Competency-Based Selection and Interview

By Mahnoor Shahbaz

Employment is a basic need of every people because through this individual can earn the money
and feed their family, their loved one. People are graduating to get a job to use their skills. So
many of you are facing the phase of interviews regarding the job and many of you passed that
phase of the interview. Many individuals got hire to those organizations where their loved one
already doing a job. Most organizations don’t hire an individual based on competency.

What is Competency?

Competency mostly refers to individual skills, abilities, characteristics and so on which leads to
superior performance. The standard job can be performed by a competent individual because the
individual has skills, abilities to perform. Competencies of an individual can also apply in
organizations, team working, occupational and functional levels. Competency is the most
important sort of nature which mostly helpful in selection and interviews in an organization.

What are the basic Competencies Examples?

There are few competencies which organization should prefer to select the individual

Intellectual competency: In this intellectual ability of an individual required

Motivational competency: Competency which determines the motivation level of an individual

Emotional competency: In which quantity the individual have emotions

Social competency: The level of social ability of an individual needs

What is Competency-based selection and interview?

Demanding professional work from the employee by organization leads to competency-based

selection. If the individual passed out the competency questions during the interview than he/she
would know as a competent employee to do a specific job.

Why did the organization ask questions competency based during the interview?

Mostly organization wants a competent individual to do the job. Competency interviews can give
valuable insights into an individual's preferred style of working and helps to predict behaviors in
future situations. Aim to demonstrate competencies that make you stand out from the other
candidates as a well-rounded individual. So, competency-based interviews get conduct where the
interviewer asked competency questions to the interviewee. Those competency-based interview
questions are verifying their future which connected to that interviewee that’s the reason behind
competency-based selection and interview.
What kind of Competencies organizations demand?
Most of the organizations demand professional competency rather than casual competency.
Professional competencies maybe 
Generic competency: the skills which are considered essential for all staff in the organization
because of its focus on leadership, emotional, and intelligence behavior of an individual. This
competency not bound with one function however it includes broad success factors.
Managerial competencies: competency includes managerial or supervisory responsibility. This
also essential for all staff because of its lead to customer orientation, 
Organizing skills, planning skills, executive skills, etc
Functional competencies: to perform in a specific function than its need to fulfill the functional
competencies by all staff. Like business awareness skills, technical skills, business skills, etc
What individual should expect in a competency-based interview?
In this challenging era of competency, every individual should be prepared to show their skills
when they going for an interview. Every individual could show their competencies to become
competent competitors to others. First and foremost, competency-based interview questions are
usually open-ended to have the interviewee describe a relevant situation or experience. Do Your
Research, Brainstorm, Use the STAR Technique (a situation, task, action, result), Ask Your
Questions.

What are the competency-based questions?

The interviewer can ask, 
Question: when you complete a difficult task in teamwork?
So, you may answer this question in this way
First: tell them a past situation
Second: tell them the task for your team and then the assigned task of your
Third: tell them what you did to complete your task (action)
Forth: the result of your activities on completing the task
Question: Have you taken the responsibility to complete a difficult task during work?
You should answer the same way as the last answer (situation, task, action, result)
Question: How much time you have taken when you solved a difficult problem at work?
Question:  Give an example of when you have supported change within an organization.
 These are basic questions for a competency-based interview. Other questions which are related
to functional competencies can be:
Question: A time when you had to deal with a customer complaint? What did you do and how
did you resolve the complaint.
Question: When you used your communication skills to get across an important point of view?
Question: Have you introduced an innovative and unique idea to your team? And How was it
received?
Question: Have you learned a new skill at work that helped you to perform better in your role?
Question: Did you take on board constructive feedback from a supervisor following an
appraisal?
Question: What are the toughest decision you made and the reason and outcome of that
decision?
Question: When you initiated a project at work? Reason for the project and what did you do to
make sure it was a success?
Question: A situation when you had to work with someone whom you didn’t get along with.
Question: did you motivate a difficult member of your team?
The individual should answer these types of questions professionally and confidently to become
a competitive candidate. These all questions based on competency which frequently asked in the
interview. 
Competency-based selection and interview are effective or not?
It requires a candidate to describe how their skill set matches the specific job that they are
applying for; they can't bluff their way through the interview. Another point is that interviewer
easily gauges how well a candidate responds if they don’t have the relevant experience and
ability to identify a candidate who tries to bluff, while one who admits they may not have a
specific skill but are willing to learn is showing a mature and honest outlook.

The interviewers will be looking for specific examples describing exactly what you did in certain
situations. Its shows that competency-based selection and interview are an important factor to
hire an employee. Competency-based questions asked in an interview to assess the experience as
well as the capability of an individual. It also makes fair selection.