| The use of Competency Based Interview | | | | choose to probe deeper and ask about the |
| Questions is becoming increasingly common and | | | | detail such as: |
| not just within the largest corporations. | | | | |
| Smaller and medium sized companies are using | | | | Â- How exactly did you do that? |
| these tools as a means of improving their | | | | |
| recruitment decisions. | | | | Â- Tell me exactly what steps you took to |
| | | | resolve that |
| This method of interviewing is also called | | | | |
| Structured Interviewing and uses Behavioral | | | | Â- What was your involvement |
| Interview techniques to assess how a | | | | |
| candidates past performance in work related | | | | By investigating further the interviewer is |
| situations can be used as a predictor of | | | | trying to discover more about your skills as |
| future performance. | | | | well as looking for clues which may suggest |
| | | | that you are exaggerating your part in the |
| Every job can be described in terms of | | | | process or have created a complete |
| Competencies, which are the skills, abilities | | | | fabrication. |
| or behaviors required and some of which will | | | | |
| be regarded as essential and others | | | | When answering competency based interview |
| desirable. | | | | questions we suggest that you choose answers |
| | | | based on real experiences that you have had |
| You may see them categorized as Managerial | | | | and be ready to give details. Your response |
| Competencies, Individual Competencies, | | | | needs to be relevant and sufficiently |
| Analytical Competencies, Interpersonal | | | | detailed. Be specific and tell a story. A |
| Competencies and Motivational Competencies | | | | technique to use when answering behavioural |
| however the 12 most common competencies are: | | | | questions is what I call iPAR: |
| | | | |
| Communication, Achievement, Customer Focus, | | | | I = Talk about the part you played in |
| Teamwork, Leadership, Planning and | | | | IDENTIFYING or noticing the problem |
| Organizing, Operational Awareness, | | | | |
| Flexibility, Developing Others, Problem | | | | P = Describe the PROBLEM, situation or task |
| Solving, Analytical Thinking and Building | | | | |
| Relationships. | | | | A = Talk about the ACTION you took |
| | | | |
| These of course will vary depending on the | | | | R = Describe the successful RESULT by using |
| role and the level however in the job | | | | figures and data to illustrate the benefit to |
| interview, you should expect a series of | | | | the company. |
| Competency Based Questions exploring each | | | | |
| competency. These are usually behavioural in | | | | And always use "I" rather than "we". |
| nature and take the form of: | | | | |
| | | | Prepare answers which relate to all the |
| Â- Tell me about a time when | | | | achievements on your resume or CV as you will |
| | | | surely be asked questions referring to these. |
| Â- Describe a situation | | | | You will find that you should have a |
| | | | sufficient stock of answers that will help |
| Â- Give an Example | | | | you answer any competency based interview |
| | | | question irrespective of the style used. |
| When you give your answer the interviewer may | | | | |