Competency Based

Interviews

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Agenda
Introduction & some interview basics
What is a competency?
Why use competency or behavioural interview
approach?
Examples of core competencies
Preparing for the competency interview
Sample questions
Q&A

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Rule Number 1

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Interview Structure
Introduce yourself, establish rapport

Open the interview

5%

Let your interviewer tell you what the

agenda for the discussion will be
Listen to the interviewer give you
their expectations of the interview

Gathering Data
70%

Behavioural questions
Technical screen
General CV
information
confirmation

Ask the questions you prepared

Try to obtain more specific details about the
job description
Ask the interviewer what the next steps are
and when you can expect to hear back from
them
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Close the Interview

10%

Body Language
Defensive
Cross arms or legs, gesture with arm, hand or finger

Insecure
Biting fingernails, thumb rubbing

Nervous
Sighs, ear tugging, sweating...

Frustration
Wringing hands, sharp exhales, rubbing back of neck..

Suspicion
Stroke the nose, rub the eyes, diagonal stance

Openness
Opened hands, unbuttoned jacket, uncrossed legs

Reflectiveness
Rubbing chin, touching cheek, pinching bridge of nose

ItsNot
Not Just
JustWhat
WhatYou
You Say,
Say,Its
ItsHow
HowYou
You Say
Say It
It
Its
Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Be Prepared
A good interviewer will prepare prior to every interview
with specific questions for each candidatewe expect
the same from you
What does my company do?
Have you checked out our website?
Do you know who our competitors are?
Do you understand the job your applying for?
Why did you apply to this position?
Where do you see your career developing?

Thiscan
canmake
makethe
thedifference
differencebetween
betweengetting
gettingthe
thejob
jobor
ornot
not
This
Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Agenda
Introduction & some interview basics
What is a competency?
Why use competency or behavioral interview
approach?
Examples of core competencies
Preparing for the competency interview
Sample questions
Q&A

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

What is a Competency?
The word competency is widely used in business
environments and refers to the skills that are necessary
to achieve an effective performance level in the job.
Every job will have a set of key competencies, some of
which are essential and others desired and all are
required to do the job properly.

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Why do they do it?

Competency based interview questions are used in an
effort to make the interview process as standard and as
fair as possible.
It is a technique which is being used increasingly in large
organisations where many managers may be
interviewing for the same type of position.

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

Your interview Behavioural Questions

In general a competency based interview is one in which the
interviewer:
Focuses on the skills that are critical to
success on the job and
Focuses on how the candidate has demonstrated these
skills in the past

You, the candidate, will be required to recall and describe a specific

situation or event in which you demonstrated (or failed to
demonstrate) a skill critical for success in the position for which
you are applying.

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Behavioural Questions
A behavioural question is looking for information about:
The details of a specific situation or event
Your specific action or behaviour and
The outcome of the situation
- In other words, what you did.

A behavioural question is not looking for:

Your opinion
What what you think you would do in a situation
Your assessment of your own strengths, weaknesses or performance
- In other words, what you think you would do.

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So Why Use this Approach?

Advantages of examining past behavior
Reduces misunderstanding about a your past experiences
Reduces your effort to make a good impression
Reduces emphasis on the hypothetical
Prevents personal impressions from affecting evaluation
Provides actual examples of your knowledge, skills and
attributes
Promotes consistency in interviews and assures all key areas
for success are covered in the conversation

PastBehavior
Behavior isisthe
theBest
BestPredictor
Predictorof
ofFuture
FutureBehavior
Behavior
Past
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What is the interviewer looking for? Well, it

has to be REAL
What was the Relevant Experience? the situation,
event or project you describe in answering your
question. In describing this experience, you should tell
your interviewer:
What happened
How it happened
What led up to it (or why it came about)

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It has to be REAL...cont
What was your Action? what you did or how you handled the
situation, event or project. In describing your actions you should
tell your interviewer:
What (specifically and in detail) you individually did
How you reacted to the situation
How you arrived at a solution

Make sure you focus on what you individually did, you should say
the word I a lot. Many people are uncomfortable talking about
themselves. Often candidates will say We without making a
distinction between what s/he personally did and what others
involved in the story did.

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It has to be REAL...cont
What was the result to which your actions Led? the direct result or
outcome of your action. In describing the result, you should tell your
interviewer:
What happened
The result/outcome of your action
How the action affected your relationship with other parties involved. (This is
particularly important when you provides an example of a conflict situation.)

