The number of people in work in Ireland has been at an all-time high in recent years. As a result, many employers are constantly facing fierce competition to attract, recruit, and retain skilled professionals across a variety of industries.
This trend underscores the importance of recruiters adopting strategic measures to stay competitive in the current job market. The scarcity of talent is driving increased demand and putting employers under further pressure to source the best talent for their open roles.
One of the most effective measures a recruiter can take is to adopt a more structured approach to interviewing with competency-based questioning. This structured style is designed to assess the skills and abilities that a candidate can bring to the table, helping the hiring manager hire more objectively, and ultimately find the best person for the job.
In this article, we explore the benefits of conducting competency-based interviews and how to best structure your questioning to gain the best talent for your organisation.
What is a competency-based interview?
Competencies themselves are made up of knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviours that contribute to improved performance and efficiency in a job.
As a result, competency-based interview questions are designed to explore whether a candidate has the skills and knowledge required to carry out the job they are interviewing for.
During the interview process, recruiters and hiring managers will likely be screening for key competencies that are most likely to make an employee effective in a role.
More often than not, recruiters will look for candidates to demonstrate a core competency or competencies in the interview process.
Suggested competencies:
* Communication skills
* Leadership
* Decision-making
* Problem-solving
* Management
* Business
* Teamwork
* Critical thinking
* Organisation
The benefits of a competency-based interview
Objective candidate evaluation: By focusing on specific skills and behaviours, competency-based interviewing can aid employers in reducing the impact of bias and subjectivity. By asking candidates to describe real-life situations where they demonstrated a given competency, this method makes it possible for interviewers to better assess their actual abilities.
Enhanced candidate engagement: During competency-based interviews, candidates are encouraged to engage more in the process of sharing details of their own past experiences. This approach creates a more interactive and dynamic dialogue during the interview, helping candidates to feel more involved and valued throughout.
Improved predictability of performance: Competency-based interviewing is designed to assess a candidate’s likely performance by exploring their past behaviours in real-world scenarios, providing valuable insights into problem-solving, teamwork, and adaptability.
Consistency across hiring: Consistency and using a standardised set of questions along with a structured approach in interviews, ensures all candidates are evaluated using the same criteria. This uniformity makes it easier to compare candidates objectively and thereby reduces the risk of bias and discrimination when it comes to making final hiring decisions.
Reduces bad hires: Assessing candidates based on demonstrated competencies and past behaviours makes it possible to identify red flags early on. By minimising the risk of hiring candidates who are not a good fit for the role of the organisation’s culture, competency-based interviews can create a more harmonious workplace.
Lower employee turnover: By working to ensure the hiring of candidates who meet the competency requirements outlined in the job description, this interview style can help employers achieve a lower turnover rate. Using this format, employers can better identify candidates who are more likely to be satisfied and therefore successful in the role.
Structuring a competency-based interview
While determining which competency interview questions is important, first it’s vital to ensure any questions you ask are structured correctly. One place to start with this is by utilising and understanding the funnel technique.
The funnel technique
A tried and tested approach, the funnel technique involves targeting a desired competency, asking the candidate to introduce an example of when they used it, and probing them for more information before finally clarifying the answer the candidate has given.
By deploying this technique, interviewers can better control the amount of detail they get from a candidate in an interview, driving more insightful answers and helping to uncover additional insights.
Let’s delve further into the structure of common competency-based interview questions and the specific steps within the funnel technique.
Introduction: To kick things off, you’ll want to prompt the candidate to give real examples of the desired competency in action. For example, you could as a candidate “Tell me about a time when you worked as part of a team.” This is where it’s important to know how to ask competency-based interview questions. You can do this by using the TED *tell, explain, describe) method of questioning. This means starting your questions with:
* “Tell me…”
* “Explain to me…”
* “Describe…”
Probe: Once the candidate has provided their answer to your initial question, you may want to probe them more for additional information. Candidates often spend time preparing for a competency-based interview, and as a result, many will deploy the STAR (situation, task, action, result) technique to answer competency-based interview questions. This means that candidates’ answers will include:
* Situation: Describing the background or content.
* Task: Describing the task or challenge they were faced with.
* Action: Explaining the action they took and how and why they did it.
* Result: Describing how it ended, and what they accomplished and/or learned from the situation.
Clarify: Once the candidate has given their answer and you’ve probed them for further details. It’s time to seek any clarification you need. You can do this by summarising the key details of the candidate’s answer to ensure you’ve heard all the information and allow them to provide more context. This can be confirmed by the candidate with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Your competency-based interview checklist
Identify key competencies: Before settling on questions for candidates, you’ll need to know what competencies you’re looking for, which will vary depending on your company and the job in question. Many companies derive from their culture and values, regardless of the role.
Prepare your questions: Once you know what you’re looking for from candidates, you can draft a list of questions that will test whether they have those competencies. You’ll want to frame questions in a way that the candidate will need to give specific examples to provide an effective answer e.g. “Tell us about a time you developed and executed a plan against a deadline.”
Prepare the candidate: Interviews can be nerve-wracking for jobseekers, so the more you can put candidates at ease, the better view you are likely to get of who they are at work. Informing them in advance that the interview will be competency-based means that they know what to expect, and they will have time to prepare.
Deciding on a scoring system: Having a consistent scoring system for each answer means you will be able to assess each candidate objectively and fairly. A simple candidate objectively and fairly. A simple scoring system of 1-5 for an answer can work, or you may want to prepare a checklist that you can tick off as the candidate ticks boxes with their answers.
Structure your interview: This is all about keeping it objective. Ask all candidates the same questions and use your scoring system to ensure you’re getting an objective view of their competencies. Some questions may catch you off guard, so give them time to think, or even to come back to a question they can’t answer straight away.
Take notes: It’s vital to record a candidate’s answer so you can assess them objectively following the interview and provide feedback, so be sure to take notes throughout. Having one person who ‘leads; the interview and is responsible for asking questions, and another who is responsible for taking notes is often the best way to ensure the candidate has your full attention.
Key competency-based interview questions
The great thing about competency-based questions is some key structures can be easily adjusted for the role you’re hiring for, once you’ve decided the competencies you’re looking for. These base structures are things like “tell me about a time when…” or “give an example of…”.
Here are 10 suggested competency-based interview questions:
* Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership qualities.
* Give me an example of a time you handles conflict in the workplace.
* Tell me about a time your communication skills improved a situation.
* How do you maintain good working relationships with colleagues?
* Have you ever turned a negative into a positive at work?
* How have you used analytical skills to make a decision?
* Tell me about your process for solving complex problems.
* Give me an example of a time you had to deal with a difficult customer or client.
* Have you ever had to prioritise your workload to meet a deadline?
As industries grapple with skills shortages and heightened candidate demand, staying ahead requires traditional hiring strategies that prioritise a candidate’s demonstrated competencies.
By incorporating competency-based interviews, organisations position themselves to navigate the challenges of today’s job market, securing the best-suited individuals for their teams. This approach not only ensures that employees possess the necessary skills and capabilities but also encourages a culture of continuous development and adaptability.
By focusing on real-world performance and potential, businesses can build resilient, high-performing teams that drive sustained success in the evolving professional landscape. Embracing methodology ultimately empowers organisations to meet current demands while preparing for future growth and transformation.
