How Would You Answer These 40 Competency Questions?

There is no single ideal answer to each of the competency questions in this article.

How you answer them if you are asked in an interview will be shaped by your specific experience and the nature of the role in question. Emergency crews and accountants view teamwork via a different lens. An artist’s creativity is different from the creativity of a coder. A librarian’s attention to detail differs from an ever-alert truck driver.

So, I’m not going to suggest answers here blindly. I don’t know you, nor do I know the sorts of jobs you are chasing. But I will ask the questions….

These are open questions, they let you pick out the ideal answers from your previous real-world experience, and they give the interviewer an insight into the sort of employee you might become. Match your experience and talents with their needs – you will get the job.

If these competency questions are relevant for you…. what are your answers?

Communication skills

When did your communication skills last make a difference?

Describe a time when you had to explain something complex to someone.

Leadership

How do you ensure that each member is your team is involved?

Tell me about a time when you found it hard leading others.

Customer service

How did you delight a customer after acting on feedback?

Tell me about a time when you lost an unhappy client.

Attention to detail

Describe a time when you found a mistake in your manager’s work.

Tell me about a project when accuracy was critical to success.

Teamwork

How do you maintain good working relations with every colleague?

What were the qualities of the best team you have ever worked in?

Adaptability

Describe a time when you needed to change your approach.

How do you go about doing something for the first time?

Resilience

Describe a situation when you had to cope with a setback.

Under which sort of conditions do you struggle to cope?

Motivation

Describe a time when you had to motivate a reluctant person.

What sort of situations make you lose your motivation?

Problem-solving

What is the best solution to a problem that you have ever found?

How do you assess the quality of the suggestions of others?

Creativity

How do you decide whether ideas are worth pursuing?

Have you ever thought so far outside the box that you can’t see the box anymore?

Conflict management

Have you ever had to make an unpopular decision?

Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a conflict within the team.

Decision making

Tell us about a time when you had to change your mind.

How do you go about making big decisions?

Collaboration

Tell me about a time when you worked with someone you didn’t like.

How did you build a relationship with someone from a different department?

Strategic thinking

Tell me about a time when you had to hit an ambitious goal.

What happened when you had to change strategic direction?

Organisational skills

How do you plan your workload most effectively?

Tell me about a time when you missed an important deadline.

People management

Describe the most challenging person you have ever had to manage.

When was the last time that a subordinate disagreed with you?

Integrity

Describe a situation when your integrity was tested.

How do you ensure compliance with company policy?

Influencing skills

Tell me about a time when you managed to change someone’s mind.

What did you do to change the course of a project?

Managing change

Describe a time when you had to manage a team through change.

When did your personal innovation transform a situation at work?

Working under pressure

Tell me how you handled your most stressful day?

Give me an example of when pressure helped you to perform.

There are many more competency questions over and above this list.

Think about the demands of each role in question. Which questions are likely to come up?

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This blog is shared with Job Seeker Duetists.

Written by former recruitment ghostwriter Paul Drury (not AI).