In competency-based interviews, you tell stories about things you have done. The purpose is to demonstrate a particular competency – e.g. leading a major change within an organisation.

After you tell your stories, the panel may probe you for further information. By simply asking questions that revolve around the story you’ve just told, they aim to find out more about you. They want to keep you talking.

A popular probing question is “so you’ve told us how you led that big change – how was that perceived within the organisation?”

A typical answer to this probing question might include you outlining that before you started the project, some colleagues were wondering how it would go. Perhaps it was a new project, or your first major leadership role within the organisation, or maybe it had been tried before and failed.

So beforehand people were curious about how it would all unfold. It was far from certain that it would succeed.

But, as you develop the story, it becomes clear that you delivered well. Those who were initially unsure could see the merit of your actions. Probe over, points scored, sit and wait for next question.

The video below highlights tips for competency-based interviews:

Liam Horan is a Career Coach with Sli Nua Careers in Ballinrobe.

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