Competency Based Interviews: 6 Steps to Success

Competency based interviews reward structured stories: they are intended to get the best from you, the candidate, whilst also fulfilling the needs of the organisation to get the very best person for the job. There are some easy steps to make the most of yourself and have a much better chance of success.

1. Competency Based Interviews Start With Preparation

   Prepare well, but keep it sensible As long as you know the job you are going for, ask for details of what you will be measured against. Ask for a full set of competencies in writing. Ask for a detailed job description with success measures. This sets you up to succeed, not just because you are better informed, but also because you have asked – which will impress the decision-makers, before you even get there!

2. Get Creative Here is the time to use your own experiences to create ‘stories’ which you can use in the actual interview. These ‘stories’ are real scenarios you have personally driven at work or school; write each one up over several days beforehand. Maybe you will collect twenty or more initial ideas before narrowing down to the strongest half dozen.
3. Leverage! Take the very best scenarios and write them out as rough bullet points first, expanding only the strongest ones. Then flesh them out, whilst referring carefully to the competencies you’ve been given. It is amazing how you can ‘tune-in’ your scenario to include many, if not all of the competencies. And if you can’t fit them all in, there will be a use for them – later!

4. Rehearse Stories Until They Flow

   Practice By reading through your scenarios (and by now you should not have more than six or seven) you will familiarise yourself with the contents, so well, that they will become second nature – even in the scary experience of an interview.

5. In the Interview There are some tactics in here too!

• Using your scenarios make just three key points about what you’ve been asked. Make them relevant and the right ‘weight’. Not too long or too short.
• After that, leave space for them to ask more – that’s what they are listening for.
• Say ‘I’ a lot – they want to know what your personal involvement and experience was, not ‘the team’ or ‘they’.
• Have fun – whilst not contrived, smile and make some simple jokes, if you feel comfortable with that – they want to employ happy as well as capable people.
• Can’t answer? That’s fine. Make sure that you reflect on your shortcomings by saying things like, ‘It’s one of the first things I want to develop in my next job – if you did your stuff on your scenarios and your competencies well enough, you will have covered 90% of the bases well and you’ll be forgiven for not being ‘perfect’. If you are really stumped – say so!
• Ask questions – relevant, about their culture, focus on developing you, opportunities – the positive ‘peopley’ things (remember it’s your chance to see if you want to work with them!).
• Also ask about current issues they may be facing – you did do your homework on them, didn’t you?

Remember that competencies are there to help you and they provide a guide-map for success. Walk in with rehearsed stories and competency based interviews become conversations you control.

The STAR Method for Competency Answers

Structure every story in four beats: situation, task, action, result. State the context in one line, name your responsibility clearly, describe two concrete actions you took, and close with a measured outcome. Interviewers score answers that follow this shape far higher than rambling chronologies.

Prepare six stories covering leadership, conflict, failure, teamwork, initiative, and learning speed. Map each story to two competencies so one example serves multiple prompts, and keep a written bank of eight spares. Time each telling at ninety seconds, record one full run, and trim filler ruthlessly before the real session.

Who Faces This Format Most

Graduate schemes, civil service panels, healthcare recruiters, and large retailers use competency based interviews as standard screening. Career changers meet them too, since transferable behaviours matter more than direct tenure. Expect the format whenever adverts list behaviours, competencies, or company values explicitly in the posting.

Verdict: treat competency based interviews as an open-book exam where the syllabus ships in advance. Collect the listed competencies early, write STAR stories for each, rehearse them aloud twice, and finish with genuine questions.

Questions to Ask in Competency Based Interviews

Close by asking which competencies weigh heaviest for promotion in the first year. Ask how the team handled its toughest recent challenge and what good looks like at review time. These questions signal that competency based interviews run both directions.

Follow up within a day, referencing one specific discussion point from the session. Thank each panel member by name, restate enthusiasm for the role, and mention one detail that excited you most. Small courtesies compound across tight hiring decisions.

Related: interview preparation guide for students and internships for career success benefits. For official guidance, see CareerOneStop interview guide.