Help, i have a competency based interview!?

Question

I am just running through all the possible questions i could get asked and there are soooo many!!! All the questions i can find have been broken down into sections, does anyone know how many questions per section you are likely to get asked?

Answer 1

It's very difficult to say but comnpetency based interviews are easy because you are supposed to give answers based on what you have done before.  If you know what competency they are looking at just frame your answers to display that you are competent by giving an example.  My company uses CBI selection all the time - the people who tend to get the jobs are the ones that give good clear examples of what they have done.  Good luck.

Answer 2

can you study for a test on being competent?  

Answer 3

Well, you could start by giving just a LITTLE hint about what field of competency is required!!!!!

Is this in nuclear physics?  Civil engineering?  Auto mechanics?  Computer repair?  Nursing?  Pinball polishing?

C'mon, give us a hint!

There are no mind readers, there are no psychics.  You really DO have to tell us what your question is about if you want any meaningful answers.

Answer 4

yes exactly 50 questions.  on every competency test in the usa there are 50 questions per section.  that is the law.  

Answer 5

I am a qualified Selection Interviewer for my organisation and we only use competency based interviews.

Do you know what the competences are that you will be tested on? The usual ones will be leadership, teamwork, customer service, communication, project management, resource management, change management. These are usually core competences, although if the job is more technical you may have job-related competences as well.

Core competence questions are usually designed to allow you to give as much information as possible to highlight your skills in that area. We ask for examples of when and how you have done a particular thing and you should be prepared to talk a bit about it. It doesn't always have to be a work-related example as long as you can tie it into a work environment, for example, captaining a sports team shows that you have experience of leadership and achieving goals. You would probably need to point out that your techniques would have to be changed a little for an office environment, etc.

The questions that you are asked will depend on the level of the job, but are almost always along the lines of "Tell me about a time you worked in a good team". I'd follow it with "What made this team work well together" or "How did you manage to resolve conflicts in this team". (For the teamwork competency, obviously)

The number of questions you will be asked will depend on the answers you give. A good interviewer should be able to get all the information they need out of one main question for each section, followed by "drill-down" questions where you draw out more info. Less talented interviewers may ask more main questions and less follow-up questions.

My advice for this interview is to prepare two examples for each competence that you think demonstrate your skills well. Hopefully they will come to mind easily in the interview. You can embroider it a bit but you will be asked for more details so try not to make up too much that you won't be able to follow up.

Always say "I" not "we" even if it was a team project. Don't be afraid to ask questions if you don't know what they mean. That is demonstrating a competence in itself. If you go off down the wrong route, the interviewer should bring you back to the point, so don't worry that what you are about to say is wrong.

Also, phrase your answers in the STAR format - Situation, Task, Action, Result. For example, My team was asked to work on a marketing project (Situation) I was asked to prepare a project plan for the team (Task) I identified and consulted all the stakeholders and gathered all the relevant information (Action) My project plan was well received and my boss congratulated me on how efficiently the project was completed (Result)

This format gives you a framework so you don't babble, and gives the interviewer a lot of information to work on.

I hope this is useful to you, and remember not to be too anxious. Good Luck!