Interview Preparation

If this is your first experience of a competence-based interview, bear in mind that it does not require you to:

• Talk through previous jobs or appointments from start to finish;
• Provide generalised information as to your background and experience; or
• Provide information that is not specifically relevant to the competence the question is designed to test.

A competence-based interview does however require you to:

• Focus exclusively, in your responses, on your ability to fulfill the competences required for effective performance in the role; and
• Provide specific examples of your experience in relation to the required competence areas.

In preparation for the interview you may wish to think about having a clear structure for each of your examples, such as:

• Situation – briefly outline the situation;
• Task – what was your objective, what were you trying to achieve;
• Action – what did you actually do, what was your unique contribution;
• Result – what happened, what was the outcome, what did you learn.

The panel will ask you to provide specific examples from your past experience to demonstrate the range of behaviours associated with the competences being assessed.  You should therefore come to the interview prepared to discuss in detail a range of examples which best illustrate your skills and abilities in each competence area. You may draw examples from any area of your work / life experiences.

For professional and technical posts, questions may be framed in the context of professional elements of the post.