Candidates will often describe an experience and the related action with
little prompting. However, because the result of the candidates action
may be the most critical part of the story, it is important that the candidate
follow through to the result.
Be sure you have told your interviewer exactly what happened as a result
of your action. Otherwise, the interviewer might misread the example.

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Agenda
Introduction & some interview basics
What is a competency?
Why use competency or behavioural interview
approach?
Examples of core competencies
Preparing for the competency interview
Sample questions

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Core Competencies
Examples of core competencies required in many jobs are:
- Communication skills
- Delivering Results
- Use of Initiative
- Planning and Organizing
- Analytical and/or Strategic Thinking
- Building relationships
- Team Work
In preparation for a Competency Based Interview the experienced
interviewer will draw up a list of questions relating to each
competency and all directed towards discovering if you have those
skills necessary for the job.

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Ciscos Core Competencies New Graduate

Pre-Sales Role
Effective Communication
Good listening and presentation skills
Able to explain complex issues in a simplified manner

Resiliency
Able to deal with change
Able to take constructive feedback

Team Skills
A good team player and leader
People-oriented

Sales Personality
Driven to be in sales

Achievement Oriented
Not risk-averse, uses initiative
Determined to succeed
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We Choose these Competencies to Measure if

Candidates will Fit into Ciscos Culture

Innovation
Continuous improvement

Profit contribution

Quality team
Giving Back/Trust/Fair/Integrity

Market Transitions

Fun
Empowerment

Teamwork

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2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

No Technology Religion
Open Communication
Drive change

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Agenda
Introduction & some interview basics
What is a competency?
Why use competency or behavioral interview
approach?
Examples of core competencies
Preparing for the competency interview
Sample questions
Q&A

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

20

Preparing for a Competency Based Interview

The most common type are Behavioral Based Interview
Questions. These are also called Situational and are used as a
tool to discover how your behavior in a previous role or situation
can contribute to your performance in the job being recruited for.
Examples of Behaviour Based Interview Questions are:
Tell me about a time when you....
Give an example of a <Stressful, Successful, Important> situation you
found yourself in and what did you do?
Describe a situation which caused you a problem and tell me how you
resolved it.

Something to be aware of; even if your interview is not described

as such, it is very likely in today's recruitment market that you will
be asked Competency Based Interview Questions.

Your best
best preparation
preparationisisto
toknow
know your
yourown
ownbackground
backgroundand
and
Your
knowthe
thejob
jobdescription
descriptionof
ofthe
thejob
jobyou
youare
areapplying
applyingfor
for
know
Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

21

Agenda
Introduction & some interview basics
What is a competency?
Why use competency or behavioral interview
approach?
Examples of core competencies
Preparing for the competency interview
Sample questions
Q&A

Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

22

Lets Review Ciscos Core Competencies

Effective Communication
Good listening and presentation skills
Able to explain complex issues in a simplified manner

Resiliency
Able to deal with change
Able to take constructive feedback

Team Skills
A good team player and leader
People-oriented

Sales Personality
Driven to be in sales
Customer orientation

Achievement Oriented
Not risk-averse, uses initiative
Determined to succeed
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For Example...
Competency: Customer Orientation
Definition: A willingness to help and serve others and meet their needs
whether they are internal or external customers. Understands urgency.

Question: Tell me about a time when you felt effective in dealing

with a customer (internal or external). What was the outcome?
How and when did you communicate your findings to the
customer?
Response:

I recently completed my thesis and presented my findings to the

academic review board. I asked my advisor for the background of
the board members and saw that two had a specialization in the
topic of my thesis so I knew to expect a lot of challenging
questions. I made sure that I had double checked all of my data
and knew my sources before the review meeting so I was able to
answer even the most obscure questions. Also my advisor had
mentioned that there was one member of the board who had
problems with his sight so I made sure that all of my documents
were printed in a larger font to make them easier to read.
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Now its your turn

Effective Communication
Good listening and presentation skills
Able to explain complex issues in a simplified manner

Resiliency
Able to deal with change
Able to take constructive feedback

Team Skills
A good team player and leader
People-oriented

Sales Personality
Driven to be in sales
Customer orientation

Achievement Oriented
Not risk-averse, uses initiative
Determined to succeed
Graduate Recruitment NetReady 5/2007

2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cisco Confidential

25