While the difference in a competency interview may be unknown to the individual applicant, these interviews function as a way for businesses to create a standardised interview process for many job seekers.
In the eyes of a business, this can make the hiring process more standardised and fair. Competency interviews also give candidates an opportunity to hone their answers and conduct ahead of time, as the range of questions will be slightly more limited in this setting. Thus, one should prepare in advance for competency interviews much the same as traditional interviews.
preparing for a competency interview
A competency interview usually gauges whether an applicant has the relevant skills and experience to function successfully in the role they have applied for. Additionally, while a traditional interview might evolve fluidly as the dialogue between interviewer and applicant progresses, a competency interview will stick largely to a stock set of questions.
This does mean, however, that you'll be likely to hit on the areas the interviewers will assess by preparing ahead of time. As competency interviews analyse your experience and skill, work out potential questions and how your previous experiences directly or indirectly correlate with the position you're interviewing for.
reasons for a competency interview
Many businesses enact competency based interviews to avoid the possibility of awarding jobs to candidates simply based on the interviewer's personal feelings about the applicant. A competency interview puts applicants at a level playing field and promotes hiring based on actual skill levels rather than an interviewers' gut reaction, which can be of benefit to some job seekers.
However, candidates should be advised that competency interviews may not offer them much chance to interact with those conducting the interview. So, applicants will need to impart a bit of personality into their answers to the stock questions to give a sense of self in a competency interview.
View our bespoke competency based interview questions per specialism