resilience and Tenacity

Deals effectively with pressure; remains optimistic and persistent, even under adversity. Recovers quickly from setbacks. Stays with a problem/line of thinking until a solution is reached or no longer reasonably attainable.

• Tell us about a situation where things deteriorated quickly. How did you react to recover from that situation?
• Tell us about a project where you achieved success despite the odds being stacked against you. How did you ensure that you pulled through?
• Give us an example of a situation where you knew that a project or task would place you under great pressure. How did you plan your approach and remain motivated?
• Give us an example of a situation where you worked under pressure.
• Under what conditions do you work best and worst?
• Which recent project or situation has caused you the most stress? How did you deal with it?
• When is the last time that you were upset with yourself?
• What makes you frustrated or impatient at work?
• What is the biggest challenge that you have faced in your career. How did you overcome it?
• Tell us about a time when you successfully pushed one of your ideas despite strong opposition.
• Which course or topics have you found most difficult? How did you address the challenge?

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Risk-taking

Takes calculated risks, weighing up pros and cons appropriately

• Tell us about risks that you have taken in your professional or personal life. How did you go about making your decision?
• What is the biggest risk that you have taken? How did you handle the process?
• Describe one of your current or recently completed projects, setting out the risks involved. How did you make decisions? How do you know that you made the correct decisions?
• What risks do you see in moving to this new post?

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Sensitivity to others/empathy

Aware of other people and environment and own impact on these. Takes into account other peoples’ feelings and needs.

• What problems has one of your staff or colleagues brought to you recently? How did you assist them?
• Tell us about an unpopular decision that you made recently? What thought-process did you follow before making it? How did your colleagues/clients react and how did you deal with their reaction?
• When is that last time that you had an argument with a colleague?
• When did you last upset someone?
• What steps do you take to understand your colleagues’ personalities? Give an example where you found it hard to adjust to one particular colleague.

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Teamwork

Contributes fully to the team effort and plays an integral part in the smooth running of teams without necessarily taking the lead

• Describe a situation in which you were a member of team. What did you do to positively contribute to it?
• Tell us about a situation where you played an important role in a project as a member of the team (not as a leader).
• How do you ensure that every member of the team is allowed to participate?
• Give us an example where you worked in a dysfunctional team. Why was it dysfunctional and how did you attempt to change things?
• Give an example of a time when you had to deal with a conflict within your team. What did you do to help resolve the situation?
• How do you build relationships with other members of your team?
• How do you bring difficult colleagues on board? Give us an example where you had to do this.